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Module `std.typecons`

This module implements a variety of type constructors, i.e., templates that allow construction of new, useful general-purpose types.


Category	Functions
Tuple	`isTuple` `Tuple` `tuple` `reverse`
Flags	`BitFlags` `isBitFlagEnum` `Flag` `No` `Yes`
Memory allocation	`RefCounted` `refCounted` `RefCountedAutoInitialize` `scoped` `Unique`
Code generation	`AutoImplement` `BlackHole` `generateAssertTrap` `generateEmptyFunction` `WhiteHole`
Nullable	`Nullable` `nullable` `NullableRef` `nullableRef`
Proxies	`Proxy` `rebindable` `Rebindable` `ReplaceType` `unwrap` `wrap`
Types	`alignForSize` `Ternary` `Typedef` `TypedefType` `UnqualRef`

Example

// value tuples
alias Coord = Tuple!(int, "x", int, "y", int, "z");
Coord c;
c[1] = 1;       // access by index
c.z = 1;        // access by given name
writeln(c); // Coord(0, 1, 1)

// names can be omitted
alias DicEntry = Tuple!(string, string);

// tuples can also be constructed on instantiation
writeln(tuple(2, 3, 4)[1]); // 3
// construction on instantiation works with names too
writeln(tuple!("x", "y", "z")(2, 3, 4).y); // 3

// Rebindable references to const and immutable objects
{
    class Widget { void foo() const @safe {} }
    const w1 = new Widget, w2 = new Widget;
    w1.foo();
    // w1 = w2 would not work; can't rebind const object
    auto r = Rebindable!(const Widget)(w1);
    // invoke method as if r were a Widget object
    r.foo();
    // rebind r to refer to another object
    r = w2;
}

Functions

Name	Description
`alignForSize()`	Order the provided members to minimize size while preserving alignment. Alignment is not always optimal for 80-bit reals, nor for structs declared as align(1).
`nullable(t)`	Defines a value paired with a distinctive "null" state that denotes the absence of a value. If default constructed, a `Nullable!T` object starts in the null state. Assigning it renders it non-null. Calling `nullify` can nullify it again.
`nullable(t)`	Just like `Nullable!T`, except that the null state is defined as a particular value. For example, `Nullable!(uint, uint.max)` is an `uint` that sets aside the value `uint.max` to denote a null state. `Nullable!(T, nullValue)` is more storage-efficient than `Nullable!T` because it does not need to store an extra `bool`.
`nullableRef(t)`	Just like `Nullable!T`, except that the object refers to a value sitting elsewhere in memory. This makes assignments overwrite the initially assigned value. Internally `NullableRef!T` only stores a pointer to `T` (i.e., `Nullable!T.sizeof == (T*).sizeof`).
`rebindable(obj)`	Convenience function for creating a `Rebindable` using automatic type inference.
`rebindable(obj)`	This function simply returns the `Rebindable` object passed in. It's useful in generic programming cases when a given object may be either a regular `class` or a `Rebindable`.
`refCounted(val)`	Initializes a `RefCounted` with `val`. The template parameter `T` of `RefCounted` is inferred from `val`. This function can be used to move non-copyable values to the heap. It also disables the `autoInit` option of `RefCounted`.
`reverse(t)`	Creates a copy of a `Tuple` with its fields in reverse order.

Classes

Name	Description
`AutoImplement`	`AutoImplement` automatically implements (by default) all abstract member functions in the class or interface `Base` in specified way.

Structs

Name	Description
`BitFlags`	A typesafe structure for storing combinations of enum values.
`No`	Convenience names that allow using e.g. `Yes.encryption` instead of `Flag!"encryption".yes` and `No.encryption` instead of `Flag!"encryption".no`.
`Nullable`	Defines a value paired with a distinctive "null" state that denotes the absence of a value. If default constructed, a `Nullable!T` object starts in the null state. Assigning it renders it non-null. Calling `nullify` can nullify it again.
`Nullable`	Just like `Nullable!T`, except that the null state is defined as a particular value. For example, `Nullable!(uint, uint.max)` is an `uint` that sets aside the value `uint.max` to denote a null state. `Nullable!(T, nullValue)` is more storage-efficient than `Nullable!T` because it does not need to store an extra `bool`.
`NullableRef`	Just like `Nullable!T`, except that the object refers to a value sitting elsewhere in memory. This makes assignments overwrite the initially assigned value. Internally `NullableRef!T` only stores a pointer to `T` (i.e., `Nullable!T.sizeof == (T*).sizeof`).
`RefCounted`	Defines a reference-counted object containing a `T` value as payload.
`Ternary`	Ternary type with three truth values:
`Tuple`	Tuple of values, for example `Tuple!(int, string)` is a record that stores an `int` and a `string`. `Tuple` can be used to bundle values together, notably when returning multiple values from a function. If `obj` is a `Tuple`, the individual members are accessible with the syntax `obj[0]` for the first field, `obj[1]` for the second, and so on.
`Typedef`	Typedef allows the creation of a unique type which is based on an existing type. Unlike the `alias` feature, Typedef ensures the two types are not considered as equals.
`Unique`	Encapsulates unique ownership of a resource.
`UnqualRef`	Similar to `Rebindable!(T)` but strips all qualifiers from the reference as opposed to just constness / immutability. Primary intended use case is with shared (having thread-local reference to shared class data)
`Yes`	Convenience names that allow using e.g. `Yes.encryption` instead of `Flag!"encryption".yes` and `No.encryption` instead of `Flag!"encryption".no`.

Enums

Name	Description
`Flag`	Defines a simple, self-documenting yes/no flag. This makes it easy for APIs to define functions accepting flags without resorting to `bool`, which is opaque in calls, and without needing to define an enumerated type separately. Using `Flag!"Name"` instead of `bool` makes the flag's meaning visible in calls. Each yes/no flag has its own type, which makes confusions and mix-ups impossible.
`RefCountedAutoInitialize`	Options regarding auto-initialization of a `RefCounted` object (see the definition of `RefCounted` below).

Templates

Name	Description
`apply`	Unpacks the content of a `Nullable`, performs an operation and packs it again. Does nothing if isNull.
`Proxy`	Creates a proxy for the value `a` that will forward all operations while disabling implicit conversions. The aliased item `a` must be an lvalue. This is useful for creating a new type from the "base" type (though this is not a subtype-supertype relationship; the new type is not related to the old type in any way, by design).
`scoped`	Allocates a `class` object right inside the current scope, therefore avoiding the overhead of `new`. This facility is unsafe; it is the responsibility of the user to not escape a reference to the object outside the scope.
`tuple`	Constructs a `Tuple` object instantiated and initialized according to the given arguments.
`unwrap`	Supports structural based typesafe conversion.
`wrap`	Supports structural based typesafe conversion.

Manifest constants

Name	Type	Description
`generateAssertTrap`		Predefined how-policies for `AutoImplement`. These templates are also used by `BlackHole` and `WhiteHole`, respectively.
`generateEmptyFunction`		Predefined how-policies for `AutoImplement`. These templates are also used by `BlackHole` and `WhiteHole`, respectively.
`isBitFlagEnum`		Detect whether an enum is of integral type and has only "flag" values (i.e. values with a bit count of exactly 1). Additionally, a zero value is allowed for compatibility with enums including a "None" value.
`isTuple`		Returns `true` if and only if `T` is an instance of `Tuple`.

Aliases

Name	Type	Description
`BlackHole`	`AutoImplement!(Base,generateEmptyFunction,isAbstractFunction)`	`BlackHole!Base` is a subclass of `Base` which automatically implements all abstract member functions in `Base` as do-nothing functions. Each auto-implemented function just returns the default value of the return type without doing anything.
`Rebindable`	`const(ElementEncodingType!T)[]`	`Rebindable!(T)` is a simple, efficient wrapper that behaves just like an object of type `T`, except that you can reassign it to refer to another object. For completeness, `Rebindable!(T)` aliases itself away to `T` if `T` is a non-const object type.
`ReplaceType`	`ReplaceTypeUnless!(false_,From,To,T)`	Replaces all occurrences of `From` into `To`, in one or more types `T`. For example, `ReplaceType!(int, uint, Tuple!(int, float)[string])` yields `Tuple!(uint, float)[string]`. The types in which replacement is performed may be arbitrarily complex, including qualifiers, built-in type constructors (pointers, arrays, associative arrays, functions, and delegates), and template instantiations; replacement proceeds transitively through the type definition. However, member types in `struct`s or `class`es are not replaced because there are no ways to express the types resulting after replacement.
`ReplaceTypeUnless`	`T[0]`	Like `ReplaceType`, but does not perform replacement in types for which `pred` evaluates to `true`.
`TypedefType`	`Arg`	Get the underlying type which a `Typedef` wraps. If `T` is not a `Typedef` it will alias itself to `T`.
`unwrap`	`unwrap!(Unqual!Target)`	Supports structural based typesafe conversion.
`WhiteHole`	`AutoImplement!(Base,generateAssertTrap,isAbstractFunction)`	`WhiteHole!Base` is a subclass of `Base` which automatically implements all abstract member functions as functions that always fail. These functions simply throw an `Error` and never return. `Whitehole` is useful for trapping the use of class member functions that haven't been implemented.
`wrap`	`wrap!(staticMap!(Unqual,Targets))`	Supports structural based typesafe conversion.

Authors

Andrei Alexandrescu, Bartosz Milewski, Don Clugston, Shin Fujishiro, Kenji Hara

License

Boost License 1.0.