SWIG c++ / python: how to handle a std::map of shared_ptr of abstract class

Question

How can I handle the map of abstract methods in python with SWIG from the following c++ code:

class A : Base {
    virtual int f() = 0;
};

class B : public A {
    int f() { return 10 }; 
}; 

class C : public A {
    int f() { return 20 }; 
}; 

std::map< std::string, std::shared_ptr<A>> my_map; 

In python, I would like to do something similar too:

my_B = B()
my_map["foo"] = my_B

or may be simpler:

my_map["foo"] = B()

I have to precise that A or B could be director class in order to use the cross language polymorphism.

My questions:

1. What could be the minimal .i file associated to this problem ?
2. I also read that this can cause python / C++ tricky ownership problem if for instance my_B is deleted. How can I easily tranfer "my_B" ownership from python to C++ ?

Thanks a lot for your help

A.

Answer 1

Here's a working example with tracking for construction/destruction to show reference counting of the shared pointer is working:

test.h

#include <map>
#include <memory>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>

class A {
public:
    virtual int f() = 0;
    A() { std::cout << "A()" << std::endl; }
    virtual ~A() { std::cout << "~A()" << std::endl; }
};

class B : public A {
public:
    int f() { return 10; }
    B() { std::cout << "B()" << std::endl; }
    virtual ~B() { std::cout << "~B()" << std::endl; }
};

class C : public A {
public:
    int f() { return 20; }
    C() { std::cout << "C()" << std::endl; }
    virtual ~C() { std::cout << "~C()" << std::endl; }
};

std::map< std::string, std::shared_ptr<A>> my_map;

test.i

%module test

%{
#include "test.h"
%}

%include <std_map.i>
%include <std_shared_ptr.i>
%include <std_string.i>

// declare all visible shared pointers so SWIG generates appropriate wrappers
// before including the header.
%shared_ptr(A)
%shared_ptr(B)
%shared_ptr(C)

%include "test.h"

// Declare the template instance used so SWIG will generate the wrapper.
%template(Map) std::map<std::string, std::shared_ptr<A>>;

Output:

>>> import test
>>>
>>> m=test.cvar.my_map    # global variables are in module's cvar.
>>> m['foo'] = test.C()
A()
C()
>>> m['foo'].f()
20
>>> del m['foo']  # only reference, so it is freed
~C()
~A()
>>> b = test.B()  # 1st reference
A()
B()
>>> m['bar'] = b  # 2nd reference
>>> del m['bar']  # NOT freed.
>>> del b         # now it is freed.
~B()
~A()