[cpp2py] Add option wrapped_members_as_shared_refs

Previously member of a wrapped type were copied on access
This commit introduces an option where access of wrapped members
will avoid the copy at the cost of keeping the parent object alive
for the full lifetime of the newly generated reference

bin/c++2py.in

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ parser.add_argument('--includes', '-I', action='append',  help='Includes to pass
 parser.add_argument('--system_includes', '-isystem', action='append',  help='System includes to pass to clang')
 parser.add_argument('--cxxflags', default = '', help='Options to pass to clang')
 parser.add_argument('--target_file_only', action='store_true', help='Disable recursion into included header files')
+parser.add_argument('--wrapped_members_as_shared_refs', action='store_true', help='Disable recursion into included header files')
 
 args = parser.parse_args()
 
@@ -77,7 +78,8 @@ W= Cpp2Desc(filename = args.filename,
             shell_command = shell_command,
             parse_all_comments = args.parse_all_comments,
             namespace_to_factor= (), # unused now
-            target_file_only = args.target_file_only
+            target_file_only = args.target_file_only,
+            wrapped_members_as_shared_refs = args.wrapped_members_as_shared_refs
             )
 
 # Make the desc file

c++/cpp2py/py_converter.hpp

@@ -116,20 +116,36 @@ namespace cpp2py {
 
   // default version is that the type is wrapped.
   // Will be specialized for type which are just converted.
-  template <typename T> struct py_converter {
+  template <typename TUREF> struct py_converter {
+
+    using T                      = std::decay_t<TUREF>;
+    static constexpr bool is_ref = std::is_reference_v<TUREF>;
 
     typedef struct {
       PyObject_HEAD;
       T *_c;
+      PyObject *parent = nullptr;
     } py_type;
 
     using is_wrapped_type = void; // to recognize
 
-    template <typename U> static PyObject *c2py(U &&x) {
+    template <typename U> static PyObject *c2py(U &&x, PyObject *parent = nullptr) {
       PyTypeObject *p = get_type_ptr(typeid(T));
       if (p == nullptr) return NULL;
       py_type *self = (py_type *)p->tp_alloc(p, 0);
-      if (self != NULL) { self->_c = new T{std::forward<U>(x)}; }
+      if (self != NULL) {
+        if constexpr (is_ref && wrapped_members_as_shared_refs) {
+	  // Keep parent alive for lifetime of self
+          if (parent != nullptr) {
+            self->parent = parent;
+            Py_INCREF(parent);
+            self->_c = &x;
+	    return (PyObject *)self;
+	  }
+        }
+	// Create heap copy of x to guarantee lifetime
+        self->_c = new T{std::forward<U>(x)};
+      }
       return (PyObject *)self;
     }
 
@@ -147,7 +163,7 @@ namespace cpp2py {
       if (p == nullptr) return false;
       if (PyObject_TypeCheck(ob, p)) {
         if (((py_type *)ob)->_c != NULL) return true;
-	auto err = std::string{"Severe internal error : Python object of "} + p->tp_name + " has a _c NULL pointer !!";
+        auto err = std::string{"Severe internal error : Python object of "} + p->tp_name + " has a _c NULL pointer !!";
         if (raise_exception) PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, err.c_str());
         return false;
       }
@@ -157,6 +173,12 @@ namespace cpp2py {
     }
   };
 
+  // is_wrapped<T>  if py_converter has been reimplemented.
+  template <typename T, class = void> struct is_wrapped : std::false_type {};
+  template <typename T> struct is_wrapped<T, typename py_converter<T>::is_wrapped_type> : std::true_type {};
+
+  template <typename T> constexpr bool is_wrapped_v = is_wrapped<T>::value;
+
   // helpers for better error message
   // some class (e.g. range !) only have ONE conversion, i.e. C -> Py, but not both
   // we need to distinguish
@@ -168,9 +190,15 @@ namespace cpp2py {
   struct does_have_a_converterC2Py<T, std::void_t<decltype(py_converter<std::decay_t<T>>::c2py(std::declval<T>()))>> : std::true_type {};
 
   // We only use these functions in the code, not directly the converter
-  template <typename T> static PyObject *convert_to_python(T &&x) {
+  template <typename T> static PyObject *convert_to_python(T &&x, PyObject *parent = nullptr) {
     static_assert(does_have_a_converterC2Py<T>::value, "The type does not have a converter from C++ to Python");
-    return py_converter<std::decay_t<T>>::c2py(std::forward<T>(x));
+    PyObject *r;
+    if constexpr (is_wrapped_v<std::decay_t<T>>) {
+      r = py_converter<T>::c2py(std::forward<T>(x), parent);
+    } else { // Converted type
+      r = py_converter<std::decay_t<T>>::c2py(std::forward<T>(x));
+    }
+    return r;
   }
   template <typename T> static bool convertible_from_python(PyObject *ob, bool raise_exception) {
     return py_converter<T>::is_convertible(ob, raise_exception);
@@ -188,12 +216,6 @@ namespace cpp2py {
  *
  */
 
-  // is_wrapped<T>  if py_converter has been reimplemented.
-  template <typename T, class = void> struct is_wrapped : std::false_type {};
-  template <typename T> struct is_wrapped<T, typename py_converter<T>::is_wrapped_type> : std::true_type {};
-
-  template <typename T> constexpr bool is_wrapped_v = is_wrapped<T>::value;
-
   template <typename T> static auto convert_from_python(PyObject *ob) -> decltype(py_converter<T>::py2c(ob)) {
     static_assert(does_have_a_converterPy2C<T>::value, "The type does not have a converter from Python to C++");
     return py_converter<T>::py2c(ob);

cpp2py/cpp2desc.py

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class Cpp2Desc:
     """ """
     def __init__(self, filename, namespaces=(), classes= (), namespace_to_factor= (), appname= '',
                  modulename = '', moduledoc ='', use_properties = False, members_read_only = True,  converters = (),
-                 compiler_options=None, includes= None, system_includes= None, libclang_location = None, shell_command = '', parse_all_comments = True, target_file_only = False):
+                 compiler_options=None, includes= None, system_includes= None, libclang_location = None, shell_command = '', parse_all_comments = True, target_file_only = False, wrapped_members_as_shared_refs = False):
         """
            Parse the file at construction
 
@@ -59,9 +59,12 @@ def __init__(self, filename, namespaces=(), classes= (), namespace_to_factor= ()
 
            target_file_only : bool
                       Neglect any included files during desc generation [default = False]
+
+           wrapped_members_as_shared_refs : bool
+                      For classes with members which are a wrapped type, do not copy them on access but return them as shared references instead. Note that members with types that are only converted (e.g. std::vector) will continue to be copied on access [default = False]
         """
         for x in ['filename', 'namespaces', 'classes', 'namespace_to_factor', 'appname', 'modulename', 'moduledoc',
-                  'use_properties', 'members_read_only', 'shell_command', 'target_file_only']:
+                  'use_properties', 'members_read_only', 'shell_command', 'target_file_only', 'wrapped_members_as_shared_refs']:
             setattr(self, x, locals()[x])
         self.DE = dependency_analyzer.DependencyAnalyzer(converters)
         # parse the file

cpp2py/mako/desc.py

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from cpp2py.wrap_generator import *
 
 # The module
-module = module_(full_name = "${W.modulename}", doc = r"${doc.replace_latex(W.moduledoc)}", app_name = "${W.appname}")
+module = module_(full_name = "${W.modulename}", doc = r"${doc.replace_latex(W.moduledoc)}", app_name = "${W.appname}", wrapped_members_as_shared_refs = ${W.wrapped_members_as_shared_refs})
 
 # Imports
 %if import_list:

cpp2py/mako/wrap.cxx

@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 #include<iostream> //for std::cout...
 using dcomplex = std::complex<double>;
 
+// global options
+constexpr bool wrapped_members_as_shared_refs = ${int(module.wrapped_members_as_shared_refs)};
+
 // first the basic stuff
 #include <cpp2py/cpp2py.hpp>
 #include <cpp2py/converters/string.hpp>
@@ -242,6 +245,7 @@ static PyObject* ${c.py_type}_richcompare (PyObject *a, PyObject *b, int op);
 typedef struct {
     PyObject_HEAD
     ${c.c_type} * _c;
+    PyObject * parent = nullptr;
 } ${c.py_type};
 
 ## The new function, only if there is constructor
@@ -257,7 +261,8 @@ static PyObject* ${c.py_type}_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *
 
 // dealloc
 static void ${c.py_type}_dealloc(${c.py_type}* self) {
-  if (self->_c != NULL) delete self->_c; // should never be null, but I protect it anyway
+  if ((self->_c != NULL) and (self->parent == nullptr)) delete self->_c; // should never be null, but I protect it anyway
+  Py_XDECREF(self->parent);
   Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject*)self);
 }
 
@@ -612,7 +617,7 @@ template <> struct py_converter<${en.c_name}> {
 
 static PyObject * ${c.py_type}__get_member_${m.py_name} (PyObject *self, void *closure) {
   auto & self_c = convert_from_python<${c.c_type}>(self);
-  return convert_to_python(self_c.${m.c_name});
+  return convert_to_python(self_c.${m.c_name}, self);
 }
 
 %if not m.read_only:

cpp2py/wrap_generator.py

@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ class module_:
     """
        Representation of a module
     """
-    def __init__(self, full_name,  doc = '', app_name = None) :
+    def __init__(self, full_name,  doc = '', app_name = None, wrapped_members_as_shared_refs = False) :
         """
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -701,6 +701,7 @@ def __init__(self, full_name,  doc = '', app_name = None) :
 
         """
         self.full_name = full_name if app_name is None or app_name=="triqs" else app_name+"."+full_name
+        self.wrapped_members_as_shared_refs = wrapped_members_as_shared_refs
         self.name = full_name.rsplit('.',1)[-1]
         self.doc = doc
         self.classes = {}    # dict : string -> class_. Key is the Python type