typeinfo

This module implements an interface to Nim's runtime type information (RTTI). See the marshal module for an example of what this module allows you to do.

Note that even though Any and its operations hide the nasty low level details from its clients, it remains inherently unsafe! Also, Nim's runtime type information will evolve and may eventually be deprecated. As an alternative approach to programmatically understanding and manipulating types, consider using the macros package to work with the types' AST representation at compile time. See, for example, the getTypeImpl proc. As an alternative approach to storing arbitrary types at runtime, consider using generics.

Types

AnyKind = enum
  akNone = 0,                   ## invalid any
  akBool = 1,                   ## any represents a ``bool``
  akChar = 2,                   ## any represents a ``char``
  akEnum = 14,                  ## any represents an enum
  akArray = 16,                 ## any represents an array
  akObject = 17,                ## any represents an object
  akTuple = 18,                 ## any represents a tuple
  akSet = 19,                   ## any represents a set
  akRange = 20,                 ## any represents a range
  akPtr = 21,                   ## any represents a ptr
  akRef = 22,                   ## any represents a ref
  akSequence = 24,              ## any represents a sequence
  akProc = 25,                  ## any represents a proc
  akPointer = 26,               ## any represents a pointer
  akString = 28,                ## any represents a string
  akCString = 29,               ## any represents a cstring
  akInt = 31,                   ## any represents an int
  akInt8 = 32,                  ## any represents an int8
  akInt16 = 33,                 ## any represents an int16
  akInt32 = 34,                 ## any represents an int32
  akInt64 = 35,                 ## any represents an int64
  akFloat = 36,                 ## any represents a float
  akFloat32 = 37,               ## any represents a float32
  akFloat64 = 38,               ## any represents a float64
  akFloat128 = 39,              ## any represents a float128
  akUInt = 40,                  ## any represents an unsigned int
  akUInt8 = 41,                 ## any represents an unsigned int8
  akUInt16 = 42,                ## any represents an unsigned in16
  akUInt32 = 43,                ## any represents an unsigned int32
  akUInt64 = 44                 ## any represents an unsigned int64
what kind of any it is   Source Edit
Any = object
  value: pointer
  when defined(js):
      rawType: PNimType

  else:
      rawTypePtr: pointer

  
can represent any nim value; NOTE: the wrapped value can be modified with its wrapper! This means that Any keeps a non-traced pointer to its wrapped value and must not live longer than its wrapped value.   Source Edit

Procs

proc toAny[T](x: var T): Any {...}{.inline.}
constructs a Any object from x. This captures x's address, so x can be modified with its Any wrapper! The client needs to ensure that the wrapper does not live longer than x!   Source Edit
proc kind(x: Any): AnyKind {...}{.inline, raises: [], tags: [].}
get the type kind   Source Edit
proc size(x: Any): int {...}{.inline, raises: [], tags: [].}
returns the size of x's type.   Source Edit
proc baseTypeKind(x: Any): AnyKind {...}{.inline, raises: [], tags: [].}
get the base type's kind; akNone is returned if x has no base type.   Source Edit
proc baseTypeSize(x: Any): int {...}{.inline, raises: [], tags: [].}
returns the size of x's basetype.   Source Edit
proc invokeNew(x: Any) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
performs new(x). x needs to represent a ref.   Source Edit
proc invokeNewSeq(x: Any; len: int) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
performs newSeq(x, len). x needs to represent a seq.   Source Edit
proc extendSeq(x: Any) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
performs setLen(x, x.len+1). x needs to represent a seq.   Source Edit
proc setObjectRuntimeType(x: Any) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
this needs to be called to set x's runtime object type field.   Source Edit
proc `[]`(x: Any; i: int): Any {...}{.raises: [IndexError, ValueError], tags: [].}
accessor for an any x that represents an array or a sequence.   Source Edit
proc `[]=`(x: Any; i: int; y: Any) {...}{.raises: [IndexError, ValueError], tags: [].}
accessor for an any x that represents an array or a sequence.   Source Edit
proc len(x: Any): int {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
len for an any x that represents an array or a sequence.   Source Edit
proc base(x: Any): Any {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
returns base Any (useful for inherited object types).   Source Edit
proc isNil(x: Any): bool {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
isNil for an any x that represents a cstring, proc or some pointer type.   Source Edit
proc getPointer(x: Any): pointer {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the pointer value out of x. x needs to be of kind akString, akCString, akProc, akRef, akPtr, akPointer, akSequence.   Source Edit
proc setPointer(x: Any; y: pointer) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
sets the pointer value of x. x needs to be of kind akString, akCString, akProc, akRef, akPtr, akPointer, akSequence.   Source Edit
proc `[]=`(x: Any; fieldName: string; value: Any) {...}{.raises: [ValueError], tags: [].}
sets a field of x; x represents an object or a tuple.   Source Edit
proc `[]`(x: Any; fieldName: string): Any {...}{.raises: [ValueError], tags: [].}
gets a field of x; x represents an object or a tuple.   Source Edit
proc `[]`(x: Any): Any {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
dereference operation for the any x that represents a ptr or a ref.   Source Edit
proc `[]=`(x, y: Any) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
dereference operation for the any x that represents a ptr or a ref.   Source Edit
proc getInt(x: Any): int {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the int value out of x. x needs to represent an int.   Source Edit
proc getInt8(x: Any): int8 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the int8 value out of x. x needs to represent an int8.   Source Edit
proc getInt16(x: Any): int16 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the int16 value out of x. x needs to represent an int16.   Source Edit
proc getInt32(x: Any): int32 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the int32 value out of x. x needs to represent an int32.   Source Edit
proc getInt64(x: Any): int64 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the int64 value out of x. x needs to represent an int64.   Source Edit
proc getBiggestInt(x: Any): BiggestInt {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the integer value out of x. x needs to represent some integer, a bool, a char, an enum or a small enough bit set. The value might be sign-extended to BiggestInt.   Source Edit
proc setBiggestInt(x: Any; y: BiggestInt) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
sets the integer value of x. x needs to represent some integer, a bool, a char, an enum or a small enough bit set.   Source Edit
proc getUInt(x: Any): uint {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the uint value out of x, x needs to represent an uint.   Source Edit
proc getUInt8(x: Any): uint8 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the uint8 value out of x, x needs to represent an uint8.   Source Edit
proc getUInt16(x: Any): uint16 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the uint16 value out of x, x needs to represent an uint16.   Source Edit
proc getUInt32(x: Any): uint32 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the uint32 value out of x, x needs to represent an uint32.   Source Edit
proc getUInt64(x: Any): uint64 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the uint64 value out of x, x needs to represent an uint64.   Source Edit
proc getBiggestUint(x: Any): uint64 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the unsigned integer value out of x. x needs to represent an unsigned integer.   Source Edit
proc setBiggestUint(x: Any; y: uint64) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
sets the unsigned integer value of c. c needs to represent an unsigned integer.   Source Edit
proc getChar(x: Any): char {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the char value out of x. x needs to represent a char.   Source Edit
proc getBool(x: Any): bool {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the bool value out of x. x needs to represent a bool.   Source Edit
proc skipRange(x: Any): Any {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
skips the range information of x.   Source Edit
proc getEnumOrdinal(x: Any; name: string): int {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
gets the enum field ordinal from name. x needs to represent an enum but is only used to access the type information. In case of an error low(int) is returned.   Source Edit
proc getEnumField(x: Any; ordinalValue: int): string {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
gets the enum field name as a string. x needs to represent an enum but is only used to access the type information. The field name of ordinalValue is returned.   Source Edit
proc getEnumField(x: Any): string {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
gets the enum field name as a string. x needs to represent an enum.   Source Edit
proc getFloat(x: Any): float {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the float value out of x. x needs to represent an float.   Source Edit
proc getFloat32(x: Any): float32 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the float32 value out of x. x needs to represent an float32.   Source Edit
proc getFloat64(x: Any): float64 {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the float64 value out of x. x needs to represent an float64.   Source Edit
proc getBiggestFloat(x: Any): BiggestFloat {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the float value out of x. x needs to represent some float. The value is extended to BiggestFloat.   Source Edit
proc setBiggestFloat(x: Any; y: BiggestFloat) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
sets the float value of x. x needs to represent some float.   Source Edit
proc getString(x: Any): string {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the string value out of x. x needs to represent a string.   Source Edit
proc setString(x: Any; y: string) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
sets the string value of x. x needs to represent a string.   Source Edit
proc getCString(x: Any): cstring {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
retrieve the cstring value out of x. x needs to represent a cstring.   Source Edit
proc assign(x, y: Any) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
copies the value of y to x. The assignment operator for Any does NOT do this; it performs a shallow copy instead!   Source Edit
proc inclSetElement(x: Any; elem: int) {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
includes an element elem in x. x needs to represent a Nim bitset.   Source Edit

Iterators

iterator fields(x: Any): tuple[name: string, any: Any] {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
iterates over every active field of the any x that represents an object or a tuple.   Source Edit
iterator elements(x: Any): int {...}{.raises: [], tags: [].}
iterates over every element of x that represents a Nim bitset.   Source Edit