swig/Doc/Manual/Customization.html
William S Fulton 6bd73ed34f %feature mods for default arguments
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2004-11-04 22:25:17 +00:00

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<title>Customization Features</title>
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<H1><a name="Customization"></a>11 Customization Features</H1>
<!-- INDEX -->
<ul>
<li><a href="#exception">Exception handling with %exception</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Customization_nn3">Handling exceptions in C code</a>
<li><a href="#Customization_nn4">Exception handling with longjmp()</a>
<li><a href="#Customization_nn5">Handling C++ exceptions</a>
<li><a href="#Customization_nn6">Defining different exception handlers</a>
<li><a href="#Customization_nn7">Using The SWIG exception library</a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#ownership">Object ownership and %newobject</a>
<li><a href="#features">Features and the %feature directive</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Customization_features_default_args">Features and default arguments</a>
<li><a href="#features_example">Feature example</a>
</ul>
</ul>
<!-- INDEX -->
In many cases, it is desirable to change the default wrapping of
particular declarations in an interface. For example, you might want
to provide hooks for catching C++ exceptions, add assertions, or
provide hints to the underlying code generator. This chapter
describes some of these customization techniques. First, a discussion
of exception handling is presented. Then, a more general-purpose
customization mechanism known as "features" is described.
<H2><a name="exception"></a>11.1 Exception handling with %exception</H2>
<p>
The <tt>%exception</tt> directive allows you to define a general purpose exception
handler. For example, you can specify the following:
</p>
<blockquote><pre>
%exception {
try {
$action
}
catch (RangeError) {
PyErr_SetString(PyExc_IndexError,"index out-of-bounds");
return NULL;
}
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
When defined, the code enclosed in braces is inserted directly into the low-level wrapper
functions. The special symbol <tt>$action</tt> gets replaced with the actual operation
to be performed (a function call, method invocation, attribute access, etc.). An exception handler
remains in effect until it is explicitly deleted. This is done by using either <tt>%exception</tt>
or <tt>%noexception</tt> with no code. For example:
</p>
<blockquote><pre>
%exception; // Deletes any previously defined handler
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
<b>Compatibility note:</b> Previous versions of SWIG used a special directive <tt>%except</tt>
for exception handling. That directive is still supported but is deprecated--<tt>%exception</tt>
provides the same functionality, but is substantially more flexible.
</p>
<H3><a name="Customization_nn3"></a>11.1.1 Handling exceptions in C code</H3>
<p>
C has no formal exception handling mechanism so there are several approaches that might be
used. A somewhat common technique is to simply set a special error code. For example:
</p>
<blockquote><pre>
/* File : except.c */
static char error_message[256];
static int error_status = 0;
void throw_exception(char *msg) {
strncpy(error_message,msg,256);
error_status = 1;
}
void clear_exception() {
error_status = 0;
}
char *check_exception() {
if (error_status) return error_message;
else return NULL;
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
To use these functions, functions simply call
<tt>throw_exception()</tt> to indicate an error occurred. For example
:</p>
<blockquote><pre>
double inv(double x) {
if (x != 0) return 1.0/x;
else {
throw_exception("Division by zero");
return 0;
}
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
To catch the exception, you can write a simple exception handler such
as the following (shown for Perl5) :</p>
<blockquote><pre>
%exception {
char *err;
clear_exception();
$action
if ((err = check_exception())) {
croak(err);
}
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
In this case, when an error occurs, it is translated into a Perl error.
</p>
<H3><a name="Customization_nn4"></a>11.1.2 Exception handling with longjmp()</H3>
Exception handling can also be added to C code using the
<tt>&lt;setjmp.h&gt;</tt> library. Here is a minimalistic implementation that
relies on the C preprocessor :
<blockquote><pre>
/* File : except.c
Just the declaration of a few global variables we're going to use */
#include &lt;setjmp.h&gt;
jmp_buf exception_buffer;
int exception_status;
/* File : except.h */
#include &lt;setjmp.h&gt;
extern jmp_buf exception_buffer;
extern int exception_status;
#define try if ((exception_status = setjmp(exception_buffer)) == 0)
#define catch(val) else if (exception_status == val)
#define throw(val) longjmp(exception_buffer,val)
#define finally else
/* Exception codes */
#define RangeError 1
#define DivisionByZero 2
#define OutOfMemory 3
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
Now, within a C program, you can do the following :</p>
<blockquote><pre>
double inv(double x) {
if (x) return 1.0/x;
else throw(DivisionByZero);
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
Finally, to create a SWIG exception handler, write the following :</p>
<blockquote><pre>
%{
#include "except.h"
%}
%exception {
try {
$action
} catch(RangeError) {
croak("Range Error");
} catch(DivisionByZero) {
croak("Division by zero");
} catch(OutOfMemory) {
croak("Out of memory");
} finally {
croak("Unknown exception");
}
}
</pre></blockquote>
Note: This implementation is only intended to illustrate the general idea. To make it work better, you'll need to
modify it to handle nested <tt>try</tt> declarations.
<H3><a name="Customization_nn5"></a>11.1.3 Handling C++ exceptions</H3>
<p>
Handling C++ exceptions is also straightforward. For example:
</p>
<blockquote><pre>
%exception {
try {
$action
} catch(RangeError) {
croak("Range Error");
} catch(DivisionByZero) {
croak("Division by zero");
} catch(OutOfMemory) {
croak("Out of memory");
} catch(...) {
croak("Unknown exception");
}
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
The exception types need to be declared as classes elsewhere, possibly
in a header file :</p>
<blockquote><pre>
class RangeError {};
class DivisionByZero {};
class OutOfMemory {};
</pre>
</blockquote>
<H3><a name="Customization_nn6"></a>11.1.4 Defining different exception handlers</H3>
By default, the <tt>%exception</tt> directive creates an exception
handler that is used for all wrapper functions that follow it. Unless
there is a well-defined (and simple) error handling mechanism in place,
defining one universal exception handler may be unwieldy and result
in excessive code bloat since the handler is inlined into each wrapper function.
<p>
To fix this, you can be more selective about how you use the
<tt>%exception</tt> directive. One approach is to only place it around
critical pieces of code. For example:
</p>
<blockquote><pre>
%exception {
... your exception handler ...
}
/* Define critical operations that can throw exceptions here */
%exception;
/* Define non-critical operations that don't throw exceptions */
</pre></blockquote>
More precise control over exception handling can be obtained by attaching an exception handler
to specific declaration name. For example:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%exception allocate {
try {
$action
}
catch (MemoryError) {
croak("Out of memory");
}
}
</pre>
</blockquote>
In this case, the exception handler is only attached to declarations
named "allocate". This would include both global and member
functions. The names supplied to <tt>%exception</tt> follow the same
rules as for <tt>%rename</tt> described in the section on
<a href="SWIGPlus.html#ambiguity_resolution_renaming">Ambiguity resolution and renaming</a>.
For example, if you wanted to define
an exception handler for a specific class, you might write this:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%exception Object::allocate {
try {
$action
}
catch (MemoryError) {
croak("Out of memory");
}
}
</pre>
</blockquote>
When a class prefix is supplied, the exception handler is applied to the corresponding declaration
in the specified class as well as for identically named functions appearing in derived classes.
<p>
<tt>%exception</tt> can even be used to pinpoint a precise declaration when overloading is used. For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%exception Object::allocate(int) {
try {
$action
}
catch (MemoryError) {
croak("Out of memory");
}
}
</pre>
</blockquote>
Attaching exceptions to specific declarations is a good way to reduce code bloat. It can also be a useful way
to attach exceptions to specific parts of a header file. For example:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%module example
%{
#include "someheader.h"
%}
// Define a few exception handlers for specific declarations
%exception Object::allocate(int) {
try {
$action
}
catch (MemoryError) {
croak("Out of memory");
}
}
%exception Object::getitem {
try {
$action
}
catch (RangeError) {
croak("Index out of range");
}
}
...
// Read a raw header file
%include "someheader.h"
</pre>
</blockquote>
<b>Compatibility note:</b> The <tt>%exception</tt> directive replaces
the functionality provided by the deprecated "except" typemap.
The typemap would allow exceptions to be thrown in the target
language based on the return type of a function and
was intended to be a mechanism for pinpointing specific
declarations. However, it never really worked that well and the new
%exception directive is much better.
<H3><a name="Customization_nn7"></a>11.1.5 Using The SWIG exception library</H3>
<p>
The <tt>exception.i</tt> library file provides support for creating
language independent exceptions in your interfaces. To use it, simply
put an "<tt>%include exception.i</tt>" in your interface file. This
creates a function<tt> SWIG_exception()</tt> that can be used to raise
common scripting language exceptions in a portable manner. For example :</p>
<blockquote><pre>
// Language independent exception handler
%include exception.i
%exception {
try {
$action
} catch(RangeError) {
SWIG_exception(SWIG_ValueError, "Range Error");
} catch(DivisionByZero) {
SWIG_exception(SWIG_DivisionByZero, "Division by zero");
} catch(OutOfMemory) {
SWIG_exception(SWIG_MemoryError, "Out of memory");
} catch(...) {
SWIG_exception(SWIG_RuntimeError,"Unknown exception");
}
}
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
As arguments, <tt>SWIG_exception()</tt> takes an error type code (an
integer) and an error message string. The currently supported error
types are :</p>
<blockquote><pre>
SWIG_MemoryError
SWIG_IOError
SWIG_RuntimeError
SWIG_IndexError
SWIG_TypeError
SWIG_DivisionByZero
SWIG_OverflowError
SWIG_SyntaxError
SWIG_ValueError
SWIG_SystemError
SWIG_UnknownError
</pre></blockquote>
<p>
Since the <tt>SWIG_exception()</tt> function is defined at the C-level
it can be used elsewhere in SWIG. This includes typemaps and helper
functions.
</p>
<H2><a name="ownership"></a>11.2 Object ownership and %newobject</H2>
A common problem in some applications is managing proper ownership of objects. For
example, consider a function like this:
<blockquote>
<pre>
Foo *blah() {
Foo *f = new Foo();
return f;
}
</pre>
</blockquote>
If you wrap the function <tt>blah()</tt>, SWIG has no idea that the
return value is a newly allocated object. As a result, the resulting
extension module may produce a memory leak (SWIG is conservative and
will never delete objects unless it knows for certain that the
returned object was newly created).
<p>
To fix this, you can provide an extra hint to the code generator using
the <tt>%newobject</tt> directive. For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%newobject blah;
Foo *blah();
</pre>
</blockquote>
<tt>%newobject</tt> works exactly like <tt>%rename</tt> and <tt>%exception</tt>. In other words,
you can attach it to class members and parameterized declarations as before. For example:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%newobject ::blah(); // Only applies to global blah
%newobject Object::blah(int,double); // Only blah(int,double) in Object
%newobject *::copy; // Copy method in all classes
...
</pre>
</blockquote>
When <tt>%newobject</tt> is supplied, many language modules will
arrange to take ownership of the return value. This allows the value
to be automatically garbage-collected when it is no longer in use. However,
this depends entirely on the target language (a language module may also choose to ignore
the <tt>%newobject</tt> directive).
<p>
Closely related to <tt>%newobject</tt> is a special typemap. The "newfree" typemap
can be used to deallocate a newly allocated return value. It is only available on
methods for which <tt>%newobject</tt> has been applied and is commonly used to clean-up string
results. For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%typemap(newfree) char * "free($1);";
...
%newobject strdup;
...
char *strdup(const char *s);
</pre>
</blockquote>
In this case, the result of the function is a string in the target language. Since this string
is a copy of the original result, the data returned by <tt>strdup()</tt> is no longer needed.
The "newfree" typemap in the example simply releases this memory.
<p>
<b>Compatibility note:</b> Previous versions of SWIG had a special <tt>%new</tt> directive. However, unlike <tt>%newobject</tt>,
it only applied to the next declaration. For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%new char *strdup(const char *s);
</pre>
</blockquote>
For now this is still supported but is deprecated.
<p>
<b>How to shoot yourself in the foot:</b> The <tt>%newobject</tt> directive is not a declaration modifier like the old
<tt>%new</tt> directive. Don't write code like this:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%newobject
char *strdup(const char *s);
</pre>
</blockquote>
The results might not be what you expect.
<H2><a name="features"></a>11.3 Features and the %feature directive</H2>
Both <tt>%exception</tt> and <tt>%newobject</tt> are examples of a
more general purpose customization mechanism known as "features." A
feature is simply a user-definable property that is attached to
specific declarations in an interface file. Features are attached
using the <tt>%feature</tt> directive. For example:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("except") Object::allocate {
try {
$action
}
catch (MemoryError) {
croak("Out of memory");
}
}
%feature("new","1") *::copy;
</pre>
</blockquote>
In fact, the <tt>%exception</tt> and <tt>%newobject</tt> directives are really nothing more than macros
involving <tt>%feature</tt>:
<blockquote>
<pre>
#define %exception %feature("except")
#define %newobject %feature("new","1")
</pre>
</blockquote>
The <tt>%feature</tt> directive follows the same name matching rules
as the <tt>%rename</tt> directive (which is in fact just a special
form of <tt>%feature</tt>). This means that features can be applied with
pinpoint accuracy to specific declarations if needed.
<p>
When a feature is defined, it is given a name and a value. Most commonly, the
value is supplied after the declaration name as shown for the <tt>"except"</tt>
example above. However, if the feature is simple, a value might be supplied
as an extra argument as shown for the <tt>"new"</tt> feature.
</p>
<p>
A feature stays in effect until it is explicitly disabled. A feature is disabled by
supplying a <tt>%feature</tt> directive with no value. For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("except") Object::allocate; // Removes any previously defined feature
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
If no declaration name is given, a global feature is defined. This feature is then
attached to <em>every</em> declaration that follows. This is how global exception handlers
are defined. For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
/* Define a global exception handler */
%feature("except") {
try {
$action
}
...
}
... bunch of declarations ...
/* Disable the exception handler */
%feature("except");
</pre>
</blockquote>
The <tt>%feature</tt> directive can be used with different syntax.
The following are all equivalent:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("except") Object::method { $action };
%feature("except") Object::method %{ $action %};
%feature("except") Object::method " $action ";
%feature("except","$action") Object::method;
</pre>
</blockquote>
The syntax in the first variation will generate the <tt>{ }</tt> delimeters used whereas the other variations will not.
The <tt>%feature</tt> directive also accepts XML style attributes in the same way that typemaps will.
Any number of attributes can be specified.
The following is the generic syntax for features:
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("name","value", attribute1="AttibuteValue1") symbol;
%feature("name", attribute1="AttibuteValue1") symbol {value};
%feature("name", attribute1="AttibuteValue1") symbol %{value%};
%feature("name", attribute1="AttibuteValue1") symbol "value";
</pre>
</blockquote>
More than one attribute can be specified using a comma separated list.
The Java module is an example that uses attributes in <tt>%feature("except")</tt>.
The <tt>throws</tt> attribute specifies the name of a Java class to add to a proxy method's throws clause.
In the following example, <tt>MyExceptionClass</tt> is the name of the Java class for adding to the throws clause.
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("except", throws="MyExceptionClass") Object::method {
try {
$action
} catch (...) {
... code to throw a MyExceptionClass Java exception ...
}
};
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
Further details can be obtained from the <a href="Java.html#exception_handling">Java exception handling</a> section.
</p>
<H3><a name="Customization_features_default_args"></a>11.3.1 Features and default arguments</H3>
<p>
SWIG treats methods with default arguments as separate overloaded methods as detailed
in the <a href="SWIGPlus.html#SWIGPlus_default_args">default arguments</a> section.
Any <tt>%feature</tt> targeting a method with default arguments
will apply to all the extra overloaded methods that SWIG generates if the
default arguments are specified in the feature. If the default arguments are
not specified in the feature, then the feature will match that exact
wrapper method only and not the extra overloaded methods that SWIG generates.
For example:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("except") void hello(int i=0, double d=0.0);
void hello(int i=0, double d=0.0);
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
will apply the feature to all three wrapper methods, that is:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
void hello(int i, double d);
void hello(int i);
void hello();
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
If the default arguments are not specified in the feature:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%feature("except") void hello(int i, double d);
void hello(int i=0, double d=0.0);
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
then the feature will only apply to this wrapper method:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
void hello(int i, double d);
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
and not these wrapper methods:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
void hello(int i);
void hello();
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>
If <a href="SWIGPlus.html#SWIGPlus_default_args">compactdefaultargs</a> are being used, then the difference between
specifying or not specifying default arguments in a feature is not applicable as just one wrapper is generated.
</p>
<p>
<b>Compatibility note:</b> The different behaviour of features specified with or without default arguments was introduced
in SWIG-1.3.23 when the approach to wrapping methods with default arguments was changed.
</p>
<H3><a name="features_example"></a>11.3.2 Feature example</H3>
<p>
As has been shown earlier, the intended use for the <tt>%feature</tt> directive is as a highly flexible customization mechanism that can be used to annotate
declarations with additional information for use by specific target language modules. Another example is
in the Python module. You might use <tt>%feature</tt> to rewrite proxy/shadow class code as follows:
</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
%module example
%rename(bar_id) bar(int,double);
// Rewrite bar() to allow some nice overloading
%feature("shadow") Foo::bar(int) %{
def bar(*args):
if len(args) == 3:
return apply(examplec.Foo_bar_id,args)
return apply(examplec.Foo_bar,args)
%}
class Foo {
public:
int bar(int x);
int bar(int x, double y);
}
</pre>
</blockquote>
Further details of <tt>%feature</tt> usage is described in the documentation for specific language modules.
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