Class: ExternalInt

• Inheritance
• Description
• Class protocol
  • instance creation
• Instance protocol
  • accessing
  • printing & storing

Inheritance:

   Object
   |
   +--Collection
      |
      +--SequenceableCollection
         |
         +--ArrayedCollection
            |
            +--UninterpretedBytes
               |
               +--ExternalBytes
                  |
                  +--ExternalInt
                     |
                     +--ExternalUnsignedInt

Package:

stx:libbasic2

Category:

System-Support-External Memory

Version:

rev: 1.3 date: 2023/05/28 10:09:14

user: cg

file: ExternalInt.st directory: libbasic2

module: stx stc-classLibrary: libbasic2

Description:

Instances of me can be used as container in which int values are returned from C-calls. 
Notice that the size of these ints depends on the machine's (and compiler's) int-size
(which is ExternalBytes sizeofInt).

copyright
COPYRIGHT (c) 2018 by eXept Software AG
             All Rights Reserved

This software is furnished under a license and may be used
only in accordance with the terms of that license and with the
inclusion of the above copyright notice.   This software may not
be provided or otherwise made available to, or used by, any
other person.  No title to or ownership of the software is
hereby transferred.

Class protocol:

 new

allocate some memory usable for data;
the memory is controlled by the garbage collector.
Return a corresponding ExternalBytes object or raise MallocFailure (if malloc fails).

 protectedNew

allocate some memory usable to hold a C-int;
the memory is not controlled by the garbage collector.
Return a corresponding ExternalBytes object or raise MallocFailure (if malloc fails).

Use this, if you have to pass a pointer to an integer
external destination (such as a C function) which does not copy the
data, but instead keeps a reference to it.

DANGER ALERT: the memory is NOT automatically freed until it is either
MANUALLY freed (see #free) or the returned externalBytes object
is unprotected or the classes releaseAllMemory method is called.

 unprotectedNew

allocate some memory usable to hold a naitve C-int;
the memory is under the control of the garbage collector.
Return a corresponding ExternalBytes object or raise MallocFailure (if malloc fails).

DANGER ALERT: the memory block as allocated will be automatically freed
as soon as the reference to the returned externalBytes object
is gone (by the next garbage collect).
If the memory has been passed to a C-function which
remembers this pointer, bad things may happen ....

Instance protocol:

 asExternalBytes

(ExternalLong new value:10) asExternalBytes
(ExternalLong new value:0) asExternalBytes

 asInteger

warning: retrieves a signed integer with the size of the native machine's
pointer (i.e. either 32 or 64bit)

Usage example(s):

ExternalInt new value:10 (ExternalInt new value:16rFFFFFF) asInteger

 asUnsignedInteger

warning: retrieves an integer with the size of the native machine's
pointer (i.e. either 32 or 64bit)

Usage example(s):

(ExternalInt new value:10) asUnsignedInteger

 value

(ExternalInt new value:10) value

 value: anInteger

(ExternalInt new value:10) value

 printOn: aStream

(comment from inherited method)
append a user readable representation of the receiver to aStream.
The text appended is not meant to be read back for reconstruction of
the receiver. Also, this method limits the size of generated string.