Doc/Manual/Contract.html - third_party/swig - Git at Google

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 <body bgcolor="#ffffff">
 <H1><a name="Contract">15 Contracts</a></H1>
 <!-- INDEX -->
 <div class="sectiontoc">
 <ul>
 <li><a href="#Contract_nn2">The %contract directive</a>
 <li><a href="#Contract_nn3">%contract and classes</a>
 <li><a href="#Contract_nn4">Constant aggregation and %aggregate_check</a>
 <li><a href="#Contract_nn5">Notes</a>
 </ul>
 </div>
 <!-- INDEX -->


 <p>
 A common problem that arises when wrapping C libraries is that of maintaining
 reliability and checking for errors.  The fact of the matter is that many
 C programs are notorious for not providing error checks.  Not only that,
 when you expose the internals of an application as a library, it
 often becomes possible to crash it simply by providing bad inputs or
 using it in a way that wasn't intended.
 </p>

 <p>
 This chapter describes SWIG's support for software contracts.  In the context
 of SWIG, a contract can be viewed as a runtime constraint that is attached
 to a declaration.  For example, you can easily attach argument checking rules,
 check the output values of a function and more.
 When one of the rules is violated by a script, a runtime exception is
 generated rather than having the program continue to execute.
 </p>

 <H2><a name="Contract_nn2">15.1 The %contract directive</a></H2>


 <p>
 Contracts are added to a declaration using the %contract directive.  Here
 is a simple example:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 %contract sqrt(double x) {
 require:
   x &gt;= 0;
 ensure:
   sqrt &gt;= 0;
 }

 ...
 double sqrt(double);
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 In this case, a contract is being added to the <tt>sqrt()</tt> function.
 The <tt>%contract</tt> directive must always appear before the declaration
 in question.  Within the contract there are two sections, both of which
 are optional.  The <tt>require:</tt>
 section specifies conditions that must hold before the function is called.
 Typically, this is used to check argument values.   The <tt>ensure:</tt> section
 specifies conditions that must hold after the function is called.  This is
 often used to check return values or the state of the program.  In both
 cases, the conditions that must hold must be specified as boolean expressions.
 </p>

 <p>
 In the above example, we're simply making sure that sqrt() returns a non-negative
 number (if it didn't, then it would be broken in some way).
 </p>

 <p>
 Once a contract has been specified, it modifies the behavior of the
 resulting module.  For example:
 </p>

 <div class="shell">
 <pre>
 &gt;&gt;&gt; example.sqrt(2)
 1.4142135623730951
 &gt;&gt;&gt; example.sqrt(-2)
 Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "&lt;stdin&gt;", line 1, in ?
 RuntimeError: Contract violation: require: (arg1&gt;=0)
 &gt;&gt;&gt;
 </pre>
 </div>

 <H2><a name="Contract_nn3">15.2 %contract and classes</a></H2>


 <p>
 The <tt>%contract</tt> directive can also be applied to class methods and constructors.  For example:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 %contract Foo::bar(int x, int y) {
 require:
   x &gt; 0;
 ensure:
   bar &gt; 0;
 }

 %contract Foo::Foo(int a) {
 require:
   a &gt; 0;
 }

 class Foo {
 public:
   Foo(int);
   int bar(int, int);
 };
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 The way in which <tt>%contract</tt> is applied is exactly the same as the <tt>%feature</tt> directive.
 Thus, any contract that you specified for a base class will also be attached to inherited methods.  For example:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 class Spam : public Foo {
 public:
   int bar(int, int);    // Gets contract defined for Foo::bar(int, int)
 };
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 In addition to this, separate contracts can be applied to both the base class and a derived class.  For example:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 %contract Foo::bar(int x, int) {
 require:
   x &gt; 0;
 }

 %contract Spam::bar(int, int y) {
 require:
   y &gt; 0;
 }

 class Foo {
 public:
   int bar(int, int);   // Gets Foo::bar contract.
 };

 class Spam : public Foo {
 public:
   int bar(int, int);   // Gets Foo::bar and Spam::bar contract
 };
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 When more than one contract is applied, the conditions specified in a
 "require:" section are combined together using a logical-AND operation.
 In other words conditions specified for the base class and conditions
 specified for the derived class all must hold.  In the above example,
 this means that both the arguments to <tt>Spam::bar</tt> must be positive.
 </p>

 <H2><a name="Contract_nn4">15.3 Constant aggregation and %aggregate_check</a></H2>


 <p>
 Consider an interface file that contains the following code:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 #define  UP     1
 #define  DOWN   2
 #define  RIGHT  3
 #define  LEFT   4

 void move(SomeObject *, int direction, int distance);
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 One thing you might want to do is impose a constraint on the direction parameter to
 make sure it's one of a few accepted values.  To do that, SWIG provides an easy to
 use macro %aggregate_check() that works like this:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 %aggregate_check(int, check_direction, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT);
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 This merely defines a utility function of the form
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 int check_direction(int x);
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 That checks the argument x to see if it is one of the values listed.   This utility
 function can be used in contracts.  For example:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 %aggregate_check(int, check_direction, UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT);

 %contract move(SomeObject *, int direction, in) {
 require:
   check_direction(direction);
 }

 #define  UP     1
 #define  DOWN   2
 #define  RIGHT  3
 #define  LEFT   4

 void move(SomeObject *, int direction, int distance);
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 Alternatively, it can be used in typemaps and other directives.  For example:
 </p>

 <div class="code">
 <pre>
 %aggregate_check(int, check_direction, UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT);

 %typemap(check) int direction {
   if (!check_direction($1)) SWIG_exception(SWIG_ValueError, "Bad direction");
 }

 #define  UP     1
 #define  DOWN   2
 #define  RIGHT  3
 #define  LEFT   4

 void move(SomeObject *, int direction, int distance);
 </pre>
 </div>

 <p>
 Regrettably, there is no automatic way to perform similar checks with enums values.  Maybe in a future
 release.
 </p>

 <H2><a name="Contract_nn5">15.4 Notes</a></H2>


 <p>
 Contract support was implemented by Songyan (Tiger) Feng and first appeared
 in SWIG-1.3.20.
 </p>

 </body>
 </html>
	<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
	<html>
	<head>
	<title>Contract Checking</title>
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
	<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
	</head>

	<body bgcolor="#ffffff">
	<H1><a name="Contract">15 Contracts</a></H1>
	<!-- INDEX -->
	<div class="sectiontoc">
	<ul>
	<li><a href="#Contract_nn2">The %contract directive</a>
	<li><a href="#Contract_nn3">%contract and classes</a>
	<li><a href="#Contract_nn4">Constant aggregation and %aggregate_check</a>
	<li><a href="#Contract_nn5">Notes</a>
	</ul>
	</div>
	<!-- INDEX -->



	<p>
	A common problem that arises when wrapping C libraries is that of maintaining
	reliability and checking for errors. The fact of the matter is that many
	C programs are notorious for not providing error checks. Not only that,
	when you expose the internals of an application as a library, it
	often becomes possible to crash it simply by providing bad inputs or
	using it in a way that wasn't intended.
	</p>

	<p>
	This chapter describes SWIG's support for software contracts. In the context
	of SWIG, a contract can be viewed as a runtime constraint that is attached
	to a declaration. For example, you can easily attach argument checking rules,
	check the output values of a function and more.
	When one of the rules is violated by a script, a runtime exception is
	generated rather than having the program continue to execute.
	</p>

	<H2><a name="Contract_nn2">15.1 The %contract directive</a></H2>


	<p>
	Contracts are added to a declaration using the %contract directive. Here
	is a simple example:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	%contract sqrt(double x) {
	require:
	x >= 0;
	ensure:
	sqrt >= 0;
	}

	...
	double sqrt(double);
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	In this case, a contract is being added to the <tt>sqrt()</tt> function.
	The <tt>%contract</tt> directive must always appear before the declaration
	in question. Within the contract there are two sections, both of which
	are optional. The <tt>require:</tt>
	section specifies conditions that must hold before the function is called.
	Typically, this is used to check argument values. The <tt>ensure:</tt> section
	specifies conditions that must hold after the function is called. This is
	often used to check return values or the state of the program. In both
	cases, the conditions that must hold must be specified as boolean expressions.
	</p>

	<p>
	In the above example, we're simply making sure that sqrt() returns a non-negative
	number (if it didn't, then it would be broken in some way).
	</p>

	<p>
	Once a contract has been specified, it modifies the behavior of the
	resulting module. For example:
	</p>

	<div class="shell">
	<pre>
	>>> example.sqrt(2)
	1.4142135623730951
	>>> example.sqrt(-2)
	Traceback (most recent call last):
	File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
	RuntimeError: Contract violation: require: (arg1>=0)
	>>>
	</pre>
	</div>

	<H2><a name="Contract_nn3">15.2 %contract and classes</a></H2>


	<p>
	The <tt>%contract</tt> directive can also be applied to class methods and constructors. For example:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	%contract Foo::bar(int x, int y) {
	require:
	x > 0;
	ensure:
	bar > 0;
	}

	%contract Foo::Foo(int a) {
	require:
	a > 0;
	}

	class Foo {
	public:
	Foo(int);
	int bar(int, int);
	};
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	The way in which <tt>%contract</tt> is applied is exactly the same as the <tt>%feature</tt> directive.
	Thus, any contract that you specified for a base class will also be attached to inherited methods. For example:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	class Spam : public Foo {
	public:
	int bar(int, int); // Gets contract defined for Foo::bar(int, int)
	};
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	In addition to this, separate contracts can be applied to both the base class and a derived class. For example:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	%contract Foo::bar(int x, int) {
	require:
	x > 0;
	}

	%contract Spam::bar(int, int y) {
	require:
	y > 0;
	}

	class Foo {
	public:
	int bar(int, int); // Gets Foo::bar contract.
	};

	class Spam : public Foo {
	public:
	int bar(int, int); // Gets Foo::bar and Spam::bar contract
	};
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	When more than one contract is applied, the conditions specified in a
	"require:" section are combined together using a logical-AND operation.
	In other words conditions specified for the base class and conditions
	specified for the derived class all must hold. In the above example,
	this means that both the arguments to <tt>Spam::bar</tt> must be positive.
	</p>

	<H2><a name="Contract_nn4">15.3 Constant aggregation and %aggregate_check</a></H2>


	<p>
	Consider an interface file that contains the following code:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	#define UP 1
	#define DOWN 2
	#define RIGHT 3
	#define LEFT 4

	void move(SomeObject *, int direction, int distance);
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	One thing you might want to do is impose a constraint on the direction parameter to
	make sure it's one of a few accepted values. To do that, SWIG provides an easy to
	use macro %aggregate_check() that works like this:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	%aggregate_check(int, check_direction, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT);
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	This merely defines a utility function of the form
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	int check_direction(int x);
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	That checks the argument x to see if it is one of the values listed. This utility
	function can be used in contracts. For example:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	%aggregate_check(int, check_direction, UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT);

	%contract move(SomeObject *, int direction, in) {
	require:
	check_direction(direction);
	}

	#define UP 1
	#define DOWN 2
	#define RIGHT 3
	#define LEFT 4

	void move(SomeObject *, int direction, int distance);
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	Alternatively, it can be used in typemaps and other directives. For example:
	</p>

	<div class="code">
	<pre>
	%aggregate_check(int, check_direction, UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT);

	%typemap(check) int direction {
	if (!check_direction($1)) SWIG_exception(SWIG_ValueError, "Bad direction");
	}

	#define UP 1
	#define DOWN 2
	#define RIGHT 3
	#define LEFT 4

	void move(SomeObject *, int direction, int distance);
	</pre>
	</div>

	<p>
	Regrettably, there is no automatic way to perform similar checks with enums values. Maybe in a future
	release.
	</p>

	<H2><a name="Contract_nn5">15.4 Notes</a></H2>


	<p>
	Contract support was implemented by Songyan (Tiger) Feng and first appeared
	in SWIG-1.3.20.
	</p>

	</body>
	</html>