Smart pointers ############## .. Note:: This is the pybind11 **smart_holder** branch, but the information below has NOT been updated accordingly yet. Please refer to ``README_smart_holder.rst`` under the top-level pybind11 directory for updated information about smart pointers. std::unique_ptr =============== Given a class ``Example`` with Python bindings, it's possible to return instances wrapped in C++11 unique pointers, like so .. code-block:: cpp std::unique_ptr create_example() { return std::unique_ptr(new Example()); } .. code-block:: cpp m.def("create_example", &create_example); In other words, there is nothing special that needs to be done. While returning unique pointers in this way is allowed, it is *illegal* to use them as function arguments. For instance, the following function signature cannot be processed by pybind11. .. code-block:: cpp void do_something_with_example(std::unique_ptr ex) { ... } The above signature would imply that Python needs to give up ownership of an object that is passed to this function, which is generally not possible (for instance, the object might be referenced elsewhere). std::shared_ptr =============== The binding generator for classes, :class:`class_`, can be passed a template type that denotes a special *holder* type that is used to manage references to the object. If no such holder type template argument is given, the default for a type named ``Type`` is ``std::unique_ptr``, which means that the object is deallocated when Python's reference count goes to zero. It is possible to switch to other types of reference counting wrappers or smart pointers, which is useful in codebases that rely on them. For instance, the following snippet causes ``std::shared_ptr`` to be used instead. .. code-block:: cpp py::class_ /* <- holder type */> obj(m, "Example"); Note that any particular class can only be associated with a single holder type. One potential stumbling block when using holder types is that they need to be applied consistently. Can you guess what's broken about the following binding code? .. code-block:: cpp class Child { }; class Parent { public: Parent() : child(std::make_shared()) { } Child *get_child() { return child.get(); } /* Hint: ** DON'T DO THIS ** */ private: std::shared_ptr child; }; PYBIND11_MODULE(example, m) { py::class_>(m, "Child"); py::class_>(m, "Parent") .def(py::init<>()) .def("get_child", &Parent::get_child); } The following Python code will cause undefined behavior (and likely a segmentation fault). .. code-block:: python from example import Parent print(Parent().get_child()) The problem is that ``Parent::get_child()`` returns a pointer to an instance of ``Child``, but the fact that this instance is already managed by ``std::shared_ptr<...>`` is lost when passing raw pointers. In this case, pybind11 will create a second independent ``std::shared_ptr<...>`` that also claims ownership of the pointer. In the end, the object will be freed **twice** since these shared pointers have no way of knowing about each other. There are two ways to resolve this issue: 1. For types that are managed by a smart pointer class, never use raw pointers in function arguments or return values. In other words: always consistently wrap pointers into their designated holder types (such as ``std::shared_ptr<...>``). In this case, the signature of ``get_child()`` should be modified as follows: .. code-block:: cpp std::shared_ptr get_child() { return child; } 2. Adjust the definition of ``Child`` by specifying ``std::enable_shared_from_this`` (see cppreference_ for details) as a base class. This adds a small bit of information to ``Child`` that allows pybind11 to realize that there is already an existing ``std::shared_ptr<...>`` and communicate with it. In this case, the declaration of ``Child`` should look as follows: .. _cppreference: http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/memory/enable_shared_from_this .. code-block:: cpp class Child : public std::enable_shared_from_this { }; .. _smart_pointers: Custom smart pointers ===================== pybind11 supports ``std::unique_ptr`` and ``std::shared_ptr`` right out of the box. For any other custom smart pointer, transparent conversions can be enabled using a macro invocation similar to the following. It must be declared at the top namespace level before any binding code: .. code-block:: cpp PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE(T, SmartPtr); The first argument of :func:`PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE` should be a placeholder name that is used as a template parameter of the second argument. Thus, feel free to use any identifier, but use it consistently on both sides; also, don't use the name of a type that already exists in your codebase. The macro also accepts a third optional boolean parameter that is set to false by default. Specify .. code-block:: cpp PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE(T, SmartPtr, true); if ``SmartPtr`` can always be initialized from a ``T*`` pointer without the risk of inconsistencies (such as multiple independent ``SmartPtr`` instances believing that they are the sole owner of the ``T*`` pointer). A common situation where ``true`` should be passed is when the ``T`` instances use *intrusive* reference counting. Please take a look at the :ref:`macro_notes` before using this feature. By default, pybind11 assumes that your custom smart pointer has a standard interface, i.e. provides a ``.get()`` member function to access the underlying raw pointer. If this is not the case, pybind11's ``holder_helper`` must be specialized: .. code-block:: cpp // Always needed for custom holder types PYBIND11_DECLARE_HOLDER_TYPE(T, SmartPtr); // Only needed if the type's `.get()` goes by another name namespace pybind11 { namespace detail { template struct holder_helper> { // <-- specialization static const T *get(const SmartPtr &p) { return p.getPointer(); } }; }} The above specialization informs pybind11 that the custom ``SmartPtr`` class provides ``.get()`` functionality via ``.getPointer()``. .. seealso:: The file :file:`tests/test_smart_ptr.cpp` contains a complete example that demonstrates how to work with custom reference-counting holder types in more detail.