Permit creation of NumPy arrays with a "base" object that owns the data

This patch adds an extra base handle parameter to most ``py::array`` and
``py::array_t<>`` constructors. If specified along with a pointer to
data, the base object will be registered within NumPy, which increases
the base's reference count. This feature is useful to create shallow
copies of C++ or Python arrays while ensuring that the owners of the
underlying can't be garbage collected while referenced by NumPy.

The commit also adds a simple test function involving a ``wrap()``
function that creates shallow copies of various N-D arrays.

include/pybind11/numpy.h

@@ -156,8 +156,10 @@ NAMESPACE_END(detail)
     (reinterpret_cast<::pybind11::detail::PyArray_Proxy*>(ptr)->attr)
 #define PyArrayDescr_GET_(ptr, attr) \
     (reinterpret_cast<::pybind11::detail::PyArrayDescr_Proxy*>(ptr)->attr)
+#define PyArray_FLAGS_(ptr) \
+    (reinterpret_cast<::pybind11::detail::PyArray_Proxy*>(ptr)->flags)
 #define PyArray_CHKFLAGS_(ptr, flag) \
-    (flag == (reinterpret_cast<::pybind11::detail::PyArray_Proxy*>(ptr)->flags & flag))
+    (flag == (PyArray_FLAGS_(ptr) & flag))
 
 class dtype : public object {
 public:
@@ -259,37 +261,61 @@ public:
     };
 
     array(const pybind11::dtype &dt, const std::vector<size_t> &shape,
-          const std::vector<size_t>& strides, const void *ptr = nullptr) {
+          const std::vector<size_t> &strides, const void *ptr = nullptr,
+          handle base = handle()) {
         auto& api = detail::npy_api::get();
         auto ndim = shape.size();
         if (shape.size() != strides.size())
             pybind11_fail("NumPy: shape ndim doesn't match strides ndim");
         auto descr = dt;
+
+        int flags = 0;
+        if (base && ptr) {
+            array base_array(base, true);
+            if (base_array.check())
+                /* Copy flags from base (except baseship bit) */
+                flags = base_array.flags() & ~detail::npy_api::NPY_ARRAY_OWNDATA_;
+            else
+                /* Writable by default, easy to downgrade later on if needed */
+                flags = detail::npy_api::NPY_ARRAY_WRITEABLE_;
+        }
+
         object tmp(api.PyArray_NewFromDescr_(
             api.PyArray_Type_, descr.release().ptr(), (int) ndim, (Py_intptr_t *) shape.data(),
-            (Py_intptr_t *) strides.data(), const_cast<void *>(ptr), 0, nullptr), false);
+            (Py_intptr_t *) strides.data(), const_cast<void *>(ptr), flags, nullptr), false);
         if (!tmp)
             pybind11_fail("NumPy: unable to create array!");
-        if (ptr)
+        if (ptr) {
+            if (base) {
+                PyArray_GET_(tmp.ptr(), base) = base.inc_ref().ptr();
+            } else {
                 tmp = object(api.PyArray_NewCopy_(tmp.ptr(), -1 /* any order */), false);
+            }
+        }
         m_ptr = tmp.release().ptr();
     }
 
-    array(const pybind11::dtype& dt, const std::vector<size_t>& shape, const void *ptr = nullptr)
+    array(const pybind11::dtype &dt, const std::vector<size_t> &shape,
-    : array(dt, shape, default_strides(shape, dt.itemsize()), ptr) { }
+          const void *ptr = nullptr, handle base = handle())
+        : array(dt, shape, default_strides(shape, dt.itemsize()), ptr, base) { }
 
-    array(const pybind11::dtype& dt, size_t count, const void *ptr = nullptr)
+    array(const pybind11::dtype &dt, size_t count, const void *ptr = nullptr,
-    : array(dt, std::vector<size_t> { count }, ptr) { }
+          handle base = handle())
+        : array(dt, std::vector<size_t>{ count }, ptr, base) { }
 
     template<typename T> array(const std::vector<size_t>& shape,
-                               const std::vector<size_t>& strides, const T* ptr)
+                               const std::vector<size_t>& strides,
-    : array(pybind11::dtype::of<T>(), shape, strides, (void *) ptr) { }
+                               const T* ptr, handle base = handle())
+    : array(pybind11::dtype::of<T>(), shape, strides, (void *) ptr, base) { }
 
-    template<typename T> array(const std::vector<size_t>& shape, const T* ptr)
+    template <typename T>
-    : array(shape, default_strides(shape, sizeof(T)), ptr) { }
+    array(const std::vector<size_t> &shape, const T *ptr,
+          handle base = handle())
+        : array(shape, default_strides(shape, sizeof(T)), ptr, base) { }
 
-    template<typename T> array(size_t count, const T* ptr)
+    template <typename T>
-    : array(std::vector<size_t> { count }, ptr) { }
+    array(size_t count, const T *ptr, handle base = handle())
+        : array(std::vector<size_t>{ count }, ptr, base) { }
 
     array(const buffer_info &info)
     : array(pybind11::dtype(info), info.shape, info.strides, info.ptr) { }
@@ -319,6 +345,11 @@ public:
         return (size_t) PyArray_GET_(m_ptr, nd);
     }
 
+    /// Base object
+    object base() const {
+        return object(PyArray_GET_(m_ptr, base), true);
+    }
+
     /// Dimensions of the array
     const size_t* shape() const {
         return reinterpret_cast<const size_t *>(PyArray_GET_(m_ptr, dimensions));
@@ -343,6 +374,11 @@ public:
         return strides()[dim];
     }
 
+    /// Return the NumPy array flags
+    int flags() const {
+        return PyArray_FLAGS_(m_ptr);
+    }
+
     /// If set, the array is writeable (otherwise the buffer is read-only)
     bool writeable() const {
         return PyArray_CHKFLAGS_(m_ptr, detail::npy_api::NPY_ARRAY_WRITEABLE_);
@@ -436,14 +472,17 @@ public:
 
     array_t(const buffer_info& info) : array(info) { }
 
-    array_t(const std::vector<size_t>& shape, const std::vector<size_t>& strides, const T* ptr = nullptr)
+    array_t(const std::vector<size_t> &shape,
-    : array(shape, strides, ptr) { }
+            const std::vector<size_t> &strides, const T *ptr = nullptr,
+            handle base = handle())
+        : array(shape, strides, ptr, base) { }
 
-    array_t(const std::vector<size_t>& shape, const T* ptr = nullptr)
+    array_t(const std::vector<size_t> &shape, const T *ptr = nullptr,
-    : array(shape, ptr) { }
+            handle base = handle())
+        : array(shape, ptr, base) { }
 
-    array_t(size_t count, const T* ptr = nullptr)
+    array_t(size_t count, const T *ptr = nullptr, handle base = handle())
-    : array(count, ptr) { }
+        : array(count, ptr, base) { }
 
     constexpr size_t itemsize() const {
         return sizeof(T);

tests/test_numpy_array.cpp

@@ -99,4 +99,14 @@ test_initializer numpy_array([](py::module &m) {
     sm.def("make_c_array", [] {
         return py::array_t<float>({ 2, 2 }, { 8, 4 });
     });
+
+    sm.def("wrap", [](py::array a) {
+        return py::array(
+            a.dtype(),
+            std::vector<size_t>(a.shape(), a.shape() + a.ndim()),
+            std::vector<size_t>(a.strides(), a.strides() + a.ndim()),
+            a.data(),
+            a
+        );
+    });
 });

tests/test_numpy_array.py

@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ def test_bounds_check(arr):
             index_at(arr, 0, 4)
         assert str(excinfo.value) == 'index 4 is out of bounds for axis 1 with size 3'
 
+
 @pytest.requires_numpy
 def test_make_c_f_array():
     from pybind11_tests.array import (
@@ -158,3 +159,53 @@ def test_make_c_f_array():
     assert not make_c_array().flags.f_contiguous
     assert make_f_array().flags.f_contiguous
     assert not make_f_array().flags.c_contiguous
+
+
+@pytest.requires_numpy
+def test_wrap():
+    from pybind11_tests.array import wrap
+
+    def assert_references(A, B):
+        assert A is not B
+        assert A.__array_interface__['data'][0] == \
+               B.__array_interface__['data'][0]
+        assert A.shape == B.shape
+        assert A.strides == B.strides
+        assert A.flags.c_contiguous == B.flags.c_contiguous
+        assert A.flags.f_contiguous == B.flags.f_contiguous
+        assert A.flags.writeable == B.flags.writeable
+        assert A.flags.aligned == B.flags.aligned
+        assert A.flags.updateifcopy == B.flags.updateifcopy
+        assert np.all(A == B)
+        assert not B.flags.owndata
+        assert B.base is A
+        if A.flags.writeable and A.ndim == 2:
+            A[0, 0] = 1234
+            assert B[0, 0] == 1234
+
+    A1 = np.array([1, 2], dtype=np.int16)
+    assert A1.flags.owndata and A1.base is None
+    A2 = wrap(A1)
+    assert_references(A1, A2)
+
+    A1 = np.array([[1, 2], [3, 4]], dtype=np.float32, order='F')
+    assert A1.flags.owndata and A1.base is None
+    A2 = wrap(A1)
+    assert_references(A1, A2)
+
+    A1 = np.array([[1, 2], [3, 4]], dtype=np.float32, order='C')
+    A1.flags.writeable = False
+    A2 = wrap(A1)
+    assert_references(A1, A2)
+
+    A1 = np.random.random((4, 4, 4))
+    A2 = wrap(A1)
+    assert_references(A1, A2)
+
+    A1 = A1.transpose()
+    A2 = wrap(A1)
+    assert_references(A1, A2)
+
+    A1 = A1.diagonal()
+    A2 = wrap(A1)
+    assert_references(A1, A2)