UAP Common Extensions 3.1 Help

Map Interface

Similar to the list interface, the map interface provides a common API for implementing maps.

UCX is shipped with a hash map implementation of this interface.

#include <cx/hash_map.h> CxMap *cxHashMapCreate(const CxAllocator *allocator, size_t itemsize, size_t buckets); CxMap *cxHashMapCreateSimple(size_t itemsize);

The function cxHashMapCreate() creates a new map where both the map structure and the contained buckets are allocated by the specified allocator. The default stdlib allocator is used in cxHashMapCreateSimple().

The map will store items of size itemsize. You can use the CX_STORE_POINTERS macro for itemsize to indicate that the map shall store pointers instead of actual items.

If you pass zero for the number of buckets, or use cxHashMapSimple(), the map is initialized with a default of 16 buckets, otherwise the specified number of buckets is allocated.

Examples

#include <stdio.h> #include <cx/hash_map.h> int main() { CxMap *contacts = cxHashMapCreateSimple(CX_STORE_POINTERS); // Build a small phone book cxMapPut(contacts, "John", "123-0815"); cxMapPut(contacts, "Jane", "987-4711"); cxMapPut(contacts, "Michelle", "555-3141"); cxMapPut(contacts, "Oliver", "000-9999"); // Retrieve a phone number const char *janes_phone = cxMapGet(contacts, "Jane"); printf("The number of Jane is: %s\n", janes_phone); // Update number cxMapPut(contacts, "Jane", "987-1337"); // Remove and retrieve number cxMapRemoveAndGet(contacts, "Jane", &janes_phone); printf("The number of Jane was: %s\n", janes_phone); janes_phone = cxMapGet(contacts, "Jane"); if (janes_phone == NULL) printf("Jane's number was deleted.\n"); // Iterate through the contact list CxMapIterator iter = cxMapIterator(contacts); cx_foreach(CxMapEntry *, entry, iter) { cxstring name = cx_strn(entry->key->data, entry->key->len); const char *phone = entry->value; printf("%.*s: %s\n", (int) name.length, name.ptr, phone); } cxMapFree(contacts); return 0; }

The above example illustrates basic operations with a map.

In the first part we add several entries to the map. Then the example shows retrieval, updating, and removal of information. The last part shows how to iterate over the pairs of the map and how to recover the string from the key.

In real world situations, however, it is quite unlikely that you will use a map to store string literals. The next example shows a more realistic program, where it is necessary to store strings based on user input.

#include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #include <cx/hash_map.h> int main() { // store strings in the map... CxMap *contacts = cxHashMapCreateSimple(sizeof(cxmutstr)); // ...which are automatically freed when removed cxDefineDestructor(contacts, cx_strfree); // build a small interactive program const unsigned buffer_size = 256; char input[buffer_size]; bool running = true; while (running) { puts("\n*** Contacts - Menu ***"); puts("1) Add entry"); puts("2) Look up entry"); puts("3) Remove entry"); puts("4) Show all entries"); puts("0) Exit"); fputs("> ", stdout); if (fgets(input, buffer_size, stdin)) { if (input[1] != '\n') { puts("Please select a menu item.\n"); } else if (input[0] == '1') { fputs("Name > ", stdout); if (fgets(input, buffer_size, stdin)) { // Copy the name (alternative: use 2nd input buf) cxmutstr name = cx_strdup( cx_strn(input, strcspn(input, "\n"))); fputs("Phone > ", stdout); if (fgets(input, buffer_size, stdin)) { // add the entry, note that only the contents // of the cxmutstr are copied, not the string // data - therefore we have to call cx_strdup cxmutstr phone = cx_strdup( cx_strn(input, strcspn(input, "\n"))); // note, that we can simply use the cxmutstr // for the name as key, because cxMapPut uses // generic selection cxMapPut(contacts, name, &phone); } cx_strfree(&name); } } else if (input[0] == '2') { fputs("Name > ", stdout); if (fgets(input, buffer_size, stdin)) { // Look up the name input[strcspn(input, "\n")] = '\0'; cxmutstr *phone = cxMapGet(contacts, input); if (phone == NULL) { puts("No record."); } else { printf("Result: %.*s\n", (int) phone->length, phone->ptr); } } } else if (input[0] == '3') { fputs("Name > ", stdout); if (fgets(input, buffer_size, stdin)) { // Remove the entry // Since we registered cx_strfree as destructor, // the memory is automatically freed input[strcspn(input, "\n")] = '\0'; if (cxMapRemove(contacts, input)) { puts("No such record."); } else { puts("Removed."); } } } else if (input[0] == '4') { // Almost the same iteration loop as above ... CxMapIterator iter = cxMapIterator(contacts); cx_foreach(CxMapEntry *, entry, iter) { cxstring name = cx_strn(entry->key->data, entry->key->len); // ... except that here we get cxmutstr* cxmutstr *phone = entry->value; printf("%.*s: %.*s\n", (int) name.length, name.ptr, (int) phone->length, phone->ptr); } } else if (input[0] == '0') { running = false; } else { puts("Please select a menu item.\n"); } } else { running = false; } } // this will free all remaining strings that are in the map cxMapFree(contacts); return 0; }

Insert

#include <cx/map.h> int cxMapPut(CxMap *map, KeyType key, void *value);

The function cxMapPut() stores the specified key/value pair.

The key is always copied. The behavior for the value is dependent on whether the map is storing pointers. If it is storing pointers, the value pointer is directly stored in the map. Otherwise, the memory pointed to by value is copied, using the element size of the collection.

If an element is already associated with the specified key, it is replaced. If destructor functions are registered, they are invoked for the old element before it is replaced.

This function returns zero if the element was successfully put into the map and non-zero otherwise.

Access

#include <cx/map.h> void *cxMapGet(CxMap *map, KeyType key); size_t cxMapSize(const CxMap *map);

With the function cxMapGet() you can retrieve a value stored under the specified key. If there is no such value, this function returns NULL.

The function cxMapSize() returns how many key/value-pairs are currently stored in the map.

Remove

#include <cx/map.h> int cxMapRemove(CxMap *map, KeyType key); int cxMapRemoveAndGet(CxMap *map, KeyType key, void* targetbuf); void cxMapClear(CxMap *map);

The function cxMapRemove() retrieves and removes a value stored under the specified key. If destructor functions are registered, they are called before removal.

On the other hand, cxMapRemoveAndGet() does not invoke the destructor functions, and instead copies the value into the targetbuf which must be sufficiently large to hold the value.

In either case, the functions return zero when an element was found under the specified key, and non-zero otherwise.

The function cxMapClear() removes all elements from the map, invoking the destructor functions for each of them.

Iterators

#include <cx/map.h> CxMapIterator cxMapIterator(const CxMap *map); CxMapIterator cxMapIteratorKeys(const CxMap *map); CxMapIterator cxMapIteratorValues(const CxMap *map); CxMapIterator cxMapMutIterator(CxMap *map); CxMapIterator cxMapMutIteratorKeys(CxMap *map); CxMapIterator cxMapMutIteratorValues(CxMap *map);

The above functions create a (mutating) iterator over the pairs, keys, or values of the specified map, respectively.

Iterators over pairs yield elements of type CxMapEntry* which is a struct containing a pointer to the key and the value, respectively.

Iterators over keys yield elements of type const CxHashKey* (cf. CxHashKey documentation).

The behavior of iterators over values depends on the concrete implementation. Implementations are encouraged to support CX_STORE_POINTERS. If used, the void* elements the iterator yields, shall be directly the stored pointers. Otherwise, the iterator shall yield pointers to the map's memory where the value is stored.

Dispose

#include <cx/map.h> void cxMapFree(CxMap *map);

The function cxMapFree() invokes the destructor functions for all elements, and then deallocates the entire memory for the map.

Implement own Map Structures

If the UCX hash map implementation does not suit your needs, you can also implement your own map. To be compatible with the CxMap interface, it needs to store key/value pairs of the following form.

typedef struct { const CxHashKey *key; void *value; } CxMapEntry;

When you are declaring your map structure, a CxMap member must be embedded as first member of this structure. Secondly, you need to implement the cx_map_class and assign it when allocating your map.

#include <cx/map.h> typedef struct { CxMap base; // ... data members for storing CxMapEntry elements go here ... } MyMap; // declare the class - implement the functions somewhere static cx_map_class my_map_class = { my_map_destructor, my_map_clear, my_map_put, my_map_get, my_map_remove, my_map_iterator, }; // this function will create the map CxMap *myMapCreate(const CxAllocator *allocator, size_t itemsize) { if (allocator == NULL) { allocator = cxDefaultAllocator; } // allocate memory MyMap *map = cxCalloc(allocator, 1, sizeof(MyMap)); if (map == NULL) return NULL; // initialize base members map->base.cl = &my_map_class; // <--- assign class here map->base.collection.allocator = allocator; if (itemsize == CX_STORE_POINTERS) { map->base.collection.elem_size = sizeof(void *); map->base.collection.store_pointer = true; } else { map->base.collection.elem_size = itemsize; } // ... initialization of data members go here ... return (CxMap *) map; }

The required behavior for the implementations is described in the following table. You can always look at the source code of the UCX hash map to get inspiration.

Function

Description

clear

Invoke destructor functions on all elements and remove them from the map.

deallocate

Invoke destructor functions on all elements and deallocate the entire map memory.

put

Store an element in the map. If an element is already stored, invoke the destructor functions on that element and replace it with the new element. Return non-zero when allocating memory fails.

get

Look up the specified key and return the associated value (or NULL if the key was not found).

remove

Remove an element from the map. If a target buffer is specified, copy the elements to that buffer. Otherwise, invoke the destructor functions for the element. If the key was not found in the map, return non-zero.

iterator

Return an iterator over the pairs, the keys, or the values, depending on the iterator type passed with the last argument.

Last modified: 06 April 2025