[Ace-users] [tao-users] _duplicate on ORB

[Sumant Tambe]

Hi,

Correct me if I am wrong but one advantage of calling _duplicate over 
just storing _ptr is that you can store the ORB/POA references in global 
or static objects. Using _duplicate would not cause premature deletion 
of ORB/POA before destructors of all static/global objects (that hold 
references to ORB/POA) are finished at the end of a program. It will be 
destroyed only when the last static/global object is destroyed.

Thanks,

Sumant.

Chris Cleeland wrote:
> 
> On Dec 27, 2007, at 7:46 AM, Douglas C. Schmidt wrote:
>>>    My question is not specific to any ACE TAO version.
>>>    I have read many examples in the examples directory and also from 
>>> "Advanced corba programming with c++" book.
>>>
>>>    While creating a servant all examples do a _duplicate of the orb 
>>> and store it in a member variable.
>>>    Why this duplicate is required?
>>
>> It's not required - it's just an idiom for simplifying memory management.
>>
>>> Can we just keep a _ptr to ORB?
>>
>> Sure - as long as you have strict control over when to delete the ORB.
>>
>>>    I have not seen doing same while storing POA references. They are 
>>> stored in _ptr. Why is this?
>>
>> I don't think the POA references are passed as parameters as much as the
>> ORB references are.
> 
> To expand on Doug's answer, the _duplicate() manages reference counts on 
> Object References.  When the reference count for a CORBA Object 
> Reference falls to zero, that reference is typically deleted.  Any _ptrs 
> left that still point to the reference are now dangling pointers and 
> could cause errors.
> 
> All of this is an artifact of the C++ mapping's memory management model, 
> and the Henning & Vinoski book addresses this topic--as well as the 
> entire model--very well.  Often, CORBA training classes will go into 
> greater detail on memory management (OCI's does), as memory management 
> mistakes account for probably 80% of the problems we encounter in CORBA 
> applications.
> 
> As to why POA references aren't duplicated--I don't know.  There are 
> many possible reasons, ranging from "it's a mistake" to "it's using a 
> different technique to manage reference counts".
> 
> The important point to take home, though is what Doug said here:
> 
>>>    What should be the general practice followed while storing ORB and 
>>> POA references in objects as a member variables.
>>
>> You should follow whatever pattern that (1) you understand and (2) 
>> prevents memory leaks/corruption.
> 
> I have found that using _var as member variable types, and using the 
> "_ptr" style for parameters works best for me.
> 
> ---
> Chris Cleeland, Principal Software Engineer
> http://www.theaceorb.com AND http://www.ociweb.com
> 
> 
> 
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