pybind11/docs/reference.rst

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.. _reference:
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.. warning::
Please be advised that the reference documentation discussing pybind11
internals is currently incomplete. Please refer to the previous sections
and the pybind11 header files for the nitty gritty details.
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Reference
#########
Macros
======
.. function:: PYBIND11_PLUGIN(const char *name)
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This macro creates the entry point that will be invoked when the Python
interpreter imports a plugin library. Please create a
:class:`module` in the function body and return the pointer to its
underlying Python object at the end.
.. code-block:: cpp
PYBIND11_PLUGIN(example) {
pybind11::module m("example", "pybind11 example plugin");
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/// Set up bindings here
return m.ptr();
}
.. _core_types:
Convenience classes for arbitrary Python types
==============================================
Without reference counting
--------------------------
.. class:: handle
The :class:`handle` class is a thin wrapper around an arbitrary Python
object (i.e. a ``PyObject *`` in Python's C API). It does not perform any
automatic reference counting and merely provides a basic C++ interface to
various Python API functions.
.. seealso::
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The :class:`object` class inherits from :class:`handle` and adds automatic
reference counting features.
.. function:: handle::handle()
The default constructor creates a handle with a ``nullptr``-valued pointer.
.. function:: handle::handle(const handle&)
Copy constructor
.. function:: handle::handle(PyObject *)
Creates a :class:`handle` from the given raw Python object pointer.
.. function:: PyObject * handle::ptr() const
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Return the ``PyObject *`` underlying a :class:`handle`.
.. function:: const handle& handle::inc_ref() const
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Manually increase the reference count of the Python object. Usually, it is
preferable to use the :class:`object` class which derives from
:class:`handle` and calls this function automatically. Returns a reference
to itself.
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.. function:: const handle& handle::dec_ref() const
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Manually decrease the reference count of the Python object. Usually, it is
preferable to use the :class:`object` class which derives from
:class:`handle` and calls this function automatically. Returns a reference
to itself.
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.. function:: void handle::ref_count() const
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Return the object's current reference count
.. function:: handle handle::get_type() const
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Return a handle to the Python type object underlying the instance
.. function detail::accessor handle::operator[](handle key) const
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Return an internal functor to invoke the object's sequence protocol.
Casting the returned ``detail::accessor`` instance to a :class:`handle` or
:class:`object` subclass causes a corresponding call to ``__getitem__``.
Assigning a :class:`handle` or :class:`object` subclass causes a call to
``__setitem__``.
.. function detail::accessor handle::operator[](const char *key) const
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See the above function (the only difference is that they key is provided as
a string literal).
.. function detail::accessor handle::attr(handle key) const
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Return an internal functor to access the object's attributes.
Casting the returned ``detail::accessor`` instance to a :class:`handle` or
:class:`object` subclass causes a corresponding call to ``__getattr``.
Assigning a :class:`handle` or :class:`object` subclass causes a call to
``__setattr``.
.. function detail::accessor handle::attr(const char *key) const
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See the above function (the only difference is that they key is provided as
a string literal).
.. function operator handle::bool() const
Return ``true`` when the :class:`handle` wraps a valid Python object.
.. function str handle::str() const
Return a string representation of the object. This is analogous to
the ``str()`` function in Python.
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.. function:: template <typename T> T handle::cast() const
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Attempt to cast the Python object into the given C++ type. A
:class:`cast_error` will be throw upon failure.
.. function:: template <typename ... Args> object handle::call(Args&&... args) const
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Assuming the Python object is a function or implements the ``__call__``
protocol, ``call()`` invokes the underlying function, passing an arbitrary
set of parameters. The result is returned as a :class:`object` and may need
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to be converted back into a Python object using :func:`handle::cast`.
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When some of the arguments cannot be converted to Python objects, the
function will throw a :class:`cast_error` exception. When the Python
function call fails, a :class:`error_already_set` exception is thrown.
With reference counting
-----------------------
.. class:: object : public handle
Like :class:`handle`, the object class is a thin wrapper around an
arbitrary Python object (i.e. a ``PyObject *`` in Python's C API). In
contrast to :class:`handle`, it optionally increases the object's reference
count upon construction, and it *always* decreases the reference count when
the :class:`object` instance goes out of scope and is destructed. When
using :class:`object` instances consistently, it is much easier to get
reference counting right at the first attempt.
.. function:: object::object(const object &o)
Copy constructor; always increases the reference count
.. function:: object::object(const handle &h, bool borrowed)
Creates a :class:`object` from the given :class:`handle`. The reference
count is only increased if the ``borrowed`` parameter is set to ``true``.
.. function:: object::object(PyObject *ptr, bool borrowed)
Creates a :class:`object` from the given raw Python object pointer. The
reference count is only increased if the ``borrowed`` parameter is set to
``true``.
.. function:: object::object(object &&other)
Move constructor; steals the object from ``other`` and preserves its
reference count.
.. function:: handle object::release()
Resets the internal pointer to ``nullptr`` without without decreasing the
object's reference count. The function returns a raw handle to the original
Python object.
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.. function:: object::~object()
Destructor, which automatically calls :func:`handle::dec_ref()`.
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Convenience classes for specific Python types
=============================================
.. class:: module : public object
.. function:: module::module(const char *name, const char *doc = nullptr)
Create a new top-level Python module with the given name and docstring
.. function:: module module::def_submodule(const char *name, const char *doc = nullptr)
Create and return a new Python submodule with the given name and docstring.
This also works recursively, i.e.
.. code-block:: cpp
pybind11::module m("example", "pybind11 example plugin");
pybind11::module m2 = m.def_submodule("sub", "A submodule of 'example'");
pybind11::module m3 = m2.def_submodule("subsub", "A submodule of 'example.sub'");
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.. cpp:function:: template <typename Func, typename ... Extra> module& module::def(const char *name, Func && f, Extra && ... extra)
Create Python binding for a new function within the module scope. ``Func``
can be a plain C++ function, a function pointer, or a lambda function. For
details on the ``Extra&& ... extra`` argument, see section :ref:`extras`.
.. _extras:
Passing extra arguments to the def function
===========================================
.. class:: arg
.. function:: arg::arg(const char *name)
.. function:: template <typename T> arg_t<T> arg::operator=(const T &value)
.. class:: template <typename T> arg_t<T> : public arg
Represents a named argument with a default value
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.. class:: sibling
Used to specify a handle to an existing sibling function; used internally
to implement function overloading in :func:`module::def` and
:func:`class_::def`.
.. function:: sibling::sibling(handle handle)
.. class doc
This is class is internally used by pybind11.
.. function:: doc::doc(const char *value)
Create a new docstring with the specified value
.. class name
This is class is internally used by pybind11.
.. function:: name::name(const char *value)
Used to specify the function name
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