The main point of `py::module_local` is to make the C++ -> Python cast
unique so that returning/casting a C++ instance is well-defined.
Unfortunately it also makes loading unique, but this isn't particularly
desirable: when an instance contains `Type` instance there's no reason
it shouldn't be possible to pass that instance to a bound function
taking a `Type` parameter, even if that function is in another module.
This commit solves the issue by allowing foreign module (and global)
type loaders have a chance to load the value if the local module loader
fails. The implementation here does this by storing a module-local
loading function in a capsule in the python type, which we can then call
if the local (and possibly global, if the local type is masking a global
type) version doesn't work.
Attempting to mix py::module_local and non-module_local classes results
in some unexpected/undesirable behaviour:
- if a class is registered non-local by some other module, a later
attempt to register it locally fails. It doesn't need to: it is
perfectly acceptable for the local registration to simply override
the external global registration.
- going the other way (i.e. module `A` registers a type `T` locally,
then `B` registers the same type `T` globally) causes a more serious
issue: `A.T`'s constructors no longer work because the `self` argument
gets converted to a `B.T`, which then fails to resolve.
Changing the cast precedence to prefer local over global fixes this and
makes it work more consistently, regardless of module load order.
This commit adds a `py::module_local` attribute that lets you confine a
registered type to the module (more technically, the shared object) in
which it is defined, by registering it with:
py::class_<C>(m, "C", py::module_local())
This will allow the same C++ class `C` to be registered in different
modules with independent sets of class definitions. On the Python side,
two such types will be completely distinct; on the C++ side, the C++
type resolves to a different Python type in each module.
This applies `py::module_local` automatically to `stl_bind.h` bindings
when the container value type looks like something global: i.e. when it
is a converting type (for example, when binding a `std::vector<int>`),
or when it is a registered type itself bound with `py::module_local`.
This should help resolve potential future conflicts (e.g. if two
completely unrelated modules both try to bind a `std::vector<int>`.
Users can override the automatic selection by adding a
`py::module_local()` or `py::module_local(false)`.
Note that this does mildly break backwards compatibility: bound stl
containers of basic types like `std::vector<int>` cannot be bound in one
module and returned in a different module. (This can be re-enabled with
`py::module_local(false)` as described above, but with the potential for
eventual load conflicts).