Main Page   Modules   Class Hierarchy   Compound List   File List   Compound Members   File Members  

IModule Class Reference

The interface that a module should provide. More...

Inheritance diagram for IModule:

IServiceHandler IObject List of all members.

Public Methods

virtual IObjectgetObject (const UUID &)=0
 Get the object corresponding to the given UUID.

virtual unsigned int addRef ()=0
 Indicate you are using this object.

virtual unsigned int release ()=0
 Indicate that you are finished using this object.

virtual IObjectgetInterface (const UUID &)=0
 Returns the requested XPLC interface.

virtual IWeakRefgetWeakRef ()=0
 Return a weak reference to this object.


Detailed Description

The interface that a module should provide.


Member Function Documentation

virtual unsigned int IObject::addRef   [pure virtual, inherited]
 

Indicate you are using this object.

This increases the reference count of the object by one. Usually, when the reference count reaches zero, the object is freed automatically.

This called a "strong reference", because they will prevent the object from being destroyed. They should thus be used carefully, as they control the lifetime of the object. For example, you do not need to call addRef() on object passed as parameters, unless you intend on keeping them.

addRef() is often called automatically for you in XPLC, but you'll have to call release() by hand sometimes unless you use xplc_ptr.

virtual IObject* IObject::getInterface const UUID &    [pure virtual, inherited]
 

Returns the requested XPLC interface.

Will return NULL if the interface is not supported. The returned interface has been addRef()ed, so you will need to release() it when done. Note that the interface returned may be a pointer to the same object or a different one - that's none of your business. Asking for the IObject interface should always return the same pointer for a given logical object, so this can be used for comparison by identity.

You should probably use the convenient mutate() and get() functions instead of this, or use an xplc_ptr, which mutates the object for you.

virtual IObject* IServiceHandler::getObject const UUID &    [pure virtual, inherited]
 

Get the object corresponding to the given UUID.

The returned object is already addRef()ed. Returns NULL if there is no matching object.

virtual IWeakRef* IObject::getWeakRef   [pure virtual, inherited]
 

Return a weak reference to this object.

A weak reference points at the object, but does not control the lifetime of the object. An object can thus still be deleted while someone holds a weak reference. You will still need to release() the weak reference when you are done with it.

See also:
IWeakRef

virtual unsigned int IObject::release   [pure virtual, inherited]
 

Indicate that you are finished using this object.

This decreases the reference count of the object by one. Usually, when the reference count reaches zero, the object is freed automatically.

You will usually need to manually release() any object given to you by any other XPLC function, unless you give the object to someone else who will call release.

If you use xplc_ptr, it will do this for you.


The documentation for this class was generated from the following file:
Generated on Sun Sep 26 04:01:39 2004 for XPLC by doxygen1.2.18