Re: Oct files: How to get read-only pointers to data for arguments of unknown type?

[Stefan]

Hello,

I figured out how to get a pointer to the data in an octave_value object,
regardless of the type, without having octave make a copy:

void *octGetData(const octave_value &in)
{
    if (in.is_complex_type() && !in.is_scalar_type()) {
        // handle complex data types separately, but only if not scalar!
        if (in.is_double_type()) {
            const ComplexNDArray t = in.complex_array_value();
            return (void*) t.data();
        } else if (in.is_single_type()) {
            const FloatComplexNDArray t = in.float_complex_array_value();
            return (void*) t.data();
        } else {
            error("Data type not implemented.");
            return NULL;
        }
    } else {
        // handle bulk of data types with mex_get_data()
        return in.mex_get_data();
    }
}

So there is an octave_value method mex_get_data() that emulates Matlab's
mxGetData() function, which handles most cases. For complex data types,
mex_get_data() appears to make a copy of the data to emulate Matlab's
behavior to return only the real part. This isn't what I wanted, since my
library expects complex inputs in octave's storage order. Hence the
data-type specific solution for complex data, which - in contrast to my
thinking in my previous post - does *NOT* make a copy, UNLESS you happen to
have a scalar type (is_scalar_type() is true).

A single complex number was my test case for my previous post, which failed
so badly. Fortunately, mex_get_data() works for complex scalars, since the
data doesn't have to be rearranged in this case.

I believe the above function does not interfere with octave's reference
counting, so you can use it to pass arguments to an oct file by reference:

DEFUN_DLD(oct_test, args, nargout, "Test")
{ 
    void *data = octGetData(args(0));
    *(Complex*)data = Complex(7.,8.);
    return octave_value();
}

In octave:

octave:1> x = 1+i
x =  1 + 1i
octave:2> oct_test(x)
octave:3> x
x =  7 + 8i

Great, if the data in x fills up half of your computers memory and your
point of writing an oct file in the first place was to have access to a fast
C library that modifies your data in-place.

Thanks everybody for your time,

Stefan


--
View this message in context: 
http://octave.1599824.n4.nabble.com/Oct-files-How-to-get-read-only-pointers-to-data-for-arguments-of-unknown-type-tp4425650p4428192.html
Sent from the Octave - General mailing list archive at Nabble.com.