Re: [Vala] cairo binding bug?

[Nor Jaidi Tuah <norjaidi tuah ubd edu bn>]

The way I understand the documentation at

    http://www.cairographics.org/manual/cairo-Paths.html

is that a Path can either be constructed through a cairo
context, i.e., using

   new_path
   move_to
   line_to
   arc_to
   etc

and such a path can be read using either

   copy_path
   copy_path_flat

But a path can also constructed manually, i.e.
not through a cairo context.

I think I understand now why the binding does
not allow "new Cairo.Path". (I may be wrong
here, so please correct me). This is due to
a limitation in vapi. According to the cairo documentation,
a path obtained using copy_path and copy_path_flat
must be disposed using cairo_path_destroy, hence
the following lines in cairo.vapi:

    [Compact]
    [CCode (free_function = "cairo_path_destroy", etc]
    public class Path { etc }

But, the cairo documentation also states that a
manually constructed path must also be destroyed
manually (i.e., not using cairo_path_destroy).
Hence the vapi cannot provide "new Cairo.Path"
because of the inappropirate free_function.

If alternative free_function is a common expectation
in the commonly used libraries, vala should
address this issue.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Nice day
Nor Jaidi Tuah





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