Ref Class

The mapping in the C++ programming language of an SQL REF value, which is a reference to an SQL structured type value in the database.

Each REF value has a unique identifier of the object it refers to. An SQL REF value may be used in place of the SQL structured type it references; it may be used as either a column value in a table or an attribute value in a structured type.

Because an SQL REF value is a logical pointer to an SQL structured type, a Ref object is by default also a logical pointer; thus, retrieving an SQL REF value as a Ref object does not materialize the attributes of the structured type on the client.

The only methods valid on a NULL Ref object are isNull(), and operator=().

A Ref object can be saved to persistent storage and is de-referenced through operator*(), operator->() or ptr() methods. T must be a class derived from PObject. In the following sections, T* and PObject* are used interchangeably.

Table 10-32 Summary of Ref Methods

Method	Summary
Ref()	`Ref` object constructor.
clear()	Clears the reference.
getConnection()	Returns the connection this ref was created from.
isClear()	Checks if the Ref is cleared.
isNull()	This method checks if the `Ref` is `NULL`.
markDelete()	Marks the referred object as deleted.
operator->()	De-reference the `Ref` and pins the object if necessary.
operator*()	This operator de-references the `Ref` and pins / fetches the object if necessary.
operator==()	Checks if the `Ref` and the pointer refer to the same object.
operator!=()	Checks if the `Ref` and the pointer refer to different objects.
operator=()	Assignment operator.
ptr()	De-references the `Ref` and pins / fetches the object if necessary.
setPrefetch()	Specifies type and depth of the object attributes to be followed for prefetching.
setLock()	Sets the lock option for the object referred from this.
setNull()	Sets the Ref to `NULL`.
unmarkDelete()	Unmarks for delete the object referred by this.

Ref()

Ref object constructor.

Syntax	Description
Ref();	Creates a `NULL Ref.`
Ref( const Ref<T> &src);	Creates a copy of `Ref.`

Parameter	Description
src	The `Ref` that is being copied.

clear()

This method clears the Ref object.

Syntax

void clear();

getConnection()

Returns the connection from which the Ref object was instantiated.

Syntax

const Connection *getConnection() const;

isClear()

This method checks if Ref object is cleared.

Syntax

bool isClear();

isNull()

This method tests whether the Ref object is NULL. If the Ref object is NULL, then TRUE is returned; otherwise, FALSE is returned.

Syntax

bool isNull() const;

markDelete()

This method marks the referenced object as deleted.

Syntax

void markDelete();

operator->()

This method dereferences the Ref object and pins, or fetches the referenced object if necessary. This might result in prefetching a graph of objects if prefetch attributes of the referenced object are set.

Syntax	Description
T *operator->();	Dereferenes and pins or fetches a non-`const` `Ref` object.
const T *operator->() const;	Dereferences and pins or fetches a `const` `Ref` object.

operator*()

This method dereferences the Ref object and pins or fetches the referenced object if necessary. This might result in prefetching a graph of objects if prefetch attributes of the referenced object are set. The object does not need to be deleted. Destructor would be automatically called when it goes out of scope.

Syntax	Description
T& operator*();	Dereferenes and pins or fetches a non-`const` `Ref` object.
const T& operator*() const;	Dereferences and pins or fetches a `const` `Ref` object.

operator==()

This method tests whether two Ref objects are referencing the same object. If the Ref objects are referencing the same object, then TRUE is returned; otherwise, FALSE is returned.

Syntax

bool operator == (
   const Ref<T> &ref) const;

Parameter	Description
ref	The Ref object of the object to be compared.

operator!=()

This method tests whether two Ref objects are referencing the same object. If the Ref objects are not referencing the same object, then TRUE is returned; otherwise, FALSE is returned.

Syntax

bool operator!= (
   const Ref<T> &ref) const;

Parameter	Description
ref	The `Ref` object of the object to be compared.

operator=()

Assigns the Ref or the object to a Ref. For the first case, the Refs are assigned and for the second case, the Ref is constructed from the object and then assigned.

Syntax	Description
Ref<T>& operator=( const Ref<T> &src);	Assigns a `Ref` to a `Ref`.
Ref<T>& operator=( const T *)obj;	Assigns a `Ref` to an object.

Parameter	Description
src	The source `Ref` object to be assigned.
obj	The source object pointer whose `Ref` object is to be assigned.

ptr()

Returns a pointer to a PObject. This operator dereferences the Ref and pins or fetches the object if necessary. This might result in prefetching a graph of objects if prefetch attributes of the Ref are set.

Syntax	Description
T *ptr();	Returns a pointer of a non-`const` `Ref` object.
const T *ptr() const;	Returns a pointer of a `const` `Ref` object.

setPrefetch()

Sets the prefetching options for the complex object retrieval. This method specifies depth up to which all objects reachable from this object through Refs (transitive closure) should be prefetched. If only selected attribute types are to be prefetched, then setPrefetch(type_name, depth) should be used. This method specifies which Ref attributes of the object it refers to should be followed for prefetching of the objects (complex object retrieval) and how many levels deep those links should be followed.

Syntax	Description
void setPrefetch( const string &typeName, unsigned int depth);	Get the value of a parameter as a `PObject`.
void setPrefetch( unsigned int depth);	Get the value of a parameter as a `PObject`.
void setPrefetch( const UString &typeName, unsigned int depth);	Get the value of a parameter as a `PObject`.

Parameter	Description
typeName	Type of the Ref attribute to be prefetched.
depth	Depth level to which the links should be followed.

setLock()

This method specifies how the object should be locked when dereferenced.

Syntax

void setLock(
   LockOptions);

Parameter	Description
lockOptions	The lock options. Valid values are: `OCCI_LOCK_NONE` `OCCI_LOCK_X` `OCCI_LOCK_X_NOWAIT`

setNull()

This method sets the Ref object to NULL.

Syntax

void setNull();

unmarkDelete()

This method unmarks the referred object as dirty.

Syntax

void unmarkDelete();