1 files changed, 67 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/libutil/types.hh b/src/libutil/types.hh
index 160884ee1ad7..23eb5251209e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/types.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/types.hh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <list>
 #include <set>
+#include <memory>
 
 #include <boost/format.hpp>
 
@@ -96,4 +97,70 @@ typedef enum {
 } Verbosity;
 
 
+/* A simple non-nullable reference-counted pointer. Actually a wrapper
+   around std::shared_ptr that prevents non-null constructions. */
+template<typename T>
+class ref
+{
+private:
+
+    std::shared_ptr<T> p;
+
+public:
+
+    ref<T>(const ref<T> & r)
+        : p(r.p)
+    { }
+
+    explicit ref<T>(const std::shared_ptr<T> & p)
+        : p(p)
+    {
+        if (!p)
+            throw std::invalid_argument("null pointer cast to ref");
+    }
+
+    T* operator ->() const
+    {
+        return &*p;
+    }
+
+    T& operator *() const
+    {
+        return *p;
+    }
+
+    operator std::shared_ptr<T> ()
+    {
+        return p;
+    }
+
+private:
+
+    template<typename T2, typename... Args>
+    friend ref<T2>
+    make_ref(Args&&... args);
+
+    template<typename T2, typename T3, typename... Args>
+    friend ref<T2>
+    make_ref(Args&&... args);
+
+};
+
+template<typename T, typename... Args>
+inline ref<T>
+make_ref(Args&&... args)
+{
+    auto p = std::make_shared<T>(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+    return ref<T>(p);
+}
+
+template<typename T, typename T2, typename... Args>
+inline ref<T>
+make_ref(Args&&... args)
+{
+    auto p = std::make_shared<T2>(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+    return ref<T>(p);
+}
+
+
 }