Class RefCounted
Base class for reference-counted objects.
- Inheritance
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RefCounted
- Derived
Remarks
Base class for any object that keeps a reference count. Resource and many other helper objects inherit this class.
Unlike other Object types, RefCounteds keep an internal reference counter so that they are automatically released when no longer in use, and only then. RefCounteds therefore do not need to be freed manually with free.
RefCounted instances caught in a cyclic reference will not be freed automatically. For example, if a node holds a reference to instance A, which directly or indirectly holds a reference back to A, A's reference count will be 2. Destruction of the node will leave A dangling with a reference count of 1, and there will be a memory leak. To prevent this, one of the references in the cycle can be made weak with @GlobalScope.weakref.
In the vast majority of use cases, instantiating and using RefCounted-derived types is all you need to do. The methods provided in this class are only for advanced users, and can cause issues if misused.
Note: In C#, reference-counted objects will not be freed instantly after they are no longer in use. Instead, garbage collection will run periodically and will free reference-counted objects that are no longer in use. This means that unused ones will remain in memory for a while before being removed.
See Also
Methods
get_reference_count
Qualifiers: const
Returns the current reference count.
int get_reference_countinit_ref
Initializes the internal reference counter. Use this only if you really know what you are doing.
Returns whether the initialization was successful.
bool init_refreference
Increments the internal reference counter. Use this only if you really know what you are doing.
Returns true if the increment was successful, false otherwise.
bool referenceunreference
Decrements the internal reference counter. Use this only if you really know what you are doing.
Returns true if the object should be freed after the decrement, false otherwise.
bool unreference