123 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
[/
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(C) Copyright Edward Diener 2011,2012
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Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
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(See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at
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http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt).
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]
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[section:tti_intro Introduction]
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Welcome to the Boost Type Traits Introspection library, abbreviated TTI.
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TTI is a library which provides the ability to introspect by name the elements
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of a type at compile time.
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TTI works through macros generating metafunctions. Metafunctions are class
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templates of a particular syntax, having a nested 'type' member. So wherever
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in C++ class templates can occur, TTI macros can be used. The metafunctions
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generated by TTI are no different from any other metafunction as defined by
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the Boost MPL library.
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The metafunctions generated by TTI are used to introspect elements of a type
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at compile time, always passing at minimum to each metafunction the enclosing
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type being introspected.
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The name of the library has been chosen because the library offers
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compile time functionality on a type, similar to the Boost Type Traits library,
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and because the functionality the library offers is the ability to introspect
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a type about the existence of a specific element within that type.
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I use the word "introspect" in a very broad sense here. Normally computer
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language introspection means initially asking for information to be returned
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by name, which can then further be used to introspect for more specific
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information. In the TTI library one must always know and supply the name, and
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use the functionality provided for the correct type of inner element to find
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out if that particular named entity exists.
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You may prefer the term "query" instead of "introspection" to denote what this
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library does, but I use terminology based on the word "introspect" throughout
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this documentation.
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The functionality of the library may be summed up as:
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* Provide the means to introspect a type at compile time
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using a set of macros. Each macro takes the name of the
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type's element and generates a metafunction which can be
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subsequently invoked to determine whether or not the
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element exists within the type. These generated metafunctions
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will be called "macro metafunctions" in the documentation.
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* Provide the means to create a typedef for a type which may
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not exist. This typedef type can be used as a type in the
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metafunctions of the library without producing compile-time
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errors.
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The library is dependent on Boost PP, Boost MPL,
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Boost Type Traits, and Boost Function Types.
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The library is also dependent on the variadic macro support
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of the Boost PP library if the variadic macros in the library
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are used.
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The library is a header only library.
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Since the dependencies of the library are all header only
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libraries, there is no need to build a library in order to use
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the TTI library.
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[section:tti_headers Header Files]
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There are is a single header file, `boost/tti/tti.hpp`,
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which includes all the header files in the library.
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There are also separate specific header files for each of the elements
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to be introspected by the library. This allows for finer-grained inclusion
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of the nested elements to be introspected. These header files are:
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[table:tbhfiles TTI Header Files
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[
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[Introspected Element]
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[Specific Header File]
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]
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[
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[Type]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_type.hpp `has_type.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Class Template]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_template.hpp `has_template.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Member data]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_member_data.hpp `has_member_data.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Member function]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_member_function.hpp `has_member_function.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Static member data]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_static_member_data.hpp `has_static_member_data.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Static member function]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_static_member_function.hpp `has_static_member_function.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Data]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_data.hpp `has_data.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Function]
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[[headerref boost/tti/has_function.hpp `has_function.hpp`]]
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]
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[
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[Member Type Creation]
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[[headerref boost/tti/member_type.hpp `member_type.hpp`]]
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]
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]
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[endsect]
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[endsect]
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