Reflection

Reflect class

all ZFObject class or ZFInterface class can be reflected if:

• any instance of the class have ever been created
• ClassData have ever been called
• ZFOBJECT_REGISTER have been declared

if matched any of the condition above, you may reflect the class's meta data:

// find the class meta data, null if not found
const ZFClass *cls = ZFClass::classForName("MyObject");
 
// you may create the object's instance by the meta data
zfauto obj = cls->newInstance();
 
// cast to desired type if necessary
MyObject *myObj = obj;
 
// also, you may access class's info by ZFClass's method
zfLog() << "class name: " << cls->className();

Reflect method

a method is reflectable if it's declared by ZFMETHOD_XXX_DECLARE_XXX series, you may reflect it like this:

// find the method info by its owner ZFClass's method,
// return null if not found
const ZFMethod *method = cls->methodForName("myFunc");
 
// invoke the method, note that you must:
// -  explicitly specify the return type and each param type
// -  ensure the proto type of the method is right
// -  ensure obj is the right object that have the method
method->execute<ReturnType, ParamType0, ParamType1>(obj, param0, param1);

Reflect property

also, a property is reflectable if it's declared by ZFPROPERTY_XXX series, you may reflect it like this:

// find the property info by its owner ZFClass's method,
// return null if not found
const ZFProperty *property = cls->propertyForName("myProperty");
 
// change the property's value by setter method,
// also, must ensure all the type matches the original type
property->setterMethod()->execute<void, Type const &>(obj, newValue);

Existing class

any existing class can also be reflectable if you are able to supply some extra registration code:

// header file
class YourType {
public:
    int yourProp;
};
 
ZFTYPEID_DECLARE(ZFLIB_APP, YourType, YourType)
 
// source file
ZFTYPEID_DEFINE_BY_STRING_CONVERTER(YourType, YourType, {
        v.yourProp = yourParser(src, srcLen);
        return zftrue;
    }, {
        yourPrinter(s, v);
        return zftrue;
    })
ZFMETHOD_USER_REGISTER_FOR_WRAPPER_VAR(v_YourType, zfint, yourProp)

once registered:

zfauto obj = ZFClass::classForName("v_YourType")->newInstance();
int yourProp = obj->classData()->propertyGetterForName("yourProp")->execute<zfint const &>(obj);

or even for lua: (see also Automatically lua binding)

local obj = YourType();
local yourProp = obj:yourProp();