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org: document named properties

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* doc/org/concepts.org: Add a new section.
* doc/org/hoa.org, spot/twa/twa.hh: Link to it.
* NEWS: Mention it.
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Alexandre Duret-Lutz 2016-07-15 18:52:06 +02:00
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@ -1026,3 +1026,47 @@ These automata properties are encoded into the [[file:hoa.org::#property-bits][H
be preserved when building a processing pipeline using the shell.
However the HOA format has support for more properties that do not
correspond to any =twa= flag.
* Named properties for automata
:PROPERTIES:
:CUSTOM_ID: named-properties
:END:
In addition to [[#proeprty-flags][property flags]], automata in Spot can be tied to an
arbitrary number of objects via a system of named properties that is
implemented mostly as an =std::map= between =std::string= and =void*=.
A property can be used to store additional information about the
automaton, that is not usually available via the automaton interface.
The property can be set via the =twa::set_named_prop(key, value)=
method, and queried with the =twa::get_named_prop<type>(key)= template
method.
Here is a list of named properties currently used inside Spot:
| key name | (pointed) value type | description |
|---------------------+--------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ~automaton-name~ | ~std::string~ | A name for the automaton, for instance to display in the HOA format. |
| ~product-states~ | ~const spot::product_states~ | A vector of pair of states giving the left and right operand of each state in a product automaton. |
| ~state-names~ | ~std::vector<std::string>~ | A vector naming each state of the automaton, for display purpose. |
| ~highlight-edges~ | ~std::map<unsigned, unsigned>~ | A map of (edge number, color number) for highlighting the output. |
| ~highlight-states~ | ~std::map<unsigned, unsigned>~ | A map of (state number, color number) for highlighting the output. |
| ~incomplete-states~ | ~std::set<unsigned>~ | A set of states numbers that should be displayed as incomplete. Used internally by ~print_dot()~ when truncating large automata. |
Objects referenced via named properties are automatically destroyed
when the automaton is destroyed, but this can be altered by passing a
custom destructor as a third parameter to =twa::set_named_prop()=.
These properties should be considered short-lived. They are usually
not propagated to new automata that are created via transformation,
unless the algorithme has been explicitely implemented to preserve
that property. Algorithm that update the automaton in place should
probably call =release_named_properties()= to ensure they do not
inadvertently keep a stale property.
Most of the above properties are related to the graphical display of
automata, or to their output in the [[file:hoa.org::#named-properties][HOA format]]. So they are usually
set right before the automaton is output. The notable exception is
=product-states=, which is a property present in automata returned by
=spot::product()= function in case it is necessary to know the origins
of each state.