I used to do this kind of thing in C, before I knew what OOP was.
Following is an example, which implements a data-buffer which grows on demand, given a minimum size, increment and maximum size. This particular implementation was "element" based, which is to say it was designed to allow a list-like collection of any C type, not just a variable length byte-buffer.
The idea is that the object is instantiated using the xxx_crt() and deleted using xxx_dlt(). Each of the "member" methods takes a specifically typed pointer to operate on.
I implemented a linked list, cyclic buffer, and a number of other things in this manner.
I must confess, I have never given any thought on how to implement inheritance with this approach. I imagine that some blend of that offered by Kieveli might be a good path.
dtb.c:
#include <limits.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
static void dtb_xlt(void *dst, const void *src, vint len, const byte *tbl);
DTABUF *dtb_crt(vint minsiz,vint incsiz,vint maxsiz) {
DTABUF *dbp;
if(!minsiz) { return NULL; }
if(!incsiz) { incsiz=minsiz; }
if(!maxsiz || maxsiz<minsiz) { maxsiz=minsiz; }
if(minsiz+incsiz>maxsiz) { incsiz=maxsiz-minsiz; }
if((dbp=(DTABUF*)malloc(sizeof(*dbp))) == NULL) { return NULL; }
memset(dbp,0,sizeof(*dbp));
dbp->min=minsiz;
dbp->inc=incsiz;
dbp->max=maxsiz;
dbp->siz=minsiz;
dbp->cur=0;
if((dbp->dta=(byte*)malloc((vuns)minsiz)) == NULL) { free(dbp); return NULL; }
return dbp;
}
DTABUF *dtb_dlt(DTABUF *dbp) {
if(dbp) {
free(dbp->dta);
free(dbp);
}
return NULL;
}
vint dtb_adddta(DTABUF *dbp,const byte *xlt256,const void *dtaptr,vint dtalen) {
if(!dbp) { errno=EINVAL; return -1; }
if(dtalen==-1) { dtalen=(vint)strlen((byte*)dtaptr); }
if((dbp->cur + dtalen) > dbp->siz) {
void *newdta;
vint newsiz;
if((dbp->siz+dbp->inc)>=(dbp->cur+dtalen)) { newsiz=dbp->siz+dbp->inc; }
else { newsiz=dbp->cur+dtalen; }
if(newsiz>dbp->max) { errno=ETRUNC; return -1; }
if((newdta=realloc(dbp->dta,(vuns)newsiz))==NULL) { return -1; }
dbp->dta=newdta; dbp->siz=newsiz;
}
if(dtalen) {
if(xlt256) { dtb_xlt(((byte*)dbp->dta+dbp->cur),dtaptr,dtalen,xlt256); }
else { memcpy(((byte*)dbp->dta+dbp->cur),dtaptr,(vuns)dtalen); }
dbp->cur+=dtalen;
}
return 0;
}
static void dtb_xlt(void *dst,const void *src,vint len,const byte *tbl) {
byte *sp,*dp;
for(sp=(byte*)src,dp=(byte*)dst; len; len--,sp++,dp++) { *dp=tbl[*sp]; }
}
vint dtb_addtxt(DTABUF *dbp,const byte *xlt256,const byte *format,...) {
byte textÝ501¨;
va_list ap;
vint len;
va_start(ap,format); len=sprintf_len(format,ap)-1; va_end(ap);
if(len<0 || len>=sizeof(text)) { sprintf_safe(text,sizeof(text),"STRTOOLNG: %s",format); len=(int)strlen(text); }
else { va_start(ap,format); vsprintf(text,format,ap); va_end(ap); }
return dtb_adddta(dbp,xlt256,text,len);
}
vint dtb_rmvdta(DTABUF *dbp,vint len) {
if(!dbp) { errno=EINVAL; return -1; }
if(len > dbp->cur) { len=dbp->cur; }
dbp->cur-=len;
return 0;
}
vint dtb_reset(DTABUF *dbp) {
if(!dbp) { errno=EINVAL; return -1; }
dbp->cur=0;
if(dbp->siz > dbp->min) {
byte *newdta;
if((newdta=(byte*)realloc(dbp->dta,(vuns)dbp->min))==NULL) {
free(dbp->dta); dbp->dta=null; dbp->siz=0;
return -1;
}
dbp->dta=newdta; dbp->siz=dbp->min;
}
return 0;
}
void *dtb_elmptr(DTABUF *dbp,vint elmidx,vint elmlen) {
if(!elmlen || (elmidx*elmlen)>=dbp->cur) { return NULL; }
return ((byte*)dbp->dta+(elmidx*elmlen));
}
dtb.h
typedef _Packed struct {
vint min; /* initial size */
vint inc; /* increment size */
vint max; /* maximum size */
vint siz; /* current size */
vint cur; /* current data length */
void *dta; /* data pointer */
} DTABUF;
#define dtb_dtaptr(mDBP) (mDBP->dta)
#define dtb_dtalen(mDBP) (mDBP->cur)
DTABUF *dtb_crt(vint minsiz,vint incsiz,vint maxsiz);
DTABUF *dtb_dlt(DTABUF *dbp);
vint dtb_adddta(DTABUF *dbp,const byte *xlt256,const void *dtaptr,vint dtalen);
vint dtb_addtxt(DTABUF *dbp,const byte *xlt256,const byte *format,...);
vint dtb_rmvdta(DTABUF *dbp,vint len);
vint dtb_reset(DTABUF *dbp);
void *dtb_elmptr(DTABUF *dbp,vint elmidx,vint elmlen);
PS: vint was simply a typedef of int - I used it to remind me that it's length was variable from platform to platform (for porting).