mirror of https://github.com/python/cpython
221 lines
6.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
221 lines
6.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. highlight:: c
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.. _countingrefs:
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******************
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Reference Counting
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******************
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The functions and macros in this section are used for managing reference counts
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of Python objects.
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.. c:function:: Py_ssize_t Py_REFCNT(PyObject *o)
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Get the reference count of the Python object *o*.
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Note that the returned value may not actually reflect how many
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references to the object are actually held. For example, some
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objects are "immortal" and have a very high refcount that does not
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reflect the actual number of references. Consequently, do not rely
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on the returned value to be accurate, other than a value of 0 or 1.
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Use the :c:func:`Py_SET_REFCNT()` function to set an object reference count.
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.. versionchanged:: 3.11
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The parameter type is no longer :c:expr:`const PyObject*`.
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.. versionchanged:: 3.10
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:c:func:`Py_REFCNT()` is changed to the inline static function.
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.. c:function:: void Py_SET_REFCNT(PyObject *o, Py_ssize_t refcnt)
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Set the object *o* reference counter to *refcnt*.
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Note that this function has no effect on
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`immortal <https://peps.python.org/pep-0683/>`_
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objects.
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.. versionadded:: 3.9
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.. versionchanged:: 3.12
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Immortal objects are not modified.
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.. c:function:: void Py_INCREF(PyObject *o)
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Indicate taking a new :term:`strong reference` to object *o*,
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indicating it is in use and should not be destroyed.
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This function is usually used to convert a :term:`borrowed reference` to a
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:term:`strong reference` in-place. The :c:func:`Py_NewRef` function can be
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used to create a new :term:`strong reference`.
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When done using the object, release is by calling :c:func:`Py_DECREF`.
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The object must not be ``NULL``; if you aren't sure that it isn't
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``NULL``, use :c:func:`Py_XINCREF`.
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Do not expect this function to actually modify *o* in any way.
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For at least `some objects <https://peps.python.org/pep-0683/>`_,
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this function has no effect.
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.. versionchanged:: 3.12
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Immortal objects are not modified.
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.. c:function:: void Py_XINCREF(PyObject *o)
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Similar to :c:func:`Py_INCREF`, but the object *o* can be ``NULL``,
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in which case this has no effect.
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See also :c:func:`Py_XNewRef`.
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.. c:function:: PyObject* Py_NewRef(PyObject *o)
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Create a new :term:`strong reference` to an object:
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call :c:func:`Py_INCREF` on *o* and return the object *o*.
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When the :term:`strong reference` is no longer needed, :c:func:`Py_DECREF`
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should be called on it to release the reference.
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The object *o* must not be ``NULL``; use :c:func:`Py_XNewRef` if *o* can be
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``NULL``.
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For example::
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Py_INCREF(obj);
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self->attr = obj;
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can be written as::
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self->attr = Py_NewRef(obj);
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See also :c:func:`Py_INCREF`.
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.. versionadded:: 3.10
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.. c:function:: PyObject* Py_XNewRef(PyObject *o)
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Similar to :c:func:`Py_NewRef`, but the object *o* can be NULL.
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If the object *o* is ``NULL``, the function just returns ``NULL``.
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.. versionadded:: 3.10
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.. c:function:: void Py_DECREF(PyObject *o)
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Release a :term:`strong reference` to object *o*, indicating the
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reference is no longer used.
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Once the last :term:`strong reference` is released
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(i.e. the object's reference count reaches 0),
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the object's type's deallocation
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function (which must not be ``NULL``) is invoked.
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This function is usually used to delete a :term:`strong reference` before
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exiting its scope.
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The object must not be ``NULL``; if you aren't sure that it isn't ``NULL``,
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use :c:func:`Py_XDECREF`.
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Do not expect this function to actually modify *o* in any way.
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For at least `some objects <https://peps.python.org/pep-0683/>`_,
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this function has no effect.
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.. warning::
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The deallocation function can cause arbitrary Python code to be invoked (e.g.
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when a class instance with a :meth:`~object.__del__` method is deallocated). While
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exceptions in such code are not propagated, the executed code has free access to
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all Python global variables. This means that any object that is reachable from
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a global variable should be in a consistent state before :c:func:`Py_DECREF` is
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invoked. For example, code to delete an object from a list should copy a
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reference to the deleted object in a temporary variable, update the list data
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structure, and then call :c:func:`Py_DECREF` for the temporary variable.
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.. versionchanged:: 3.12
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Immortal objects are not modified.
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.. c:function:: void Py_XDECREF(PyObject *o)
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Similar to :c:func:`Py_DECREF`, but the object *o* can be ``NULL``,
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in which case this has no effect.
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The same warning from :c:func:`Py_DECREF` applies here as well.
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.. c:function:: void Py_CLEAR(PyObject *o)
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Release a :term:`strong reference` for object *o*.
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The object may be ``NULL``, in
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which case the macro has no effect; otherwise the effect is the same as for
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:c:func:`Py_DECREF`, except that the argument is also set to ``NULL``. The warning
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for :c:func:`Py_DECREF` does not apply with respect to the object passed because
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the macro carefully uses a temporary variable and sets the argument to ``NULL``
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before releasing the reference.
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It is a good idea to use this macro whenever releasing a reference
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to an object that might be traversed during garbage collection.
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.. versionchanged:: 3.12
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The macro argument is now only evaluated once. If the argument has side
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effects, these are no longer duplicated.
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.. c:function:: void Py_IncRef(PyObject *o)
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Indicate taking a new :term:`strong reference` to object *o*.
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A function version of :c:func:`Py_XINCREF`.
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It can be used for runtime dynamic embedding of Python.
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.. c:function:: void Py_DecRef(PyObject *o)
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Release a :term:`strong reference` to object *o*.
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A function version of :c:func:`Py_XDECREF`.
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It can be used for runtime dynamic embedding of Python.
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.. c:macro:: Py_SETREF(dst, src)
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Macro safely releasing a :term:`strong reference` to object *dst*
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and setting *dst* to *src*.
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As in case of :c:func:`Py_CLEAR`, "the obvious" code can be deadly::
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Py_DECREF(dst);
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dst = src;
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The safe way is::
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Py_SETREF(dst, src);
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That arranges to set *dst* to *src* _before_ releasing the reference
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to the old value of *dst*, so that any code triggered as a side-effect
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of *dst* getting torn down no longer believes *dst* points
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to a valid object.
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.. versionadded:: 3.6
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.. versionchanged:: 3.12
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The macro arguments are now only evaluated once. If an argument has side
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effects, these are no longer duplicated.
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.. c:macro:: Py_XSETREF(dst, src)
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Variant of :c:macro:`Py_SETREF` macro that uses :c:func:`Py_XDECREF` instead
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of :c:func:`Py_DECREF`.
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.. versionadded:: 3.6
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.. versionchanged:: 3.12
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The macro arguments are now only evaluated once. If an argument has side
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effects, these are no longer duplicated.
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