Fwiw, this might help you. I accidentally posted some my my really old
code in another thread. This is bare bones. This
g_utils_ctors/g_utils_dtors are only there for a sanity check:

__________
static unsigned long g_utils_ctors = 0;
static unsigned long g_utils_dtors = 0;


struct iptr_base {
mutable long m_iptr_base_count;
iptr_base() : m_iptr_base_count(0) { ++g_utils_ctors; }
virtual ~iptr_base() { ++g_utils_dtors; }
};


template<typename T>
struct iptr {
T* m_ptr;
iptr(T* ptr = nullptr) : m_ptr(ptr) { if (m_ptr) m_ptr->m_iptr_base_count++; }
iptr(iptr const& rhs) : m_ptr(rhs.m_ptr) { if (m_ptr) m_ptr->m_iptr_base_count++; }
~iptr() { sub_ref(); }

void sub_ref() {
if (m_ptr) {
if (--m_ptr->m_iptr_base_count <= 0) {
delete m_ptr;
m_ptr = nullptr;
}
}
}

void set_ref(iptr const& rhs) {
if (rhs.m_ptr) {
rhs.m_ptr->m_iptr_base_count++;
}

T* old_ptr = m_ptr;
m_ptr = rhs.m_ptr;

if (old_ptr) {
if (--old_ptr->m_iptr_base_count <= 0) {
delete old_ptr;
}
}
}

iptr& operator =(iptr const& rhs)
{
set_ref(rhs);
return *this;
}

T* operator ->() { assert(m_ptr); return m_ptr; }
T const* operator ->() const { assert(m_ptr); return m_ptr; }
};
__________


Bare bones crude simple refcount.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 6/6/2026 9:02 PM, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:

Fwiw, this might help you. I accidentally posted some my my really old
code in another thread. This is bare bones. This g_utils_ctors/ g_utils_dtors are only there for a sanity check:

__________
static unsigned long g_utils_ctors = 0;
static unsigned long g_utils_dtors = 0;

[...]


Fwiw, I use it in an experimental game engine I am creating. Here is a
console dump from a running instance. Notice the
g_utils_ctors/g_utils_dtors output at the end? Sanity check indeed. :^)



--- CT_GAMER ENGINE STARTUP ---
[HARDWARE] Renderer: NVIDIA GeForce MX330/PCIe/SSE2
[HARDWARE] Version: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 576.83
ubo_test::ubo_test() [with bones and vfield]
source_code::source_code()
source_code::source_code()
[PROGRAM] Linked successfully from shaders/core/ct_vertex_simple.glsl
and shaders/core/ct_frag.glsl
program::program()
source_code::~source_code()
source_code::~source_code()
source_code::source_code()
source_code::source_code()
[PROGRAM] Linked successfully from shaders/core/ct_vertex_simple.glsl
and shaders/core/ct_frag_pbr.glsl
program::program()
source_code::~source_code()
source_code::~source_code()
source_code::source_code()
[PROGRAM] Linked successfully from shaders/core/compute/ct_compute.glsl program::program() [compute]
source_code::~source_code()
source_code::source_code()
source_code::source_code()
[PROGRAM] Linked successfully from shaders/core/ct_vertex_animated.glsl
and shaders/core/ct_frag_pbr.glsl
program::program()
source_code::~source_code()

On 6/6/2026 9:02 PM, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:

Fwiw, this might help you. I accidentally posted some my my really old
code in another thread. This is bare bones. This g_utils_ctors/ g_utils_dtors are only there for a sanity check:

__________
static unsigned long g_utils_ctors = 0;
static unsigned long g_utils_dtors = 0;

struct iptr_base {
ÿÿÿ mutable long m_iptr_base_count;

^^^^^^^^^^

No pendants have went after this long instead of unsigned long yet? ;^)

When I first started out in modern opengl, dx12... I wanted to be able
to see a negative count to help me nail down some things.

ÿÿÿ iptr_base() : m_iptr_base_count(0) { ++g_utils_ctors; }
ÿÿÿ virtual ~iptr_base() { ++g_utils_dtors; }
};

template<typename T>
struct iptr {
ÿÿÿ T* m_ptr;
ÿÿÿ iptr(T* ptr = nullptr) : m_ptr(ptr) { if (m_ptr) m_ptr-

m_iptr_base_count++; }

ÿÿÿ iptr(iptr const& rhs) : m_ptr(rhs.m_ptr) { if (m_ptr) m_ptr-

m_iptr_base_count++; }

ÿÿÿ ~iptr() { sub_ref(); }

ÿÿÿ void sub_ref() {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ if (m_ptr) {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ if (--m_ptr->m_iptr_base_count <= 0) {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ delete m_ptr;
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ m_ptr = nullptr;
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ }
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ }
ÿÿÿ }

ÿÿÿ void set_ref(iptr const& rhs) {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ if (rhs.m_ptr) {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ rhs.m_ptr->m_iptr_base_count++;
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ }

ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ T* old_ptr = m_ptr;
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ m_ptr = rhs.m_ptr;

ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ if (old_ptr) {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ if (--old_ptr->m_iptr_base_count <= 0) {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ delete old_ptr;
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ }
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ }
ÿÿÿ }

ÿÿÿ iptr& operator =(iptr const& rhs)
ÿÿÿ {
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ set_ref(rhs);
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ return *this;
ÿÿÿ }

ÿÿÿ T* operator ->() { assert(m_ptr); return m_ptr; }
ÿÿÿ T const* operator ->() const { assert(m_ptr); return m_ptr; }
};
__________

Bare bones crude simple refcount.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

"Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> writes:

On 6/6/2026 9:02 PM, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:

<snip>

struct iptr_base {
ÿÿÿ mutable long m_iptr_base_count;

^^^^^^^^^^

No pendants have went after this long instead of unsigned long yet? ;^)

The word is 'pedant'.

:-)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)