[geos-devel] GeometryCollection constructor

[Norman Vine]

strk writes:
> nhv wrote:
> > strk writes:
> > > nhv wrote:
> > > > strk writes:
> > > > > 
> > > > > but my question is: should memory copy go further copying each
> > > > > object in the vector instead of just the vector itself ?
> > > > 
> > > > Ack...
> > > > 
> > > > I thought we were going to use reference counted pointers
> > > > just so we could *safely* pass pointers instead of objects around
> > > > and not have to worry about objects being prematurely deleted
> > > > or conversely needlessly left on the heap !!
> 
> Now, I made LineString always return a copy, as all other types do
> ( as suggested by xie ). I might have used auto_ptr for other cases
> of creation instead, is that what you are saying ? In that case
> callers would not bother deleting method result value. But then again
> sometimes the CoordinateList returned by calls to this function is
> reduced by means of its own method removeRepeatedPoints which did
> delete internal vector and created a new one. This was unacceptable,
> because at the end an internal CoordinateList *
> (LineString::points - protected) would have been modified (deleted?)
> by a function that had nothing to do with LineString itself.

I suggest that if one *must* copy data then one derive new classes
from the low-level geos classes that IMHO should *never* copy data
for performance reasons. < well hardly ever >.  This way there can 
be a 'safe' interface for those that don't feel comfortable with the
responsibilities that come with having the 'raw' acess that is necessary 
for *speed*.  

Cheers

Norman