/****************************************************************************
** $Id: qptrcollection.cpp,v 1.1 2002/03/18 13:37:12 thiagocorrea Exp $
**
** Implementation of base class for all pointer based collection classes
**
** Created : 920820
**
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#include "qptrcollection.h"

/*!
  \class QPtrCollection qptrcollection.h
  \brief The QPtrCollection class is the base class of most pointer-based Qt collections.

  \ingroup collection
  \ingroup tools

  The QPtrCollection class is an abstract base class for the Qt \link
  collection.html collection classes\endlink QDict, QPtrList, etc. Qt
  also includes value based collections, e.g. QValueList, QMap, etc.

  A QPtrCollection only knows about the number of objects in the
  collection and the deletion strategy (see setAutoDelete()).

  A collection is implemented using the \c Item (generic collection
  item) type, which is a \c void*.  The template classes that create
  the real collections cast the \c Item to the required type.
*/


/*! \enum QPtrCollection::Item

  This type is the generic "item" in a QPtrCollection.
*/


/*!
  \fn QPtrCollection::QPtrCollection()

  Constructs a collection. The constructor is protected because
  QPtrCollection is an abstract class.
*/

/*!
  \fn QPtrCollection::QPtrCollection( const QPtrCollection & source )

  Constructs a copy of \a source with autoDelete() set to FALSE. The
  constructor is protected because QPtrCollection is an abstract class.

  Note that if \a source has autoDelete turned on, copying it will
  risk memory leaks, reading freed memory, or both.
*/

/*!
  \fn QPtrCollection::~QPtrCollection()
  Destroys the collection. The destructor is protected because QPtrCollection
  is an abstract class.
*/


/*!
  \fn bool QPtrCollection::autoDelete() const

  Returns the setting of the auto-delete option. The default is FALSE.

  \sa setAutoDelete()
*/

/*!
  \fn void QPtrCollection::setAutoDelete( bool enable )

  Sets the collection to auto-delete its contents if \a enable is TRUE
  and to never delete them if \a enable is FALSE.

  If auto-deleting is turned on, all the items in a collection are
  deleted when the collection itself is deleted. This is convenient if
  the collection has the only pointer to the items.

  The default setting is FALSE, for safety. If you turn it on, be
  careful about copying the collection - you might find yourself with
  two collections deleting the same items.

  Note that the auto-delete setting may also affect other functions in
  subclasses. For example, a subclass that has a remove() function
  will remove the item from its data structure, and if auto-delete is
  enabled, will also delete the item.

  \sa autoDelete()
*/


/*!
  \fn virtual uint QPtrCollection::count() const
  Returns the number of objects in the collection.
*/

/*!
  \fn virtual void QPtrCollection::clear()
  Removes all objects from the collection.  The objects will be deleted
  if auto-delete has been enabled.
  \sa setAutoDelete()
*/

/*!
    \fn void     QPtrCollection::deleteItem( Item d )
    Reimplement this function if you want to be able to delete items.

  Deletes an item that is about to be removed from the collection.

  This function has to reimplemented in the collection template
  classes, and should \e only delete item \a d if auto-delete has
  been enabled.

  \warning If you reimplement this function you must also reimplement
  the destructor and call the virtual function clear() from your
  destructor.  This is due to the way virtual functions and
  destructors work in C++: Virtual functions in derived classes cannot
  be called from a destructor.  If you do not do this, your
  deleteItem() function will not be called when the container is
  destroyed.

  \sa newItem(), setAutoDelete()
*/

/*!
  Virtual function that creates a copy of an object that is about to
  be inserted into the collection.

  The default implementation returns the \a d pointer, i.e. no copy
  is made.

  This function is seldom reimplemented in the collection template
  classes. It is not common practice to make a copy of something
  that is being inserted.

  \sa deleteItem()
*/

QPtrCollection::Item QPtrCollection::newItem( Item d )
{
    return d;					// just return reference
}
