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224 lines
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224 lines
12 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE library PUBLIC "-//Boost//DTD BoostBook XML V1.0//EN"
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"http://www.boost.org/tools/boostbook/dtd/boostbook.dtd">
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<!-- Copyright (c) 2002-2006 Pavol Droba.
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Subject to the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
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(See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
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-->
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<section id="string_algo.design" last-revision="$Date$">
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<title>Design Topics</title>
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<using-namespace name="boost"/>
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<using-namespace name="boost::algorithm"/>
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<section id="string_algo.string">
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<title>String Representation</title>
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<para>
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As the name suggest, this library works mainly with strings. However, in the context of this library,
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a string is not restricted to any particular implementation (like <code>std::basic_string</code>),
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rather it is a concept. This allows the algorithms in this library to be reused for any string type,
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that satisfies the given requirements.
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</para>
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<para>
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<emphasis role="bold">Definition:</emphasis> A string is a
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<ulink url="../../libs/range/doc/range.html">range</ulink> of characters accessible in sequential
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ordered fashion. Character is any value type with "cheap" copying and assignment.
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</para>
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<para>
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First requirement of string-type is that it must accessible using
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<ulink url="../../libs/range/index.html">Boost.Range</ulink>. This facility allows to access
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the elements inside the string in a uniform iterator-based fashion.
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This is sufficient for our library
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</para>
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<para>
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Second requirement defines the way in which the characters are stored in the string. Algorithms in
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this library work with an assumption that copying a character is cheaper then allocating extra
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storage to cache results. This is a natural assumption for common character types. Algorithms will
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work even if this requirement is not satisfied, however at the cost of performance degradation.
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<para>
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</para>
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In addition some algorithms have additional requirements on the string-type. Particularly, it is required
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that an algorithm can create a new string of the given type. In this case, it is required that
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the type satisfies the sequence (Std §23.1.1) requirements.
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</para>
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<para>
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In the reference and also in the code, requirement on the string type is designated by the name of
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template argument. <code>RangeT</code> means that the basic range requirements must hold.
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<code>SequenceT</code> designates extended sequence requirements.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="string_algo.sequence_traits">
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<title>Sequence Traits</title>
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<para>
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The major difference between <code>std::list</code> and <code>std::vector</code> is not in the interfaces
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they provide, but rather in the inner details of the class and the way how it performs
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various operations. The problem is that it is not possible to infer this difference from the
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definitions of classes without some special mechanism.
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However, some algorithms can run significantly faster with the knowledge of the properties
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of a particular container.
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</para>
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<para>
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Sequence traits allow one to specify additional properties of a sequence container (see Std.§32.2).
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These properties are then used by algorithms to select optimized handling for some operations.
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The sequence traits are declared in the header
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<headername>boost/algorithm/string/sequence_traits.hpp</headername>.
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</para>
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<para>
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In the table C denotes a container and c is an object of C.
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</para>
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<table>
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<title>Sequence Traits</title>
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<tgroup cols="2" align="left">
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<thead>
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<row>
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<entry>Trait</entry>
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<entry>Description</entry>
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</row>
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</thead>
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<tbody>
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<row>
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<entry><classname>has_native_replace<C></classname>::value</entry>
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<entry>Specifies that the sequence has std::string like replace method</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry><classname>has_stable_iterators<C></classname>::value</entry>
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<entry>
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Specifies that the sequence has stable iterators. It means,
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that operations like <code>insert</code>/<code>erase</code>/<code>replace</code>
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do not invalidate iterators.
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</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry><classname>has_const_time_insert<C></classname>::value</entry>
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<entry>
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Specifies that the insert method of the sequence has
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constant time complexity.
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</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry><classname>has_const_time_erase<C></classname>::value</entry>
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<entry>
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Specifies that the erase method of the sequence has constant time complexity
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</entry>
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</row>
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</tbody>
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</tgroup>
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</table>
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<para>
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Current implementation contains specializations for std::list<T> and
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std::basic_string<T> from the standard library and SGI's std::rope<T> and std::slist<T>.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="string_algo.find">
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<title>Find Algorithms</title>
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<para>
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Find algorithms have similar functionality to <code>std::search()</code> algorithm. They provide a different
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interface which is more suitable for common string operations.
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Instead of returning just the start of matching subsequence they return a range which is necessary
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when the length of the matching subsequence is not known beforehand.
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This feature also allows a partitioning of the input sequence into three
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parts: a prefix, a substring and a suffix.
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</para>
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<para>
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Another difference is an addition of various searching methods besides find_first, including find_regex.
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</para>
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<para>
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It the library, find algorithms are implemented in terms of
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<link linkend="string_algo.finder_concept">Finders</link>. Finders are used also by other facilities
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(replace,split).
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For convenience, there are also function wrappers for these finders to simplify find operations.
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</para>
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<para>
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Currently the library contains only naive implementation of find algorithms with complexity
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O(n * m) where n is the size of the input sequence and m is the size of the search sequence.
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There are algorithms with complexity O(n), but for smaller sequence a constant overhead is
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rather big. For small m << n (m by magnitude smaller than n) the current implementation
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provides acceptable efficiency.
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Even the C++ standard defines the required complexity for search algorithm as O(n * m).
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It is possible that a future version of library will also contain algorithms with linear
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complexity as an option
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="string_algo.replace">
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<title>Replace Algorithms</title>
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<para>
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The implementation of replace algorithms follows the layered structure of the library. The
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lower layer implements generic substitution of a range in the input sequence.
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This layer takes a <link linkend="string_algo.finder_concept">Finder</link> object and a
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<link linkend="string_algo.formatter_concept">Formatter</link> object as an input. These two
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functors define what to replace and what to replace it with. The upper layer functions
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are just wrapping calls to the lower layer. Finders are shared with the find and split facility.
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</para>
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<para>
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As usual, the implementation of the lower layer is designed to work with a generic sequence while
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taking advantage of specific features if possible
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(by using <link linkend="string_algo.sequence_traits">Sequence traits</link>)
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="string_algo.split">
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<title>Find Iterators & Split Algorithms</title>
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<para>
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Find iterators are a logical extension of the <link linkend="string_algo.find">find facility</link>.
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Instead of searching for one match, the whole input can be iteratively searched for multiple matches.
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The result of the search is then used to partition the input. It depends on the algorithms which parts
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are returned as the result. They can be the matching parts (<classname>find_iterator</classname>) of the parts in
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between (<classname>split_iterator</classname>).
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</para>
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<para>
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In addition the split algorithms like <functionname>find_all()</functionname> and <functionname>split()</functionname>
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can simplify the common operations. They use a find iterator to search the whole input and copy the
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matches they found into the supplied container.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="string_algo.exception">
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<title>Exception Safety</title>
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<para>
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The library requires that all operations on types used as template
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or function arguments provide the <emphasis>basic exception-safety guarantee</emphasis>.
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In turn, all functions and algorithms in this library, except where stated
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otherwise, will provide the <emphasis>basic exception-safety guarantee</emphasis>.
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In other words:
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The library maintains its invariants and does not leak resources in
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the face of exceptions. Some library operations give stronger
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guarantees, which are documented on an individual basis.
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</para>
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<para>
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Some functions can provide the <emphasis>strong exception-safety guarantee</emphasis>.
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That means that following statements are true:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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If an exception is thrown, there are no effects other than those
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of the function
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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If an exception is thrown other than by the function, there are no effects
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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This guarantee can be provided under the condition that the operations
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on the types used for arguments for these functions either
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provide the strong exception guarantee or do not alter the global state .
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</para>
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<para>
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In the reference, under the term <emphasis>strong exception-safety guarantee</emphasis>, we mean the
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guarantee as defined above.
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</para>
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<para>
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For more information about the exception safety topics, follow this
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<ulink url="http://www.boost.org/more/generic_exception_safety.html">link</ulink>
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</para>
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</section>
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</section>
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