.\" (C) 2023, NGINX, Inc.
.\"
.TH nxt_unit_sptr_get 3 (date) "NGINX Unit (unreleased)"
.SH Name
nxt_unit_sptr_set, nxt_unit_sptr_get \-
serialized pointer; offset to self
.SH Library
NGINX Unit library
.RI ( libunit ", " -lunit )
.SH Synopsis
.nf
.B #include <nxt_unit.h>
.PP
.BI "void nxt_unit_sptr_set(nxt_unit_sptr_t *" sptr ", void *" ptr );
.BI "void *nxt_unit_sptr_get(nxt_unit_sptr_t *" sptr );
.PP
.B "typedef union nxt_unit_sptr_u  nxt_unit_sptr_t;"
.fi
.PP
.EX
.B union nxt_unit_sptr_u {
.B "    uint8_t   base[1];"
.B "    uint32_t  offset;"
.B }
.EE
.SH Arguments
.TP
.I sptr
Serialized pointer.
It represents a memory address as
an offset to the address of the offset itself.
.TP
.I ptr
Pointer to be serialized.
.SH Description
This type and helper functions are useful for
having dynamically structured data
in a single buffer.
.TP
.I nxt_unit_sptr_t
The
.I base
array is used for representing the base to which the offset applies.
It's not really used for reinterpreting the data in the union.
The base is the address of the first element in the array,
which is the same as the address of the union,
and thus is also the same as the address of the offset.
.IP
The
.I offset
is really the only field actually accessed in this union.
It points to the start of the data.
.\".IP
.\"This type could have been defined as a single offset integer,
.\"without using unions or arrays,
.\"but then it wouldn't be so clear that the offset points to
.\"some data later in the same container structure.
.TP
.MR nxt_unit_sptr_set 3
Set the offset in the serialized pointer
to point to the data pointed to by
.IR ptr .
.TP
.MR nxt_unit_sptr_get 3
Get a pointer to the data referenced by the serialized pointer
.IR sptr .
.PP
It is necessary to store pointers as offsets
when sharing a buffer via inter-process communication.
.SH Return value
.MR nxt_unit_sptr_get 3
returns a pointer to the data previously set by
.MR nxt_unit_sptr_set 3 .
.SH Errors
None.
.SH Copyright
(C) 2017-2023, NGINX, Inc.
.PP
SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
.SH See also
Website
.UR https://unit.nginx.org
.UE
.PP
Mailing list
.UR https://mailman.nginx.org/mailman/listinfo/unit
.UE
.PP
GitHub
.UR https://github.com/nginx/unit
.UE