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Reference counted smart pointer

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4 Dec 2012CPOL8 min read 25.5K   263   17  
This article presents a solution to manage pointers in C++ in a similar way as COM.
#pragma once

#if defined(TESTCLASSIMPL_EXPORTS)
#define REFCNTDECL __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define REFCNTDECL __declspec(dllimport)
#endif

namespace CoreImpl
{
	/**
		The reference counter interface. Abstract class in C++ 
	*/
	class REFCNTDECL IRefCount
	{
		friend class CRefCount;
		
	public:
		/**
			Call to increment the reference count
		 */
		virtual void AddRef(bool isSmartPtr = false) = 0;

		/**
			Call to decrement the reference count until it's 0 and call delete 
			on the object pointer itself
		 */
		virtual void Release(bool isSmartPtr = false) = 0;

	protected:
		virtual bool CanReleaseRef() = 0;
	};

	/**
		Implements the IRefCount interface. A class that want's to have reference counting
		capability must inherit from that class. As C++ supports multiple inheritance this 
		is just a matter of inheriting from that class.
	 */
	class REFCNTDECL CRefCount : public IRefCount
	{
	private:
		int refCount;		// The reference counter
		int refPtrCount;	// Number of _refcnt_ptr monitoring that class instance

	protected:
		/**
			Default contructor, initializes the CRefCount object
		 */
		CRefCount();

	public:
		/**
			Overload of the delete operator for all the objects based on that 
			class
		 */
		void operator delete(void *ptr);

		/**
			Call to increment the reference count
		 */
		virtual void AddRef(bool isSmartPtr = false);

	/**
		Implements the IRefCount interface. A class that want's to have reference counting
		capability must inherit from that class. As C++ supports multiple inheritance this 
		is just a matter of inheriting from that class.
	 */
		virtual void Release(bool isSmartPtr = false);

	protected:
		virtual bool CanReleaseRef();
	};
}

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License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Architect Connect In Private
Singapore Singapore
Software Architect, COM, .NET and Smartcard based security specialist.

I've been working in the software industry since I graduated in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. I chose software because I preferred digital to analog.

I started to program with 6802 machine code and evolved to the current .NET technologies... that was a long way.

For more than 20 years I have always worked in technical positions as I simply like to get my hands dirty and crack my brain when things don't go right!

After 12 years in the smart card industry I can claim a strong knowledge in security solutions based on those really small computers!
I've been back into business to design the licensing system for the enterprise solution for Consistel using a .NET smart card (yes they can run .NET CLR!)

I'm currently designing a micro-payment solution using the NXP DESFire EV1 with the ACSO6 SAM of ACS. I can then add a full proficient expertise on those systems and NFC payments.
This technology being under strict NDA by NXP I cannot publish any related article about it, however I can provide professional consulting for it.

You can contact me for professional matter by using the forum or via my LinkedIn profile.

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