Notion of a class that serves as the base for the reflection API. More...

Public Types
enum	{ MAXIMUM_NUMBER_OF_SERVICE_PARAMETERS = 6, MAXIMUM_CLASS_NAME_LENGTH = 40 }

Public Member Functions
const MClass *	GetParent () const
	Get parent of a class, or NULL if the class has no parent. More...

bool	IsKindOf (const MClass *) const
	Tell about the relationship between this class and a given class. More...

MConstChars	GetName () const
	Access the name of the MClass. More...

MConstChars	GetTypeName () const
	Access the type name of the class. More...

const MClass *	GetParentClass (const MStdString &name) const
	Get parent class by the name specified. More...

const MServiceDefinition *	GetServiceDefinitionOrNull (const MStdString &name, int expectedNumberOfParameters=-1) const
	Get the constant definition of service (method) with the given name, or return NULL if such service does not exist. More...

const MServiceDefinition *	GetServiceDefinition (const MStdString &name, int expectedNumberOfParameters=-1) const
	Get the constant definition of service (method) with the given name, or return NULL if such service does not exist. More...

bool	IsServicePresent (const MStdString &name) const
	Tell if the service (method) with the given name exists in the class. More...

MStdStringVector	GetAllServiceNames () const
	The collection of all publicly available reflection enabled services. More...

MStdStringVector	GetOwnServiceNames () const
	The collection of publicly available reflection enabled services owned by the class. More...

const MServiceDefinition *	GetOwnServiceDefinitions () const
	Return the pointer to the array of objects that represent publicly available services. More...

MVariant	Call (const MStdString &name, const MVariant &params) const
	Call the static service of the class with parameters, given as variant. More...

MVariant	Call0 (const MStdString &name) const
	Call the static service of the object with no parameters. More...

MVariant	Call1 (const MStdString &name, const MVariant &p1) const
	Call the static service of the object with one parameter. More...

MVariant	Call2 (const MStdString &name, const MVariant &p1, const MVariant &p2) const
	Call the static service of the object with two parameter. More...

MVariant	CallV (const MStdString &name, const MVariant::VariantVector &params) const
	Call the static service of the object with vector of parameter. More...

const MPropertyDefinition *	GetPropertyDefinition (const MStdString &name) const
	Get the existing constant definition of the property with the name specified. More...

const MPropertyDefinition *	GetPropertyDefinitionOrNull (const MStdString &name) const
	Get the constant definition of the property with the name specified, or NULL if such property does not exist. More...

bool	IsPropertyPresent (const MStdString &name) const
	Tell if the property with the given name exists. More...

MVariant	GetProperty (const MStdString &name) const
	Get the static class property value using name of the property. More...

void	SetProperty (const MStdString &name, const MVariant &value) const
	Set the static class property value using name of the property. More...

MStdStringVector	GetAllPropertyNames () const
	Return the whole list of publicly available properties of this class and parents. More...

MStdStringVector	GetOwnPropertyNames () const
	Return the list of publicly available properties owned by this class. More...

MStdStringVector	GetAllPersistentPropertyNames () const
	Return the list of publicly available persistent properties of this class and all parents of this class. More...

MVariant	GetPersistentPropertyDefaultValue (const MStdString &name) const
	Get the default value of persistent property with the name given. More...

bool	MatchesClassOrTypeName (const MStdString &name) const
	Whether the given string is either class name or type name. More...

Static Public Member Functions
static const MClass *	GetClass (const MStdString &name)
	Find an MClass of a class with the name given. More...

static const MClass *	GetExistingClass (const MStdString &name)
	Find an existing MClass of a class with the name given. More...

static MStdStringVector	GetAllClassNames ()
	Return the list of all publicly available classes. More...


static bool	StaticIsKindOf (const MObject obj, const MClass cls)

static bool	StaticIsKindOf (const MObject &ref, const MClass *cls)

Friends
class M_CLASS	MObject

Detailed Description

Notion of a class that serves as the base for the reflection API.

Every class derived from MObject and exposed through Reflection has an associated class object. Class gives the way for an object to dynamically present the information about itself:

Parent class
Properties
Services (methods) and their parameters Current implementation supports only single inheritance.

Somewhat more popular name for what is called "service" is "method."

Properties can be read-only, in which case their values cannot be set by direct assignment to property. Read-write properties can be persistent, which means there is a default value available for such property, and that the value of such property is suitable for persisting in configuration.

See also: MObject

Member Enumeration Documentation

anonymous enum

Enumerator
MAXIMUM_NUMBER_OF_SERVICE_PARAMETERS	Maximum number of parameters supported in a service.
MAXIMUM_CLASS_NAME_LENGTH	Maximum size of class name in characters including trailing zero (divisible by 4)

Member Function Documentation

MVariant MClass::Call	(	const MStdString &	name,
		const MVariant &	params
	)		const

Call the static service of the class with parameters, given as variant.

Service of the class is the same as static method in C++.

Precondition: The service with such name should exist, shall be static (service of class), and the number of parameters should be equal to one supported by the call, otherwise an exception is thrown. The preconditions of the particular service that gets called also apply.

Parameters

name Name of the static service (method) to call.

params

Parameters to pass to the static service.

To pass no parameters, supply an empty MVariant as parameter, or more conveniently, use Call0.
To pass a single non-empty non-collection MVariant using Call, give it directly as param, or use Call1.
To pass a single empty MVariant as parameter, enclose it into a collection, or use Call1.
To pass a couple of parameters, supply them in a collection of MVariant values.
To pass a single parameter, which is a collection of MVariant value, enclose it into another collection.

Returns: Returns whatever the reflected service/method with the given name returns. If the called service has no return value, the returned MVariant is empty.

See also: Call0 - calling service without parameters; Call1 - calling service with one parameter; Call2 - calling service with two parameters; CallV - calling service with a vector of parameters; MObject::Call - calling non-static service of an object

MVariant MClass::Call0 ( const MStdString & name ) const

Call the static service of the object with no parameters.

Service of the class is the same as static method in C++.

Precondition: The service with such name should exist, shall be static (service of class), and should have no parameters, otherwise an exception is thrown. The preconditions of the particular service that gets called also apply.

Parameters

name	Name of the static service (method) to call.

Returns: Returns whatever the reflected service/method with the given name returns. If the called service has no return value, the returned MVariant is empty.

See also: Call - generic call of the service with parameters given as generic MVariant; Call1 - calling service with one parameter; Call2 - calling service with two parameters; CallV - calling service with a vector of parameters; MObject::Call0 - calling non-static service of an object with no parameters

MVariant MClass::Call1	(	const MStdString &	name,
		const MVariant &	p1
	)		const

Call the static service of the object with one parameter.

Service of the class is the same as static method in C++.

Precondition: The service with such name should exist, shall be static (service of class), and should have one parameter, otherwise an exception is thrown. The preconditions of the particular service that gets called also apply.

Parameters

name	Name of the static service (method) to call.
p1	The parameter to pass to static service.

Returns: Returns whatever the reflected service/method with the given name returns. If the called service has no return value, the returned MVariant is empty.

See also: Call - generic call of the service with parameters given as generic MVariant; Call0 - calling service with no parameters; Call2 - calling service with two parameters; CallV - calling service with a vector of parameters; MObject::Call1 - calling non-static service of an object with one parameter

MVariant MClass::Call2	(	const MStdString &	name,
		const MVariant &	p1,
		const MVariant &	p2
	)		const

Call the static service of the object with two parameter.

Service of the class is the same as static method in C++.

Precondition: The service with such name should exist, shall be static (service of class), and should have two parameters, otherwise an exception is thrown. The preconditions of the particular service that gets called also apply.

Parameters

name	Name of the service (method) to call.
p1	The first parameter to pass to service.
p2	The second parameter to pass to service.

Returns: Returns whatever the reflected service/method with the given name returns. If the called service has no return value, the returned MVariant is empty.

See also: Call - generic call of the service with parameters given as generic MVariant; Call0 - calling service with no parameters; Call1 - calling service with two parameters; CallV - calling service with a vector of parameters; MObject::Call2 - calling non-static service of an object with two parameters

MVariant MClass::CallV	(	const MStdString &	name,
		const MVariant::VariantVector &	params
	)		const

Call the static service of the object with vector of parameter.

Service of the class is the same as static method in C++.

Precondition: The service with such name should exist, shall be static (service of class), and should have the same number of parameters as the vector count given, otherwise an exception is thrown. The preconditions of the particular service that gets called also apply.

Parameters

name	Name of the service (method) to call.
params	The vector of parameters to pass to service.

Returns: Returns whatever the reflected service/method with the given name returns. If the called service has no return value, the returned MVariant is empty.

See also: Call - generic call of the service with parameters given as generic MVariant; Call0 - calling service with no parameters; Call1 - calling service with one parameter; Call2 - calling service with two parameters; MObject::CallV - calling non-static service of an object with vector of parameters

static MStdStringVector MClass::GetAllClassNames ( )

static

Return the list of all publicly available classes.

While this property is declared in MClass, it really belongs to global environment of the application. The list composes all classes from all shared libraries or executables available at the time of the call. If a library is loaded dynamically at run time, and it has reflected classes, this list will grow.

MStdStringVector MClass::GetAllPersistentPropertyNames ( ) const

Return the list of publicly available persistent properties of this class and all parents of this class.

Persistent properties of this class and all parents of this class are returned.

See also: GetAllPropertyNames - fetch properties of this class and all parents of this class; GetOwnPropertyNames - fetch properties of this class, excluding parents

MStdStringVector MClass::GetAllPropertyNames ( ) const

Return the whole list of publicly available properties of this class and parents.

Persistent and not persistent properties of this class and all parents of this class are returned.

See also: GetOwnPropertyNames - fetch only this class properties, excluding properties of parents; GetAllPersistentPropertyNames - fetch only persistent properties.

MStdStringVector MClass::GetAllServiceNames ( ) const

The collection of all publicly available reflection enabled services.

The list of services includes services of parent class. If the service has copies with different number of parameters, still only one copy of the service name will be present.

See also: GetOwnServiceNames - return class own service names, excluding parents

static const MClass* MClass::GetClass ( const MStdString & name )

static

Find an MClass of a class with the name given.

All reflected classes existing in the application are enumerated to find a class.

Parameters

name	Class name to search for

Returns: MClass object to represent the existing reflected class, or null, if parent with such name does not exist.

See also: GetExistingClass - throws an exception if class is not present

static const MClass* MClass::GetExistingClass ( const MStdString & name )

static

Find an existing MClass of a class with the name given.

All reflected classes existing in the application are enumerated to find a class.

Parameters

name	Class name to search for. Such class should exist, or an exception is thrown.

Returns: MClass object to represent the existing reflected class.

See also: GetClass - returns null if class is not present

MConstChars MClass::GetName ( ) const

inline

Access the name of the MClass.

This will be a string representation of a particular class, like "Table" would be the one to represent class MTable.

MStdStringVector MClass::GetOwnPropertyNames ( ) const

Return the list of publicly available properties owned by this class.

Persistent and not persistent properties of this class are returned.

See also: GetAllPropertyNames - fetch properties of this class and all parents of this class; GetAllPersistentPropertyNames - fetch only persistent properties.

const MServiceDefinition* MClass::GetOwnServiceDefinitions ( ) const

inline

Return the pointer to the array of objects that represent publicly available services.

This is a C++ only call.

MStdStringVector MClass::GetOwnServiceNames ( ) const

The collection of publicly available reflection enabled services owned by the class.

The list of services does not include services of parent class. If the service has copies with different number of parameters, still only one copy of the service name will be present.

See also: GetAllServiceNames - return all service names available, including those in parents

const MClass* MClass::GetParent ( ) const

inline

Get parent of a class, or NULL if the class has no parent.

The only class that has no parent is MObject.

const MClass* MClass::GetParentClass ( const MStdString & name ) const

Get parent class by the name specified.

Parameters

name	Class name, parent name.

Returns: MClass object to represent the parent class, or null, if parent with such name does not exist.

MVariant MClass::GetPersistentPropertyDefaultValue ( const MStdString & name ) const

Get the default value of persistent property with the name given.

Parameters

name	Name of the persistent property to fetch default value from. The object should have the property with such name, and this property should have a default value (be persistent). Otherwise an exception is thrown.

Returns: Default value of property of a given name is returned.

MVariant MClass::GetProperty ( const MStdString & name ) const

Get the static class property value using name of the property.

Precondition: Particular property's preconditions apply to this call.

Parameters

name	Name of the property of interest. The property with such name should exist, and it should be the property of the class. Otherwise an exception will be thrown.

Returns: Value of property is returned.

See also: SetProperty - Set class property value.; GetPropertyDefinition - returns the constant pointer to the definition of the property with a name given.; MObject::GetProperty - Get property of an object. In case the static class property is accessed, the call MObject::GetProperty translates into this call, MClass::GetProperty

const MPropertyDefinition* MClass::GetPropertyDefinition ( const MStdString & name ) const

inline

Get the existing constant definition of the property with the name specified.

Parameters

name	The name of the property. The property with the name given should exist, otherwise the service throws an exception.

Returns: Property definition to represent the property of a given name will be returned.

See also: GetPropertyDefinitionOrNull - will return NULL if the property with the given name does not exist.

const MPropertyDefinition* MClass::GetPropertyDefinitionOrNull ( const MStdString & name ) const

Get the constant definition of the property with the name specified, or NULL if such property does not exist.

Parameters

name	The name of the property.

Returns: Property definition to represent the property of a given name will be returned, or NULL, if there is no such property.

See also: GetPropertyDefinition - will never return NULL but rather throw an exception if the property does not exist.

const MServiceDefinition* MClass::GetServiceDefinition	(	const MStdString &	name,
		int	expectedNumberOfParameters = `-1`
	)		const

Get the constant definition of service (method) with the given name, or return NULL if such service does not exist.

This is C++ only. Service, as used in the identifier, is another name for method.

Parameters

name	Service name to get definition for. If service does not exist, an exception is thrown.
expectedNumberOfParameters	Expected number of parameters. If specified, and not -1, shall denote the valid expected number of parameters. This parameter will need to be specified only for services that allow overloading.

Returns: Service definition is returned, never a null.

See also: GetServiceDefinitionOrNull - throws an exception

const MServiceDefinition* MClass::GetServiceDefinitionOrNull	(	const MStdString &	name,
		int	expectedNumberOfParameters = `-1`
	)		const

Get the constant definition of service (method) with the given name, or return NULL if such service does not exist.

This is C++ only. Service, as used in the identifier, is another name for method.

Parameters

name	Service name to get definition for. If service does not exist, NULL will be returned.
expectedNumberOfParameters	Expected number of parameters. If specified, and not -1, shall denote the valid expected number of parameters. This parameter will need to be specified only for services that allow overloading.

Returns: Service definition, if such service exists in the class, or NULL, if the specified service does not exist.

See also: GetServiceDefinition - throws an exception

MConstChars MClass::GetTypeName ( ) const

inline

Access the type name of the class.

Type of the class is in majority of cases the same as the class name. The differences exist only in MCOM classes, those derived from MCOMObject, such as MProtocol and MChannel.

bool MClass::IsKindOf ( const MClass * ) const

Tell about the relationship between this class and a given class.

Returns: True will mean the current object is kind of a given class.

See also: StaticIsKindOf - static version that also checks if the object is not null

bool MClass::IsPropertyPresent ( const MStdString & name ) const

inline

Tell if the property with the given name exists.

Parameters

name	The property name for which to check the existence

Returns: True returned if such property is present in either this class, or its parent

See also: MObject::IsPropertyPresent - essentially the same call, but it works on objects, not classes

bool MClass::IsServicePresent ( const MStdString & name ) const

inline

Tell if the service (method) with the given name exists in the class.

Parameters

name	Name of the service to check.

Returns: True returned if such service/method is present in either this class, or its parent

See also: MObject::IsServicePresent - essentially the same call, but it works on objects, not classes

bool MClass::MatchesClassOrTypeName ( const MStdString & name ) const

Whether the given string is either class name or type name.

This method is a convenience when a string has to match either class or type of this Class.

Parameters

name	Name of the presumed class or type.

Returns: True will be returned if the parameter matches either class name or type name.

void MClass::SetProperty	(	const MStdString &	name,
		const MVariant &	value
	)		const

Set the static class property value using name of the property.

Precondition: Particular property's preconditions apply to this call.

Parameters

name	Name of the property of interest. The property with such name should exist, it should not be read-only, and it should be the property of the class. Otherwise an exception will be thrown.
value	Value to assign to the property.

See also: GetProperty - Get class property value.; MObject::SetProperty - Set property of an object. In case the static class property is accessed, the call MObject::SetProperty translates into this call, MClass::SetProperty

static bool MClass::StaticIsKindOf	(	const MObject *	obj,
		const MClass *	cls
	)

static

Static version that tells if a given object is of a given class, or it is its child.

Different from IsKindOf, this version checks of the given object is null.

Returns: True will mean the given object is not null, and is kind of a given class.

static bool MClass::StaticIsKindOf	(	const MObject &	ref,
		const MClass *	cls
	)

inlinestatic

Static version that tells if a given object is of a given class, or it is its child.

Different from IsKindOf, this version checks of the given object is null.

Returns: True will mean the given object is not null, and is kind of a given class.

Public Types

Public Member Functions

Static Public Member Functions

Friends

Detailed Description

Member Enumeration Documentation

Member Function Documentation