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Raw Data and Type Identification

libxr_type.hpp provides the raw data views RawData and ConstRawData and the RTTI-free type identifier TypeID, used to pass raw data between interfaces.

RawData​

class RawData;

A generic data wrapper that stores a pointer and size in bytes.

Constructors​

  • RawData(void* addr, size_t size) – Specify address and size directly.
  • RawData() – Default constructor for empty data.
  • RawData(T&) – Construct from a writable object, referencing its address, with size sizeof(T); std::string and std::string_view are not accepted.
  • RawData(char*) – Construct from a C-style string (excluding the trailing \0).
  • RawData(char (&str)[N]) – Construct from a writable char array, trimming at most one trailing \0.
  • explicit RawData(std::string&) – Construct from a writable std::string, viewing its text.

Fields​

  • void* addr_ – Data pointer
  • size_t size_ – Size in bytes

ConstRawData​

class ConstRawData;

Read-only data wrapper, similar to RawData but with an immutable address:

Constructors​

  • Constructible from arbitrary objects (except std::string and std::string_view), RawData, char* / const char* and char arrays; std::string and std::string_view convert only explicitly (the constructors are explicit).
  • Ensures addr_ is of type const void*, suitable for read-only views.

Additional notes:

  • Char-array construction currently trims at most one trailing \0, not every zero byte in the array.
  • char* / const char* construction uses std::strlen(...), so it expects a NUL-terminated string.
  • std::string and std::string_view do not convert implicitly to ConstRawData or RawData: passing one directly to such a parameter or initializing with = fails to compile. A text view must be written explicitly as LibXR::ConstRawData(text) (a writable std::string also as LibXR::RawData(text)), with size text.size().

Fields​

  • const void* addr_ – Read-only data pointer
  • size_t size_ – Size in bytes

TypeID​

class TypeID;

A lightweight type identification tool to avoid RTTI and typeid.

Method​

template <typename T>
static TypeID::ID GetID();

Returns one process-local static address (const void*) for each type:

auto id1 = LibXR::TypeID::GetID<int>();
auto id2 = LibXR::TypeID::GetID<std::string>();

Useful for type registration, dispatching, or distinguishing types without runtime type information.

Use Cases​

  • Passing raw data via generic interfaces, data buffers, or IPC mechanisms
  • Uniquely identifying types in RTTI-less environments (e.g., embedded registries, plugin systems)
  • Passing structs with LibXR::Topic