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<concept id="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D" xml:lang="en"><title>Publish

and Subscribe</title><shortdesc>Publish and Subscribe allows global variables to be set and retrieved,

and allows subscribers to be notified that variables have changed. </shortdesc><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>

<p>The general pattern for using on the kernel side is almost the same as

for the user side. However, different classes are used on the kernel side.

It may be useful to compare kernel side usage with user side usage as described

in the <xref href="GUID-A81C65CF-CF4E-571C-8080-9D387F46AAD6.dita">Publish and

Subscribe</xref> guide for the user-side API. </p>

<ul>

<li id="GUID-BDAE8BFE-B0F9-5A3D-9E2B-6AC6280195E5"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-AD33A76A-9A27-5D66-B583-64F360EC996E">Properties</xref> </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-3D892E85-C506-5FF6-A8E2-3A9458800CBB"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-E2261227-E747-53E0-9EE3-9CEC824C1832">Creating and closing a reference to a property</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-728CCCEB-8F5F-5CA1-A650-803C94E64194"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-C41886EF-24EC-58C2-A906-C4890CED3F3A">Defining a property</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-FB0EC3DC-38E1-5701-AF84-47A814238163"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-60F19D41-F9B5-5A21-9654-5D96CA6EE83E">Deleting a property</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-FAE51C6E-1C39-593C-B2AD-7BEFAA257F72"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-EBAA6B5C-CC73-5AE2-85CA-68B445828608">Publishing a property value</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-2F1A3E2F-44C8-5532-8FA2-F49A4FC58623"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-CA858A2A-4BF0-565D-8A6D-58AE32FEE304">Retrieving a property value</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-C39FCE8D-082E-56E8-85B2-137B25B88C61"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-984AB90D-FCCD-5383-B5D9-8D80AA83D989">Subscribing to, and unsubscribing from, a property </xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-E02C9293-56B4-5AC0-9DA8-F47E6796A07D"><p> <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-21D8ADCA-9B39-5079-B4AD-FEBFCCB92049">Usage patterns</xref>  </p> </li>

</ul>

<section id="GUID-AD33A76A-9A27-5D66-B583-64F360EC996E"><title>Properties</title> <p>A

property has the two attributes: identity and type. </p> <p><b>Identity</b> </p> <p>A

property is identified by a 64-bit integer made up of two 32-bit parts: the

category and the key. </p> <p>A property belongs to a category, and a category

is identified by a UID. </p> <p>A key is a 32-bit value that identifies a

specific property within a category. The meaning applied to the key depends

on the kind of enumeration scheme set up for the category. At its simplest,

a key can be an index value. It can also be another UID, if the category is

designed to be generally extensible. </p> <p><b>Type</b> </p> <p>A property

can be: </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-083AF1CA-ACA1-53A3-A251-370DD1D06554"><p>a single 32-bit value </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-6EA61CFF-F549-5FA2-A6AA-43683C802B8D"><p>a contiguous set of

bytes, referred to as a byte-array, whose length can vary from 0 to 512 bytes </p> </li>

</ul><p>Once defined, a property value can change, but the property type cannot.

Byte-array type properties can also change length provided the length does

not exceed the value <xref href="GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3.dita#GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3/GUID-57E64054-610A-31D1-AD7F-E2F9F9FC1DCB"><apiname>RProperty::KMaxPropertySize</apiname></xref>. The limit

on size of property ensures some limit on RAM usage. </p><p>The API allows

a byte-array text type property to be pre-allocated when it is defined. This

means that the time taken to set the values is bounded. However, if the length

of this property type subsequently increases, then memory allocation may take

place, and no guarantees can be made on the time taken to set them.</p><p>Note

that the <xref href="GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3.dita#GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3/GUID-F8DE443B-B208-353C-A98E-AA52C4FE6530"><apiname>RProperty::ELargeByteArray</apiname></xref> property type can never

provide a real-time guarantee. </p><p>For code running kernel side, properties

and their values are defined, set and retrieved using a <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref> object.</p> </section>

<section id="GUID-E2261227-E747-53E0-9EE3-9CEC824C1832"><title>Creating and

closing a reference to a property</title> <p>On the kernel side, all accesses

to a property <i>must</i> be done through a property reference, an instance

of a <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref>. </p> <p>You must create a reference

to a property, before doing any operation on that property. By operation,

we mean defining a property, subscribing to a property, publishing and retrieving

a property value. The kernel will fault if you have not first created a reference. </p> <p>Only

one property, as uniquely identified by its category and key, can be accessed

by an instance of <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref>; however a property can

be referenced by more than one instance of <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref>. </p> <p>Internally,

properties are represented by <codeph>TProperty</codeph> objects, and these

are reference counted. The act of creating a reference to a property results

either in the creation of a <codeph>TProperty</codeph> object or an increase

in the reference count of an existing object. The property itself has no attributes

or "structure" until it is defined. </p> <p>Please note that the structure

and management of <codeph>TProperty</codeph> objects are part of Symbian platform's

internal implementation and will not be discussed further. </p> <fig id="GUID-8A0D9C1E-00D7-5369-AD9C-28AA9151612F">

<title>Objects internal to Symbian platform</title>

<image href="GUID-31CE66F2-B36C-56ED-A399-BA9EFA179DED_d0e305012_href.png" placement="inline"/>

</fig> <p>To establish a reference to a property, create an <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref> object,

and then use one of the following functions: </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-87D76A73-6429-5D4C-8321-A98F756C30F5"><p> <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-DBEDDC3A-AE6F-3CAF-B251-4AA556EAF21C"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Attach()</apiname></xref> -

tries to open the property identified by the category and key, if it exists,

but creates that property if it does not exist. Creation is simply the act

of creating the internal <codeph>TProperty</codeph> object. The object has

no type or "structure" associated with it other than the use of the category

and key as identification markers. </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-7D1AFF17-BB0A-57B9-9782-001E983D9EDE"><p> <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-6F8EB0AB-C01A-3BFD-B334-D9C9FB923865"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Open()</apiname></xref> -

tries to open the property identified by the category and key, and assumes

that the property already exists; this fails if the property does not exist. </p> </li>

</ul> <p>You can call these functions from a user thread running in supervisor

mode, from a kernel thread or from a DFC. If calling from a user thread running

in supervisor mode, then your thread must be running in a critical section.

In debug mode, if a user thread is not in a critical section, then the kernel

will fault. </p> <p>On successful return from these functions, the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref> object

owns a resource, the property, and this can then be defined and accessed through

the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref> object. </p> <p>It is difficult to make

firm rules as to which one your code should use, but generally, you use <codeph>Open()</codeph> if

you have no responsibility or interest in ensuring that the property exists.

You would use <codeph>Attach()</codeph> if you were to have single or <i>joint</i> responsibility

for ensuring that the property exists. It depends on the intent of the property

and the role of your driver code in the system. </p> <p>Note that responsibility

for creating the property does not necessarily align with who can define,

delete, publish (write) or retrieve (read) a property value. This is governed

by the intent of the property and, for retrieving and publishing, by the security

policies in place. </p> <p>When the property is no longer needed, you can

release it by calling <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-3465CD78-C107-3AD9-AEAF-F97A94C1C462"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Close()</apiname></xref>. Closing the

reference does not cause the property to disappear. This only happens when

the <i>final</i> reference to the property is closed. </p> <p>Note that it

is quite legitimate to attach to, or to open, a property that has not been

defined, and in this case no error will be returned either. This enables the

lazy definition of properties as used in some of the usage patterns. </p> <codeblock id="GUID-7F4295E4-F822-5128-B4EC-3AD3E71BD444" xml:space="preserve">const TUid KMyPropertyCat={0x10012345};

enum TMyPropertyKeys={EMyPropertyCounter,EMyPropertyName};

. . .

// Attach to the ‘counter’ property. This creates the property

// if it does not already exist.

RPropertyRef counter;

TInt r;

r=counter.Attach(KMyPropertyCat,EMyPropertyCounter);

// r should be KErrNone if sucessful or KErrNoMemory if there

// is an out of memory failure.

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // Handle the bad return value

    }

// use the counter object...

// when finished, release the property

counter.Close();

    </codeblock> </section>

<section id="GUID-C41886EF-24EC-58C2-A906-C4890CED3F3A"><title>Defining a

property </title> <p>Defining a property gives it "structure" i.e. attributes

such as the property type, and the security policies that define the capabilities

that a process must have to publish and retrieve the property value. </p> <p>A

property is defined using the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-47F367CB-E663-3F97-AC0C-31A9DD6BD5E5"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Define()</apiname></xref> function.

You can call this function from a user thread running in supervisor mode,

from a kernel thread or from a DFC. If calling from a user thread running

in supervisor mode, then your thread must be running in a critical section.

In debug mode, if a user thread is not in a critical section, then the kernel

will fault. </p> <p>You can call this function from a user thread running

in supervisor mode, from a kernel thread or from a DFC. If calling from a

user thread running in supervisor mode, then your thread must be running in

a critical section. In debug mode, if a user thread is not in a critical section,

then the kernel will fault. </p> <p>The information needed to define the property

is passed to <codeph>Define()</codeph>. Note that a reference to the property

must already have been established using <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-DBEDDC3A-AE6F-3CAF-B251-4AA556EAF21C"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Attach()</apiname></xref> or <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-6F8EB0AB-C01A-3BFD-B334-D9C9FB923865"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Open()</apiname></xref>. </p> <p>A

property does not need to be defined before it can be accessed. This supports

programming patterns where both publishers and subscribers may define the

property. </p> <p>Once defined, a property persists until the system reboots,

or the property is explicitly deleted. Its lifetime is not tied to that of

the thread or process that originally defined it. This means that, when defining

a property, it is important to check the return code from the call to <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-47F367CB-E663-3F97-AC0C-31A9DD6BD5E5"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Define()</apiname></xref> to

deal with the possibility that the property has previously been defined. </p> <p>The

following code shows the definition of two properties, which we call: 'name'

and 'counter': </p> <codeblock id="GUID-318DC2A6-FFE4-5781-9F78-5D5B4392585F" xml:space="preserve">const TUid KMyPropertyCat={0x10012345};

enum TMyPropertyKeys={EMyPropertyCounter,EMyPropertyName};

static _LIT_SECURITY_POLICY_PASS(KAllowAllPolicy);

static _LIT_SECURITY_POLICY_C1(KPowerMgmtPolicy,ECapabilityPowerMgmt);

TInt r;

// Attaches to the ‘counter’ property. 

// If the property already exists, a new reference to it is created.

// If the property does not exist, it is created.

RPropertyRef counter;

r=counter.Attach(KMyPropertyCat,EMyPropertyCounter);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // Handle the bad return value

    }

// Attaches to the ‘name’ property. 

// If the property already exists, a new reference to it is created.

// If the property does not exist, it is created.

RPropertyRef name;

r=name.Attach(KMyPropertyCat,EMyPropertyName);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // Handle the bad return value

    }

// Now define the 'counter' property:

// 1. Integer type

// 2. Pre-allocated size has no meaning, and must be zero.

// 3. Allow all processes to retrieve (read) the property.

// 4. Only processes with power managament capability can write.

// 5. Capability checks to be done against client thread's process.

r=counter.Define(RProperty::EInt,KAllowAllPolicy,KPowerMgmtPolicy,0,iClientProcess);

// You will probably need to check the return value.

// It may legitimately by non-KErrNone.

...

// Now define the 'name' property:

// 1. Byte array

// 2. Pre-allocate 100 bytes.

// 3. Allow all processes to retrieve (read) the property.

// 4. Only processes with power managament capability can write.

// 5. Capability checks to be done against client thread's process.

r=name.Define(RProperty::EByteArray,KAllowAllPolicy,KPowerMgmtPolicy,100,iClientProcess);

// You will probably need to check the return value.

// It may legitimately be non-KErrNone.

...</codeblock> <p>Once defined, a property value can change, but the property

type cannot. Byte-array type properties can also change length provided the

length does not exceed the 512 bytes, for <xref href="GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3.dita#GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3/GUID-19066DA4-B407-3C31-8472-371CA341BDC7"><apiname>RProperty::EByteArray</apiname></xref> types

or 65535 bytes or <xref href="GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3.dita#GUID-C4776034-D190-3FC4-AF45-C7F195093AC3/GUID-F8DE443B-B208-353C-A98E-AA52C4FE6530"><apiname>RProperty::ELargeByteArray</apiname></xref> types. </p> <p>The

API allows byte-array type properties to be pre-allocated when they are defined.

This means that the time taken to set the values is bounded. However, if the

length of these property types subsequently increases, then memory allocation

may take place, and no guarantees can then be made on the time taken to set

them. </p> <p> <b>Security notes:</b>  </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-E46B65DD-5D93-5796-8762-D8637947350D"><p>Symbian platform defines

a property category known as the system category that is reserved for system

services, and is identified by the <xref href="GUID-A85740BD-BC85-345E-B24A-92F68EA56270.dita"><apiname>KUidSystemCategoryValue</apiname></xref> UID.

To define a property within this category, then the process on whose behalf

your code is doing the define operation must have the <i>writeDeviceData</i> capability, <xref href="GUID-C607209F-6FC5-31DE-8034-E5B799B857A8.dita"><apiname>ECapabilityWriteDeviceData</apiname></xref>. </p> <p>To

ensure that this security check is made, you must pass a pointer to the appropriate <codeph>DProcess</codeph> object

as the second parameter to <codeph>Define()</codeph>. If you omit this parameter,

a null pointer is assumed by default, and <i>the security check is bypassed</i>.

This may be legitimate if you are doing this on behalf of the kernel or on

behalf of the driver itself. </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-18AA5E54-23AE-564F-BCB0-0F9FF70DEFD5"><p>Whether you pass a <codeph>DProcess</codeph> pointer

or not, the owner of the property is deemed to be the process that is <i>current</i> when

the code runs. It is this, the current process, that you will need to pass

to <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-73FB49F1-E9EF-3CE3-A317-8888BAE49403"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Delete()</apiname></xref> at a later time. </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-A941BD4F-E288-5A71-9F78-08351665AE73"><p>You also need to define

two security policies: one to define the capabilities that will be required

to publish (write to) the property, and the other to define the capabilities

that will be required to retrieve (read) the property. Security policies are <xref href="GUID-81A285F6-3F87-3E77-9426-61BB16BC7109.dita"><apiname>TSecurityPolicy</apiname></xref> objects

or their static equivalents. </p> <p>In the above code fragment, we specify

that all processes in the system will be able to read the defined property

but only those with power management capability will be able to write to the

property - this is an arbitrary choice and is for illustration only. </p> </li>

</ul> <p>In the above code fragments, <codeph>iClientProcess</codeph> is a

pointer to the client thread's owning process object, and assumes that the

driver code is making the request on behalf of a client, although this may

not necessarily be so. Typically, if you need to keep this information, you

could set this up in the logical channel constructor using the following code: </p> <codeblock id="GUID-33D0D5EA-8BB2-57DB-A327-D17A6A5C2D8E" xml:space="preserve">iClientProcess=&amp;Kern::CurrentProcess();</codeblock> <p>The

constructor code runs in the context of the client user thread. Note that <codeph>DProcess</codeph> is

internal to Symbian. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-60F19D41-F9B5-5A21-9654-5D96CA6EE83E"><title>Deleting a

property </title> <p>Deleting a property is the opposite of defining it. It

removes type and security information. It does <i>not</i> remove a reference

to the property. </p> <p>A property is deleted using the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-73FB49F1-E9EF-3CE3-A317-8888BAE49403"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Delete()</apiname></xref> function.

You can call this function from a user thread running in supervisor mode,

from a kernel thread or from a DFC. If calling from a user thread running

in supervisor mode, then your thread must be running in a critical section.

In debug mode, if a user thread is not in a critical section, then the kernel

will fault. </p> <p>Any outstanding subscriptions for this property complete

with <xref href="GUID-5E653C17-372C-32E1-A1B2-9E69A9991C40.dita"><apiname>KErrNotFound</apiname></xref>. </p> <p> <b>Security notes:</b>  </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-1B901363-70E9-560B-9C56-C63BB6D180C0"><p>Only the owning process

is allowed to delete the property. This is deemed to be the process that was

current when the property was defined. However, to enforce this, you <i>must</i> pass

into <xref href="GUID-331FCC3D-B326-37A1-8AF5-381320224BBE.dita#GUID-331FCC3D-B326-37A1-8AF5-381320224BBE/GUID-2838E746-C917-3FB0-B2BA-464C38B5944B"><apiname>RPropertyref::Delete()</apiname></xref> a pointer to the <codeph>DProcess</codeph> object

that represents the owning process. If you omit to pass this parameter to <codeph>Delete()</codeph>,

a null pointer is assumed by default, and <i>the security check is bypassed.</i>.

This may be legitimate if you are doing this on behalf of the kernel or on

behalf of the driver itself. </p> </li>

</ul> <p>For example, extending the code fragment introduced in defining a

property above: </p> <codeblock id="GUID-25FBD12A-4461-5A92-9961-960DB26FE3F8" xml:space="preserve">const TUid KMyPropertyCat={0x10012345};

enum TMyPropertyKeys={EMyPropertyCounter,EMyPropertyName};

static _LIT_SECURITY_POLICY_PASS(KAllowAllPolicy);

static _LIT_SECURITY_POLICY_C1(KPowerMgmtPolicy,ECapabilityPowerMgmt);

TInt r;

// Attaches to the ‘counter’ property. 

// If the property already exists, a new reference to it is created.

// If the property does not exist, it is created.

RPropertyRef counter;

r=counter.Attach(KMyPropertyCat,EMyPropertyCounter);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // Handle the bad return value

    }

// Attaches to the ‘name’ property. 

// If the property already exists, a new reference to it is created.

// If the property does not exist, it is created.

RPropertyRef name;

r=name.Attach(KMyPropertyCat,EMyPropertyName);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // Handle the bad return value

    }

// Now define the 'counter' property:

// 1. Integer type

// 2. Pre-allocated size has no meaning, and must be zero.

// 3. Allow all processes to retrieve (read) the property.

// 4. Only processes with power managament capability can write.

// 5. Capability checks to be done against client thread's process.

r=counter.Define(RProperty::EInt,KAllowAllPolicy,KPowerMgmtPolicy,0,iClientProcess);

// You will probably need to check the return value.

// It may legitimately by non-KErrNone.

...

// Now define the 'name' property:

// 1. Byte array

// 2. Pre-allocate 100 bytes.

// 3. Allow all processes to retrieve (read) the property.

// 4. Only processes with power managament capability can write.

// 5. Capability checks to be done against client thread's process.

r=name.Define(RProperty::EByteArray,KAllowAllPolicy,KPowerMgmtPolicy,100,iClientProcess);

// You will probably need to check the return value.

// It may legitimately by non-KErrNone.

...

// Delete the ‘name’ property.

// Assumes that the owning process is iClientProcess. This will be checked

// as being the valid owner of the property.

r=name.Delete(iClientProcess);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // deal with a non-KErrNone return value.

    }

// Delete the ‘counter’ property.

// Assumes that the owning process is iClientProcess. This will be checked

// as being the valid owner of the property.

r=name.Delete(iClientProcess);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // deal with a non-KErrNone return value.

    }</codeblock> </section>

<section id="GUID-EBAA6B5C-CC73-5AE2-85CA-68B445828608"><title>Publishing

a property value </title> <p>A property is published (written), using the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-D4B0220A-EB30-327C-B878-FBC5294A08F6"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Set()</apiname></xref> family

of functions. </p> <p>This is guaranteed to have bounded execution time, suitable

for high-priority, real-time tasks, except when publishing a byte-array property

that requires the allocation of a larger space for the new value, or when

publishing a large byte-array property type, as identified by <xref href="GUID-0B4D1D87-8C1B-3AEF-9C3D-3091FBDF3A6B.dita"><apiname>ELargeByteArray</apiname></xref>. </p> <p>Property

values are written atomically. This means that it is not possible for threads

reading a property to get a garbled value. </p> <p>All outstanding subscriptions

for a property are completed when the value is published, even if it is exactly

the same as the existing value. This means that a property can be used as

a simple broadcast notification service. </p> <p>Publishing a property that

is not defined is not necessarily a programming error. The <codeph>Set()</codeph> functions

just return an error. If this is not expected for any particular usage, then

the error must be checked and processed by the caller. </p> <p> <b>Security

notes:</b>  </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-DA84723A-B9F7-525C-908A-BC51AA8B0366"><p>If you pass a pointer

to a <codeph>DProcess</codeph> object, then the capabilities of that process

will be checked against those contained in the write security policy that

was created and passed to <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-47F367CB-E663-3F97-AC0C-31A9DD6BD5E5"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Define()</apiname></xref>. If you

omit this <codeph>DProcess</codeph> parameter, a null pointer is assumed by

default, and <i>the security check is bypassed</i>. This may be legitimate

if you are doing this on behalf of the kernel or on behalf of the driver itself. </p> </li>

</ul> <p>See the code fragment in the section <xref href="GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D.dita#GUID-EBFD653D-6E6A-5F6F-88D7-8CCE07B4002D/GUID-CA858A2A-4BF0-565D-8A6D-58AE32FEE304">Retrieving

a property value</xref>  </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-CA858A2A-4BF0-565D-8A6D-58AE32FEE304"><title>Retrieving

a property value </title> <p>The current value of a property is retrieved

(read) using the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-745E29E7-A26B-3207-ACA3-F8CC41FC7081"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Get()</apiname></xref> family of functions. </p> <p>This

is guaranteed to have bounded execution time, suitable for high-priority,

real-time tasks, except when retrieving a large byte-array property type,

as identified by <xref href="GUID-0B4D1D87-8C1B-3AEF-9C3D-3091FBDF3A6B.dita"><apiname>ELargeByteArray</apiname></xref>. </p> <p>Property values

are read atomically. This means that it is not possible for threads reading

a property to get a garbled value. </p> <p>Retrieving a property that is not

defined is not necessarily a programming error. The <codeph>Get()</codeph> functions

just return an error. If this is not expected for any particular usage, then

the error must be checked and processed by the caller. </p> <p>Integer properties

must be accessed using the overload that takes an integer reference, whereas

a byte-array property is accessed using the overload that takes a descriptor

reference. </p> <p>The following code fragment shows publication and retrieval

of a property. Note that it contains a race condition, especially if another

thread is executing the same sequence to increment the ‘counter’ value. </p> <p> <b>Security

notes:</b>  </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-B117308F-416E-5BAE-880C-A162869799AD"><p>If you pass a pointer

to a <codeph>DProcess</codeph> object, then the capabilities of that process

will be checked against those contained in the read security policy that was

created and passed to <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-47F367CB-E663-3F97-AC0C-31A9DD6BD5E5"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Define()</apiname></xref>. If you omit

this <codeph>DProcess</codeph> parameter, a null pointer is assumed by default,

and <i>the security check is bypassed</i>. This may be legitimate if you are

doing this on behalf of the kernel or on behalf of the driver itself. </p> </li>

</ul> <codeblock id="GUID-75549D12-A2CA-5039-BB91-2ABF19058DE5" xml:space="preserve">const TUid KMyPropertyCat={0x10012345};

enum TMyPropertyKeys={EMyPropertyCounter,EMyPropertyName};

TInt r;

RPropertyRef counter;

RPropertyRef name;

// Assume that the 'name' and 'counter' property references have

// already been created. They may have been defined.

//

// Assume that the process to be used for security checking is iClientProcess.

...

// publish a new name value. 

_LIT8(KSomeExampleName,"My example name");

r=name.Set(KSomeExampleName, iClientProcess);

if (r != KErrNone)

    {

    // Check the return value. KErrNotFound means that the property has not yet been    

    // defined which may be legitimate.

    // KErrArgument is a serious problem at this stage.

    // KErrPermissionDenied is a security violation; the process iClientProcess has 

    // insufficient capability to do this operation. 

    }

// Retrieve the first 10 characters of the name value.

// We are not doing any security checking for this operation, so no DProcess pointer 

// is passed to Get(). 

TBuf<10> n;

r=name.Get(n);

if ((r!= KErrNone) && (r != KErrOverflow))

    {

    // Handle error value.

    }

// retrieve and publish a new value using the attached ‘counter’ property

TInt count;

r=counter.Get(count);

if (r==KErrNone)

    {

    r=counter.Set(++count);

    }

else

    {

    // Handle bad return value

    }

...

// When finised, release the property references.

counter.Close();

name.Close();</codeblock> </section>

<section id="GUID-984AB90D-FCCD-5383-B5D9-8D80AA83D989"><title>Subscribing

to, and unsubscribing from, a property </title> <p>Subscribing to a property

is the act of making an asynchronous request to be notified of a change to

that property. </p> <p>You make a request for notification of a change to

a property by calling the <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-6DC06192-78AF-3B3D-8077-8479789AF006"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Subscribe()</apiname></xref> member

function on a property reference object. Only one subscription request can

be outstanding at any time for a given <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita"><apiname>RPropertyRef</apiname></xref> instance. </p> <p>You

can cancel an outstanding subscription request by calling <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-4AFB3074-E523-3404-8F0D-39995C35E045"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Cancel()</apiname></xref>.

This is unsubscribing from the property. </p> <p>Subscribing to a property

is a single request to be notified when the property is next updated, it does

not generate an ongoing sequence of notifications for every change to that

property's value. Neither does it provide the caller with the new value. In

essence, the act of notification should be interpreted as “Property X has

changed” rather than “Property X has changed to Y”. This means that the new

value must be explicitly retrieved, if required. As a result, multiple updates

may be collapsed into one notification, and subscribers may not have visibility

of all intermediate values. </p> <p>This might appear to introduce a window

of opportunity for a subscriber to be out of synchronisation with the property

value – in particular, if the property is updated again before the subscriber

thread has had the chance to process the original notification. However, a

simple programming pattern, outlined in the second example below ensures this

does not happen. The principle is that, before dealing with a subscription

completion event, you should re-issue the subscription request. </p> <p>Note

that if the property has not been defined, then a subscription request does

not complete until the property is subsequently defined and published. Note

that the request will complete with <xref href="GUID-213DE05E-24F7-3E94-9B35-F4A72B3EBFD8.dita"><apiname>KErrPermissionDenied</apiname></xref> if

the subscribing process does not have sufficient capability as defined by

the <xref href="GUID-81A285F6-3F87-3E77-9426-61BB16BC7109.dita"><apiname>TSecurityPolicy</apiname></xref> object supplied by the process defining

the property. </p> <p>If the property is already defined, then the request

completes immediately with <xref href="GUID-213DE05E-24F7-3E94-9B35-F4A72B3EBFD8.dita"><apiname>KErrPermissionDenied</apiname></xref> if the

subscribing process does not have sufficient capability. </p> <p>The essence

of subscribing to a property is that you pass a function into <xref href="GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2.dita#GUID-39D6B924-3FA3-39E6-A6EA-88E2D1927AC2/GUID-6DC06192-78AF-3B3D-8077-8479789AF006"><apiname>RPropertyRef::Subscribe()</apiname></xref> and

that this function is called when the property value is published. You pass

the function by wrapping it in <xref href="GUID-8A0F75CD-DC61-37EA-A23A-3A82080F0751.dita"><apiname>TPropertySubsRequest</apiname></xref> object

and then pass this into <codeph>Subscribe()</codeph>. What the function does

depends on the implementation, but you may want to re-subscribe to the property

and then retrieve the property value, or you may want to set some flag. It

all depends on the intent of the property and the driver code. </p> <p>The

following code fragments show the general idea. </p> <codeblock id="GUID-DF8201DF-7812-5B39-8B0F-3CB664BA00FA" xml:space="preserve">const TUid KMyPropertyCat={0x10012345};

enum TMyPropertyKeys={EMyPropertyCounter,EMyPropertyName};</codeblock> <codeblock id="GUID-2162EE7C-B834-50ED-9C84-3CE004C0B7D6" xml:space="preserve">class DMyLogicalChannel : public DLogicalChannel

    {

    public :

        DMyLogicalChannel();

        void OpenReference();

        void SetUpSubscription();

        ...

    private :

        static void HandleSubsComplete(TAny* aPtr, TInt aReason);

        ...

    private:

        RCounterRef iName;

        TBuf<10>    iNameValue;

        DProcess    iClientProcess;

        TPropertySubsRequest iSubsRequest;

        TInt iReason;

    }</codeblock> <codeblock id="GUID-4A655D83-07CD-5998-A540-16D4A5EABFC5" xml:space="preserve">DMyLogicalChannel::DMyLogicalChannel() : iSubsRequest(&amp;HandleSubsComplete, this)

    {