.\"	$NetBSD: ppath.3,v 1.5 2017/10/23 00:59:44 wiz Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2011 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
.\" by David Young <dyoung@NetBSD.org>.
.\"
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY David Young ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS
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.Dd August 24, 2011
.Dt PPATH 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm ppath ,
.Nm ppath_idx ,
.Nm ppath_key ,
.\" ,
.Nm ppath_component_retain ,
.Nm ppath_component_release ,
.\" ,
.Nm ppath_create ,
.Nm ppath_length ,
.Nm ppath_component_idx ,
.Nm ppath_component_key ,
.Nm ppath_pop ,
.Nm ppath_push ,
.Nm ppath_component_at ,
.Nm ppath_subpath ,
.Nm ppath_push_idx ,
.Nm ppath_push_key ,
.Nm ppath_replace_idx ,
.Nm ppath_replace_key ,
.\" ,
.Nm ppath_copy ,
.Nm ppath_retain ,
.Nm ppath_release ,
.\" ,
.Nm ppath_lookup
.\" ,
.Nd property container path library
.Sh LIBRARY
.Lb libppath
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In ppath/ppath.h
.\"
.Ft "ppath_component_t *"
.Fn ppath_idx "unsigned int index"
.Ft "ppath_component_t *"
.Fn ppath_key "const char *key"
.\"
.Ft "ppath_component_t *"
.Fn ppath_component_retain "ppath_component_t *pc"
.Ft void
.Fn ppath_component_release "ppath_component_t *pc"
.\"
.Ft "ppath_t *"
.Fn ppath_create "void"
.Ft "unsigned int"
.Fn ppath_length "const ppath_t *p"
.Ft int
.Fn ppath_component_idx "const ppath_component_t *"
.Ft const char *
.Fn ppath_component_key "const ppath_component_t *"
.Ft "ppath_t *"
.Fn ppath_pop "ppath_t *" "ppath_component_t **"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_push "ppath_t *" "ppath_component_t *"
.Ft ppath_component_t *
.Fn ppath_component_at "const ppath_t *" "unsigned int"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_subpath "const ppath_t *" "unsigned int" "unsigned int"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_push_idx "ppath_t *" "unsigned int"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_push_key "ppath_t *" "const char *"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_replace_idx "ppath_t *" "unsigned int"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_replace_key "ppath_t *" "const char *"
.\"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_copy "const ppath_t *"
.Ft ppath_t *
.Fn ppath_retain "ppath_t *"
.Ft void
.Fn ppath_release "ppath_t *"
.\"
.Ft prop_object_t
.Fn ppath_lookup "prop_object_t" "const ppath_t *"
.\"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
library provides functions to read, write, or delete objects in a
property list.
A property-list
.Dq path
names the object in a property list to read, write, or delete.
.Pp
A property-list path is an ordered array of zero or more array
indices and dictionary keys that names at most one
.Vt prop_object_t
in a property list.
The abstract function
.Fn E
evaluates
a property-list path against a
.Vt prop_object_t ,
.Va o ,
to yield a
.Vt prop_object_t
result according to the following recursive definition, where
.Fa empty
indicates the empty
.Pq zero-length
path and the operator
.Dq |
indicates the concatenation of the path on the left-hand side with
the key or index on the right-hand side:
.Bl -tag -width "E(o, p | index)"
.It Fn E "o" "empty"
Evaluates to
.Fa o .
.It Fn E "o" "p | index"
If
.Fn E "o" "p"
evaluates to a
.Vt prop_array_t ,
then
.Fn E "o" "p | index"
evaluates to the
.Fa index 'th
element of that array.
Otherwise, an error occurs.
.It Fn E "o" "p | key"
If
.Fn E "o" "p"
evaluates to a
.Vt prop_dictionary_t ,
then
.Fn E "o" "p | key"
evaluates to the dictionary value stored under
.Fa key .
Otherwise, an error occurs.
.El
.Pp
The programmer may think of property-list paths as working similarly
to paths in a file system, where property arrays and dictionaries
correspond to directories, and all other property types correspond
to files.
.Sh DATA TYPES
.Nm
provides two opaque types:
.Bl -tag -width ppath_component
.It Vt ppath_component_t
A property-list path component: a single key or index.
.Nm
counts references to a
.Vt ppath_component_t
and reclaims its storage when there are no more references.
.It Vt ppath_t
An array of zero or more property-list path components.
.Nm
counts references to a
.Vt ppath_t
and reclaims its storage when there are no more references.
.El
.Sh FUNCTIONS
.Nm
provides these functions for manipulating property-list paths
and their components:
.Bl -tag -width ppath
.It Fn ppath_idx "unsigned int index"
Allocate a new
.Vt ppath_component_t
for the given array index and return it.
Its reference count is initially one.
.Pp
If there is not sufficient memory to complete the request, return
.Dv NULL .
.It Fn ppath_key "const char *key"
Allocate a new
.Vt ppath_component_t
for the given dictionary key and return it.
Its reference count is initially one.
.Pp
If there is not sufficient memory to complete the request, return
.Dv NULL .
.\"
.It Fn ppath_component_retain "ppath_component_t *pc"
Increase the reference count on
.Fa pc
by one.
.It Fn ppath_component_release "ppath_component_t *pc"
Decrease the reference count on
.Fa pc
by one.
If the reference count reaches zero, reclaim the storage
for
.Fa pc .
.\"
.It Fn ppath_create "void"
Create a new property-list path and return it.
Its reference count is initially one.
The path's length is initially zero.
.Pp
If there is not sufficient memory to complete the request, return
.Dv NULL .
.It Fn ppath_length "const ppath_t *p"
Return the number of components in path
.Fa p .
.It Fn ppath_component_idx "const ppath_component_t *pc"
Return the array index represented by the component
.Fa pc ,
or \-1 if
.Fa pc
does not represent an array index.
.It Fn ppath_component_key "const ppath_component_t *pc"
Return the dictionary key represented by the component
.Fa pc ,
or
.Dv NULL
if
.Fa pc
does not represent a dictionary key.
.It Fn ppath_pop "ppath_t *p" "ppath_component_t **pcp"
If
.Fa p
is the empty path or
.Dv NULL ,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, remove the last component from
.Fa p
and return
.Fa p ,
and if
.Fa pcp
is not
.Dv NULL ,
write the removed component to
.Fa "*pcp" .
.It Fn ppath_push "ppath_t *p" "ppath_component_t *pc"
If
either
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL
or no more components can be added to
.Fa p ,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, append
.Fa pc
to the end of the component array
.Fa p
and return
.Fa p .
.It Fn ppath_component_at "const ppath_t *p" "unsigned int i"
If
either
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL
or there is no
.Fa ith
component to
.Fa p ,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return the
.Fa ith
component of
.Fa p .
Before returning a component,
.Fn ppath_component_at
increases its reference count.
(The first component is 0.)
.It Fn ppath_subpath "const ppath_t *p" "unsigned int first" "unsigned int exclast"
Create a new
.Vt ppath_t
and fill it with components
.Fa first
to
.Fa exclast
.Pq exclusive
of
.Fa p .
If there are no such components as those in
.Fa p ,
.Fn ppath_subpath
returns an empty
.Vt ppath_t .
If there is insufficient memory to create the new path, or if
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL ,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return the new path.
.It Fn ppath_push_idx "ppath_t *p" "unsigned int idx"
Append an array index,
.Fa idx ,
to the end of path
.Fa p .
If
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL ,
or if there is insufficient memory to complete the operation,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return
.Fa p .
.It Fn ppath_push_key "ppath_t *" "const char *key"
Append a dictionary key,
.Fa key ,
to the end of path
.Fa p .
If
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL ,
or if there is insufficient memory to complete the operation,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return
.Fa p .
.It Fn ppath_replace_idx "ppath_t *p" "unsigned int idx"
Replace the array index at the end of path
.Fa p
with the array index
.Fa idx .
If
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL ,
if the last component of
.Fa p
is not an array index,
or if there is insufficient memory to complete the operation,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return
.Fa p .
.It Fn ppath_replace_key "ppath_t *p" "const char *key"
Replace the dictionary key at the end of path
.Fa p
with the dictionary key
.Fa idx .
If
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL ,
if the last component of
.Fa p
is not a dictionary key,
or if there is insufficient memory to complete the operation,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return
.Fa p .
.\"
.It Fn ppath_copy "const ppath_t *p"
Create a copy of path
.Fa p .
If
.Fa p
is
.Dv NULL ,
or if there is insufficient memory to complete the operation,
return
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise, return the copy, whose reference count will be one.
.It Fn ppath_retain "ppath_t *p"
Increase the reference count on
.Fa p
and return
.Fa p .
.It Fn ppath_release "ppath_t *p"
Decrease the reference count on
.Fa p .
Reclaim the storage for
.Fa p
if the reference count reaches zero.
.\"
.It Fn ppath_lookup "prop_object_t o" "const ppath_t *p"
Return the
.Vt prop_object_t
under
.Fa o
named by
.Fa p ,
or return
.Dv NULL
if no such
.Vt prop_object_t
is under
.Fa o .
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.\" Cross-references should be ordered by section (low to high), then in
.\"     alphabetical order.
.Xr ppath_bool 3 ,
.\" .Xr ppath_data 3 ,
.Xr ppath_number 3 ,
.Xr ppath_object 3 ,
.\" .Xr ppath_string 3 ,
.Xr proplib 3
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
property container path library first appeared in
.Nx 6.0 .
.Sh AUTHORS
.An David Young
.Aq dyoung@pobox.com
.\" .Sh CAVEATS
.\" .Sh BUGS
.\" .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS