Get Box<&mut Thing> back from a &mut Box<dyn Any> - rust

How do I get back at the original data if I have a reference to a Box<dyn Any> which itself wraps a mutable reference to some Thing?
i.e.
Box<&mut Thing> --> &mut Box<dyn Any> --> &mut Thing
I can get this to work for the case where it wraps an object, but not where it wraps a mutable reference.
Here is an MWE (please excuse the unsafe code to fake the example data!)
use std::any::Any;
struct Thing;
fn main() {
// Fake some data for the example
let mut thing = Thing {};
let thing_ref = &mut thing;
let thing_static_ref: &'static mut Thing = unsafe { std::mem::transmute(thing_ref) };
let boxed_thing = Box::new(thing_static_ref);
let mut boxed_any: Box<dyn Any> = boxed_thing;
let boxed_any_ref = &mut boxed_any;
// Try to get our data back
let unboxed_any = boxed_any_ref.as_mut();
let maybe_unboxed_thing = unboxed_any.downcast_mut::<Thing>();
if maybe_unboxed_thing.is_none(){
println!("Failed");
} else {
println!("OK");
}
}

Related

How to get `&mut T` of a Box<Rc<RefCell<T>>>?

I got a Box<Rc<RefCell<T>>> from FFI. How can I get the &mut T based on it?
I can not compile it. Compiler tells me:
47 | let mut r: &mut Server = server.borrow_mut();
| ^^^^^^^^^^ the trait BorrowMut<Server> is not implemented for Box<Rc<RefCell<Server>>>
|
= help: the trait BorrowMut<T> is implemented for Box<T, A>
For more information about this error, try rustc --explain E0277.
#[derive(Debug)]
struct Server {
id: i32,
}
impl Server {
pub fn change_id(&mut self) {
self.id = self.id + 1;
}
}
#[no_mangle]
pub extern "C" fn server_change_id(server: *mut Rc<RefCell<Server>>) -> isize {
let server: Box<Rc<RefCell<Server>>> = unsafe { Box::from_raw(server) };
let mut r: &mut Server = server.borrow_mut();
r.change_id();
return 0;
}
Auto-deref will make borrow_mut() directly accessible.
use std::{cell::RefCell, cell::RefMut, ops::DerefMut, rc::Rc};
fn main() {
let a = Box::new(Rc::new(RefCell::new("aaa".to_owned())));
//
println!("{:?}", a);
{
let mut r: RefMut<String> = a.borrow_mut();
r.push_str("bbb"); // via RefMut
let r2: &mut String = r.deref_mut();
r2.push_str("ccc"); // via exclusive-reference
}
println!("{:?}", a);
}
/*
RefCell { value: "aaa" }
RefCell { value: "aaabbbccc" }
*/
In your code, let mut r = server.borrow_mut(); should be enough to invoke r.change_id().
let mut r = server.borrow_mut();
r.change_id();
If you absolutely want a &mut, then use let r2 = r.deref_mut() and invoke r2.change_id().
let mut r = server.borrow_mut();
let r2 = r.deref_mut();
r2.change_id();
T gets wrapped inside the RefCell<T> must implement the Deref or DerefMut trait in order to be borrowed mutably or reference borrowed. In your case, Server must implement a deref method.
use std::ops::DerefMut;
impl DerefMut for Server {
fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Self {
*self // this assumes your server has more than just one i32 field.
}
}
After this implementation, you should be able to call server.borrow_mut() should work perfectly and return you a mutable server object.

how to constrain the lifetime when doing unsafe conversion

I want to create a Test ref from the array ref with the same size and keep the lifetime checking.
I can do this by using a function and I know the function can deduce the lifetime. The code below is intentionally designed to fail when compiling because of use after move. It works.
struct Test {
a: i32,
}
/// 'a can be removed for simplification
fn create_test<'a>(ptr: &'a mut [u8]) -> &'a mut Test {
assert_eq!(ptr.len(), size_of::<Test>());
unsafe { &mut *(ptr as *mut [u8] as *mut Test) }
}
fn main() {
let mut space = Box::new([0 as u8; 100]);
let (s1, _s2) = space.split_at_mut(size_of::<Test>());
let test = create_test(s1);
drop(space);
test.a += 1;
}
My question is how can I do this without declaring an extra function to constrain the lifetime.
fn main() {
let mut space = Box::new([0 as u8; 100]);
let (s1, _s2): (&'a mut [u8], _) = space.split_at_mut(size_of::<Test>());
let test: &'a mut Test = unsafe { &mut *(s1 as *mut [u8] as *mut Test) };
drop(space);
}
such `a is not allowed.
The following code works. And it holds the borrowing check.
fn main() {
let mut space = Box::new([0 as u8; 100]);
let layout = Layout::new::<Test>();
println!("{}", layout.align());
let (_prefix, tests, _suffix) = unsafe { space.align_to_mut::<Test>() };
assert!(tests.len() > 0);
let test = &mut tests[0];
let (_, suffix, _) = unsafe { tests[1..].align_to_mut::<u8>() };
}
You cannot do that, but this is not needed either. Lifetimes are used to ensure safety across function boundaries. In the same function you can just ensure safety manually.
Theoretically, we would not need a borrow checker if the compiler could just inspect the called functions and follow the execution path to deterime whether we invoke Undefined Behavior. Practically, this can't be done because of problems like the Halting Problem and performance.

Rust async-std strange syntax in order to resolve the conflict of read-write borrowing

I am trying to write a tcp server with async-std, in order to resolve the confilice of read-write borrow check, I found a strange way:
use async_std::prelude::*;
use async_std::task;
use async_std::net::TcpListener;
use async_std::io::BufReader;
fn main() {
task::block_on(async {
let listener = TcpListener::bind("0.0.0.0:9000").await.unwrap();
let mut incoming = listener.incoming();
while let Some(stream) = incoming.next().await {
let stream = stream.unwrap();
println!("Client Addr: {:?}", stream.peer_addr().unwrap());
task::spawn( async move {
let (reader, mut writer) = (&stream, &stream); // Stange here <-----
let reader = BufReader::new(reader);
let mut lines = reader.lines();
while let Some(line) = lines.next().await {
let mut line = line.unwrap();
line.push('x');
line.push('\n');
writer.write_all(line.as_bytes()).await.unwrap();
}
});
}
});
}
Strange:
let (reader, mut writer) = (&stream, &stream); // Stange here <-----
I wrote a verification program following this method:
fn main() {
let mut arr = vec![1, 2, 3, 4];
let (r, mut w) = (&arr, &arr);
for v in r.iter() {
if v == &2 {
w.push(5);
}
}
dbg!(arr);
}
got error:
error[E0596]: cannot borrow `*w` as mutable, as it is behind a `&` reference
can anyone explain it ?
This works because TcpStream has the following impls:
impl Read for TcpStream
impl Write for TcpStream
impl<'_> Read for &'_ TcpStream
impl<'_> Write for &'_ TcpStream
The first two are the "normal" ones, the last two are the "special" ones that allow you to do this reader/writer trick.
For example: The read() trait method is defined like this:
pub fn read<'a>(&'a mut self, buf: &'a mut [u8]) -> ImplFuture<Result<usize>>
When you do stream.read(buf), you're using the impl Read for TcpStream impl. Therefore, you're calling the method with self being of type &mut TcpStream.
When you do let reader = &stream; reader.read(buf), you're using the impl<'_> Read for &'_ TcpStream. Therefore, you're calling the method with self being of type &mut &TcpStream.

Is it possible to create a wrapper around an &mut that acts like an &mut

The following code fails to compile because MutRef is not Copy. It can not be made copy because &'a mut i32 is not Copy. Is there any way give MutRef similar semantics to &'a mut i32?
The motivation for this is being able to package up a large set of function parameters into a struct so that they can be passed as a group instead of needing to be passed individually.
struct MutRef<'a> {
v: &'a mut i32
}
fn wrapper_use(s: MutRef) {
}
fn raw_use(s: &mut i32) {
}
fn raw_ref() {
let mut s: i32 = 9;
let q = &mut s;
raw_use(q);
raw_use(q);
}
fn wrapper() {
let mut s: i32 = 9;
let q = MutRef{ v: &mut s };
wrapper_use(q);
wrapper_use(q);
}
No.
The name for this feature is "implicit reborrowing" and it happens when you pass a &mut reference where the compiler expects a &mut reference of a possibly different lifetime. The compiler only implicitly reborrows when the actual type and the expected type are both &mut references. It does not work with generic arguments or structs that contain &mut references. There is no way in current Rust to make a custom type that can be implicitly reborrowed. There is an open issue about this limitation dating from 2015, but so far nobody has proposed any way to lift it.
You can always implement your own method to explicitly reborrow:
impl<'a> MutRef<'a> {
// equivalent to fn reborrow(&mut self) -> MutRef<'_>
fn reborrow<'b>(&'b mut self) -> MutRef<'b> {
MutRef {v: self.v}
}
}
fn wrapper() {
let mut s: i32 = 9;
let mut q = MutRef{ v: &mut s };
wrapper_use(q.reborrow()); // does not move q
wrapper_use(q); // moves q
}
See also
Why is the mutable reference not moved here?
Type inference and borrowing vs ownership transfer

Read reference from Option<&mut T> multiple times

I have an Option<&mut T> and want to access the contained reference multiple times, like so:
fn f(a: Option<&mut i32>) {
if let Some(x) = a {
*x = 6;
}
// ...
if let Some(x) = a {
*x = 7;
}
}
fn main() {
let mut x = 5;
f(Some(&mut x));
}
That doesn't work, because if let Some(x) = a moves the reference value out of the Option, and the second if let Some(x) = a will result in a compiler error. Without the second if let ..., this works flawlessly, so a doesn't have to be mutable.
The following:
if let Some(ref x) = a {
**x = 6;
}
gives an error: "assignment into an immutable reference".
This would work:
fn f(mut a: Option<&mut i32>) {
if let Some(ref mut x) = a {
**x = 6;
}
if let Some(ref mut x) = a {
**x = 7;
}
}
The mut a is necessary, otherwise I get an error "cannot borrow immutable anonymous field (a:std::prelude::v1::Some).0 as mutable". But this feels wrong: a shouldn't have to be mutable, because I'm not modifying it (see above).
What's the correct solution?
Edit 1
My problem is different from the one in How to pass `Option<&mut ...>` to multiple function calls without causing move errors?. I want to mutably dereference the reference in an Option<&mut T> multiple times, while the other one wants to pass an Option to multiple function invocations. The solutions to the other question are not applicable to my situation.
What about this?
fn f(a: Option<&mut i32>) {
if let Some(&mut ref mut x) = a {
*x = 6;
}
// ...
if let Some(&mut ref mut x) = a {
*x = 7;
}
}
In this case, a doesn't need to be mutable.
The &mut ref mut feels a bit awkward, but it makes sense: first we remove a &mut by destructuring and then take a mutable reference to the value again. It's more obvious when we don't use the Option:
let mr: &mut Vec<u32> = &mut vec![];
{
let &mut ref mut a = mr;
a.push(3);
}
mr.push(4);
This also works. The third (special) line is equivalent to:
let a = &mut *mr ;
// ^^^----- this is an lvalue of type `Vec<u32>`
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^----- together it's of type `&mut Vec<u32>` again
In the Option case, we can't use the &mut *X version, but need to do all of it inside of the pattern. Thus the &mut ref mut x.

Resources