PrettyMemory

Header-only C++17/C++20 smart pointer library with explicit ownership and safe observation.

API documentation | 中文说明 | Contributing

Types

All public types live in namespace prtm. Implementation details are in prtm::detail.

Type	Description
OwnerPtr<T, Deleter>	Owning smart pointer. Move-only. Supports custom deleters.
ShadowPtr<T>	Non-owning observer. Detects when the target object is destroyed.
EnableShadowFromThis<T>	CRTP base. Lets an object create ShadowPtr from this.

The entire implementation lives in include/PrettyMemory.h.

Build and test

Requires: CMake 3.28+, C++17 compiler. C++20 enables concepts and the <=> spaceship operator.

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

Run a single test by name pattern:

ctest --test-dir build -R ShadowPtrTest --output-on-failure

List discovered tests without running:

ctest --test-dir build -N

Pipenv scripts (Windows)

Python helper scripts wrap CMake. Default build config is RelWithDebInfo:

pipenv run build              # configure + build (RelWithDebInfo)
pipenv run test               # run tests
pipenv run build_release      # build Release
pipenv run test_release       # test Release
pipenv run clean              # remove build/, bin/, .vs/, .idea/
pipenv run doc                # generate Doxygen docs

CI builds in Release with -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64. Both C++17 and C++20 are supported; C++20 enables concepts and the <=> spaceship operator.

Generate API documentation

Doxygen generates the API reference from comments in include/PrettyMemory.h.

cmake -S . -B build\docs -DBUILD_DOCS=ON
cmake --build build\docs --target docs

Or use the helper script:

pipenv run doc

Output goes to doc/html. The generated site does not expose absolute local file paths.

Project layout

include/PrettyMemory.h    public API and header-only implementation
test/                     GoogleTest-based unit tests (one file per type)
CMakeLists.txt            top-level build: C++ standard, output dirs, BUILD_TESTS option
Pipfile                   Python helper scripts for build/test/clean/doc

Example

#include <PrettyMemory.h>

struct Object
{
    int Value{ 0 };
};

auto owner = prtm::OwnerPtr<Object>::Create();
owner->Value = 42;

auto shadow = owner.Shadow();
owner.Reset();

bool expired = shadow.Expired();

CI and Pages

• .github/workflows/ci.yml — builds and tests on Windows for pushes to main/master and pull requests.
• .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml — regenerates docs on push to main, deploys to GitHub Pages.

First-time Pages setup: set Settings > Pages > Source to GitHub Actions.