Implementing inheritance in node.js bindings

Question

I am writing Node.js bindings around a C++ library. I can identify key objects in the C++ library that I can expose as classes to the Node.js (ie derivatives of ObjectWrap). I can also see an inheritance relationship between these objects.

How can I expose ClassA , ClassB , ClassC as node.js classes (derivatives of ObjectWrap ) and manipulate their prototypes (in v8 C++ code) so that ClassB and ClassC are derivates of ClassA ?

Answer 1

This can be done using v8::FunctionTemplate 's Inherit method. It's explained here . Here's a working example.

C++ code:

#include <v8.h>
#include <node.h>

using namespace node;
using namespace v8;

class BaseClass : ObjectWrap
{
public:
  static Persistent<FunctionTemplate> s_ct;
  static void Init(v8::Handle<Object> target)
  {
    Local<FunctionTemplate> t = FunctionTemplate::New(New);

    s_ct = Persistent<FunctionTemplate>::New(t);
    s_ct->InstanceTemplate()->SetInternalFieldCount(1);
    s_ct->SetClassName(String::NewSymbol("BaseClass"));

    NODE_SET_PROTOTYPE_METHOD(s_ct, "getName", getName);

    target->Set(String::NewSymbol("BaseClass"), s_ct->GetFunction());
  }

  BaseClass(){}    
  ~BaseClass(){}

  static v8::Handle<Value> New(const Arguments& args)
  {
    HandleScope scope;
    return args.This();
  }

  static v8::Handle<Value> getName(const Arguments& args)
  {
    HandleScope scope;
    return scope.Close(String::New("Base"));
  }
};

Persistent<FunctionTemplate> BaseClass::s_ct;

class DerivedClass : ObjectWrap
{
public:
  static Persistent<FunctionTemplate> s_ct;
  static void Init(v8::Handle<Object> target)
  {
    Local<FunctionTemplate> t = FunctionTemplate::New(New);

    s_ct = Persistent<FunctionTemplate>::New(t);

    // XXX Inherit from BaseClass
    s_ct->Inherit(BaseClass::s_ct); 

    s_ct->InstanceTemplate()->SetInternalFieldCount(1);
    s_ct->SetClassName(String::NewSymbol("DerivedClass"));

    NODE_SET_PROTOTYPE_METHOD(s_ct, "getAge", getAge);

    target->Set(String::NewSymbol("DerivedClass"), s_ct->GetFunction());
  }

  DerivedClass() {}
  ~DerivedClass() {}

  static v8::Handle<Value> New(const Arguments& args) {
    HandleScope scope;
    return args.This();
  }

  static v8::Handle<Value> getAge(const Arguments& args)
  {
    HandleScope scope;
    return scope.Close(Number::New(42));
  }
};

Persistent<FunctionTemplate> DerivedClass::s_ct;

extern "C" {
  static void init (v8::Handle<Object> target)
  {
    BaseClass::Init(target);
    DerivedClass::Init(target);
  }

  NODE_MODULE(mymodule, init);
}

Put it in standard node-gyp configuration and you can test it with following javascript

var mymodule = require('./build/Release/mymodule');
var baseObject = new mymodule.BaseClass();
var dervObject = new mymodule.DerivedClass();

console.log(baseObject.getName());
console.log(dervObject.getName(), dervObject.getAge());