Consolidate shared DeviceList functionality under a common base class.

[Dimi1010]

Summary

This is a rework of #1431, parts 1 and 2.

The list classes now provide direct functions for iteration and fetching devices. The previous approach of retrieving another 'List' from a 'List' class was redundant and tied the internal implementation to it, making future changes more difficult.

Changes:

• PointerVector:

  • Introduced a deleter extension point by changing it to PointerVector<T, Deleter>.

• DeviceListBase:

  • Added a new base class DeviceListBase<DeviceType> to implement common functionality shared among device lists.
  • Common functionality includes:
    • A protected PointerVector<DeviceType> member variable.
    • Element accessor methods: at(), front(), back().
    • Iterator accessor methods: begin(), end(), cbegin(), cend().
    • Capacity accessors: size(), empty().

• Refactoring:

  • Refactored all device list classes to inherit from DeviceListBase.
  • Removed the iterator API implementation from RemoteDeviceList, which is now superseded by the inherited iterator API from DeviceListBase.
  • Deprecated the getPcap*DevicesList methods, which have been superseded by the direct accessor methods provided by DeviceListBase.

Affected Lists:

• PcapLiveDeviceList

• PfRingDeviceList

• DpdkDeviceList

• Deprecated Methods:

  • Updated all usages of deprecated methods in the library to use the new, non-deprecated methods.

[tigercosmos]

LGTM

[Dimi1010]

@tigercosmos added PfRingDeviceList to the refactor last minute. Sry for the re-review request.

[seladb]

@Dimi1010 CI fails for some reason in generating the codecov report, and idea why? 🤔

[clementperon]

Owner

I have the same issue in my MR
#1370

I didn't touch to the code at all

[seladb]

@clementperon gcovr complains it finds the same method pcpp::PcapLiveDeviceList::getInstance() in multiple lines: 51 ,63.
Apparently line 51 is the location of the method before the change, and line 63 is the location after the change:

gcovr also complains about a new file version when it compares the file to the file in .ccache. Maybe the issue is related to ccache we just added?

Stderr of gcov was >>/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Examples/IcmpFileTransfer/Common.cpp:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
(the message is displayed only once per source file)
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Packet++/header/Packet.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Packet++/header/IcmpLayer.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Packet++/header/IPv4Layer.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Packet++/header/TLVData.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Packet++/header/IPLayer.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Packet++/header/EthLayer.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Common++/header/PcapPlusPlusVersion.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
/__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/Pcap++/header/PcapLiveDeviceList.h:source file is newer than notes file '__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcno'
__w/PcapPlusPlus/PcapPlusPlus/.ccache/d/d/fac836f17d373ef9882523799d4b3d-1445515.gcda:cannot open data file, assuming not executed
<< End of stderr
Exception was >>Got function pcpp::PcapLiveDeviceList::getInstance() on multiple lines: 51, 63.
	You can run gcovr with --merge-mode-functions=MERGE_MODE.
	The available values for MERGE_MODE are described in the documentation.<< End of stderr

[seladb]

@Dimi1010 although it's not a breaking change, it's a pretty big change that I'm not sure we should introduce just before the upcoming release. We already have a few deprecation and breaking changes...

What do you think about waiting with this PR until the release?

[Dimi1010]

@seladb Sure, no problem.

[tigercosmos]

@Dimi1010 although it's not a breaking change, it's a pretty big change that I'm not sure we should introduce just before the upcoming release. We already have a few deprecation and breaking changes...

What do you think about waiting with this PR until the release?

I'm also uncertain about the statement. Even if we don't include this in the upcoming release, the next one is likely to introduce even more breaking changes.

[seladb]

@Dimi1010 although it's not a breaking change, it's a pretty big change that I'm not sure we should introduce just before the upcoming release. We already have a few deprecation and breaking changes...
What do you think about waiting with this PR until the release?

I'm also uncertain about the statement. Even if we don't include this in the upcoming release, the next one is likely to introduce even more breaking changes.

I hope that we'll release the version more frequently than the existing one, so hopefully each version will include fewer API changes and breaking changes

[Dimi1010]

@seladb can we revisit this one for merge?