143 lines
4.8 KiB
Groff
143 lines
4.8 KiB
Groff
.\" $NetBSD: proplib.3,v 1.3 2006/07/09 19:04:02 wiz Exp $
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.\"
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.\" Copyright (c) 2006 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
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.\" All rights reserved.
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.\"
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.\" This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
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.\" by Jason R. Thorpe.
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.\"
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.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" are met:
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.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
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.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
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.\" must display the following acknowledgement:
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.\" This product includes software developed by the NetBSD
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.\" Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.
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.\" 4. Neither the name of The NetBSD Foundation nor the names of its
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.\" contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
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.\" from this software without specific prior written permission.
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.\"
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE NETBSD FOUNDATION, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS
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.\" ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
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.\" TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
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.\" PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS
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.\" BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
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.\" CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
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.\" SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
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.\" INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
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.\" CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
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.\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
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.\" POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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.\"
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.Dd April 22, 2006
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.Dt PROPLIB 3
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.Os
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.Sh NAME
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.Nm proplib
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.Nd property container object library
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.Sh LIBRARY
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.Lb libprop
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.Sh SYNOPSIS
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.In prop/proplib.h
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.Sh DESCRIPTION
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The
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.Nm
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library provides an abstract interface for creating and manipulating
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property lists.
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Property lists have object types for boolean values, opaque data, numbers,
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and strings.
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Structure is provided by the array and dictionary collection types.
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.Pp
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Property lists can be passed across protection boundaries by translating
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them to an external representation.
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This external representation is an XML document whose format is described
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by the following DTD:
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.Bd -literal -offset indent
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http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd
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.Ed
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.Pp
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Property container objects are reference counted.
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When an object is created, its reference count is set to 1.
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Any code that keeps a reference to an object, including the collection
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types
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.Pq arrays and dictionaries ,
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must
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.Dq retain
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the object
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.Pq increment its reference count .
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When that reference is dropped, the object must be
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.Dq released
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.Pq reference count decremented .
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When an object's reference count drops to 0, it is automatically freed.
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.Pp
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The rules for managing reference counts are very simple:
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.Bl -bullet
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.It
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If you create an object and do not explicitly maintain a reference to it,
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you must release it.
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.It
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If you get a reference to an object from other code and wish to maintain
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a reference to it, you must retain the object. You are responsible for
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releasing the object once you drop that reference.
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.It
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You must never release an object unless you create it or retain it.
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.El
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.Pp
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Object collections may be iterated by creating a special iterator object.
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Iterator objects are special; they may not be retained, and they are
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released using an iterator-specific release function.
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.Sh SEE ALSO
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.Xr prop_array 3 ,
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.Xr prop_bool 3 ,
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.Xr prop_data 3 ,
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.Xr prop_dictionary 3 ,
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.Xr prop_number 3 ,
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.Xr prop_object 3 ,
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.Xr prop_string 3
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.Sh HISTORY
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The
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.Nm
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property container object library first appeared in
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.Nx 4.0 .
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.Sh CAVEATS
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.Nm
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does not have a
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.Sq date
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object type, and thus will not parse
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.Sq date
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elements from an Apple XML property list.
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.Pp
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The
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.Nm
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.Sq number
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object type differs from the Apple XML property list format in the following
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ways:
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.Bl -bullet
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.It
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The external representation is in base 16, not base 10.
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.Nm
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is able to parse base 8, base 10, and base 16
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.Sq integer
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elements.
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.It
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Internally, integers are always stored as unsigned numbers
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.Pq uint64_t .
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Therefore, the external representation will never be negative.
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.It
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Because floating point numbers are not supported,
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.Sq real
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elements from an Apple XML property list will not be parsed.
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.El
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.Pp
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In order to facilitate use of
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.Nm
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in kernel, standalone, and user space environments, the
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.Nm
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parser is not a real XML parser.
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It is hard-coded to parse only the property list external representation.
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