[gdal-dev] [gdal 3.12beta1] OGRFeature::GetDefnRef now returns a const pointer

[Daniel Baston]

Regarding #2 (the direction I'd lean), does GetRefCount() need to be a
public method?

Dan

On Tue, Oct 21, 2025 at 1:08 PM Even Rouault via gdal-dev <
gdal-dev at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:

>
> > Encapsulating the object into a wrapper when returning the object to a
> > language with automatic GC.
> >
> > If I don't do this, I will have to keep a reference to the layer or
> > the feature. Or clone it.
>
> I see different options:
>
> 1) we revert that change. Downside: users may believe that they can
> modify the OGRFeatureDefn* instance, which can potentially cause crashes
> if they are OGRFeature* based on it (that was the rationale for
> const'ifying)
>
> 2) we make OGRFeatureDefn::Reference() and Dereference() const methods.
> But that's a clear violation of const semantics, given that we have a
> GetRefCount() and thus the observable state is modified, so not
> something I'd be super keen doing
>
> 3) the caller of OGRFeature::GetDefnRef() takes responsibility for
> const_cast'ing the const pointer to a non-const pointer. For the purpose
> of just modifying the ref counter, that's fine.
>
> --
> http://www.spatialys.com
> My software is free, but my time generally not.
>
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