the range to construct the RefRange from
A RefRange. If the given range is a class type (and thus is already a reference type), then the original range is returned rather than a RefRange.
Basic Example
import std.algorithm.searching : find; ubyte[] buffer = [1, 9, 45, 12, 22]; auto found1 = find(buffer, 45); assert(found1 == [45, 12, 22]); assert(buffer == [1, 9, 45, 12, 22]); auto wrapped1 = refRange(&buffer); auto found2 = find(wrapped1, 45); assert(*found2.ptr == [45, 12, 22]); assert(buffer == [45, 12, 22]); auto found3 = find(wrapped1.save, 22); assert(*found3.ptr == [22]); assert(buffer == [45, 12, 22]); string str = "hello world"; auto wrappedStr = refRange(&str); assert(str.front == 'h'); str.popFrontN(5); assert(str == " world"); assert(wrappedStr.front == ' '); assert(*wrappedStr.ptr == " world");
opAssign Example.
ubyte[] buffer1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]; ubyte[] buffer2 = [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; auto wrapped1 = refRange(&buffer1); auto wrapped2 = refRange(&buffer2); assert(wrapped1.ptr is &buffer1); assert(wrapped2.ptr is &buffer2); assert(wrapped1.ptr !is wrapped2.ptr); assert(buffer1 != buffer2); wrapped1 = wrapped2; //Everything points to the same stuff as before. assert(wrapped1.ptr is &buffer1); assert(wrapped2.ptr is &buffer2); assert(wrapped1.ptr !is wrapped2.ptr); //But buffer1 has changed due to the assignment. assert(buffer1 == [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]); assert(buffer2 == [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]); buffer2 = [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]; //Everything points to the same stuff as before. assert(wrapped1.ptr is &buffer1); assert(wrapped2.ptr is &buffer2); assert(wrapped1.ptr !is wrapped2.ptr); //But buffer2 has changed due to the assignment. assert(buffer1 == [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]); assert(buffer2 == [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]); wrapped2 = null; //The pointer changed for wrapped2 but not wrapped1. assert(wrapped1.ptr is &buffer1); assert(wrapped2.ptr is null); assert(wrapped1.ptr !is wrapped2.ptr); //buffer2 is not affected by the assignment. assert(buffer1 == [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]); assert(buffer2 == [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]);
Wrapper which effectively makes it possible to pass a range by reference. Both the original range and the RefRange will always have the exact same elements. Any operation done on one will affect the other. So, for instance, if it's passed to a function which would implicitly copy the original range if it were passed to it, the original range is not copied but is consumed as if it were a reference type.
Note: save works as normal and operates on a new range, so if save is ever called on the RefRange, then no operations on the saved range will affect the original.