Enum alloc::borrow::Cow

pub enum Cow<'a, B: ?Sized + 'a> where
    B: ToOwned,  {
    Borrowed(&'a B),
    Owned(<B as ToOwned>::Owned),
}

A clone-on-write smart pointer.

The type Cow is a smart pointer providing clone-on-write functionality: it can enclose and provide immutable access to borrowed data, and clone the data lazily when mutation or ownership is required. The type is designed to work with general borrowed data via the Borrow trait.

Cow implements Deref, which means that you can call non-mutating methods directly on the data it encloses. If mutation is desired, to_mut will obtain a mutable reference to an owned value, cloning if necessary.

Examples

use std::borrow::Cow;

fn abs_all(input: &mut Cow<[i32]>) {
    for i in 0..input.len() {
        let v = input[i];
        if v < 0 {
            // Clones into a vector if not already owned.
            input.to_mut()[i] = -v;
        }
    }
}

// No clone occurs because `input` doesn't need to be mutated.
let slice = [0, 1, 2];
let mut input = Cow::from(&slice[..]);
abs_all(&mut input);

// Clone occurs because `input` needs to be mutated.
let slice = [-1, 0, 1];
let mut input = Cow::from(&slice[..]);
abs_all(&mut input);

// No clone occurs because `input` is already owned.
let mut input = Cow::from(vec![-1, 0, 1]);
abs_all(&mut input);

Another example showing how to keep Cow in a struct:

use std::borrow::Cow;

struct Items<'a, X: 'a> where [X]: ToOwned<Owned = Vec<X>> {
    values: Cow<'a, [X]>,
}

impl<'a, X: Clone + 'a> Items<'a, X> where [X]: ToOwned<Owned = Vec<X>> {
    fn new(v: Cow<'a, [X]>) -> Self {
        Items { values: v }
    }
}

// Creates a container from borrowed values of a slice
let readonly = [1, 2];
let borrowed = Items::new((&readonly[..]).into());
match borrowed {
    Items { values: Cow::Borrowed(b) } => println!("borrowed {:?}", b),
    _ => panic!("expect borrowed value"),
}

let mut clone_on_write = borrowed;
// Mutates the data from slice into owned vec and pushes a new value on top
clone_on_write.values.to_mut().push(3);
println!("clone_on_write = {:?}", clone_on_write.values);

// The data was mutated. Let check it out.
match clone_on_write {
    Items { values: Cow::Owned(_) } => println!("clone_on_write contains owned data"),
    _ => panic!("expect owned data"),
}

Variants

Borrowed(&'a B)

Borrowed data.

Owned(<B as ToOwned>::Owned)

Owned data.

Methods

impl<'_, B: ?Sized + ToOwned> Cow<'_, B>

pub fn to_mut(&mut self) -> &mut <B as ToOwned>::Owned

Acquires a mutable reference to the owned form of the data.

Clones the data if it is not already owned.

Examples

use std::borrow::Cow;

let mut cow = Cow::Borrowed("foo");
cow.to_mut().make_ascii_uppercase();

assert_eq!(
  cow,
  Cow::Owned(String::from("FOO")) as Cow<str>
);

pub fn into_owned(self) -> <B as ToOwned>::Owned

Extracts the owned data.

Clones the data if it is not already owned.

Examples

Calling into_owned on a Cow::Borrowed clones the underlying data and becomes a Cow::Owned:

use std::borrow::Cow;

let s = "Hello world!";
let cow = Cow::Borrowed(s);

assert_eq!(
  cow.into_owned(),
  String::from(s)
);

Calling into_owned on a Cow::Owned is a no-op:

use std::borrow::Cow;

let s = "Hello world!";
let cow: Cow<str> = Cow::Owned(String::from(s));

assert_eq!(
  cow.into_owned(),
  String::from(s)
);

Trait Implementations

impl<'_> ToString for Cow<'_, str>

fn to_string(&self) -> String

Converts the given value to a String.

impl<'_, B: ?Sized + ToOwned> Deref for Cow<'_, B>

type Target = B

The resulting type after dereferencing.

fn deref(&self) -> &B

Dereferences the value.

impl<'a, 'b, B: ?Sized, C: ?Sized> PartialEq<Cow<'b, C>> for Cow<'a, B> where
    B: PartialEq<C> + ToOwned,
    C: ToOwned, 

fn eq(&self, other: &Cow<'b, C>) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

#[must_use] fn ne(&self, other: &Rhs) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b> PartialEq<str> for Cow<'a, str>

fn eq(&self, other: &str) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &str) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b> PartialEq<Cow<'a, str>> for str

fn eq(&self, other: &Cow<'a, str>) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &Cow<'a, str>) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b> PartialEq<&'b str> for Cow<'a, str>

fn eq(&self, other: &&'b str) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &&'b str) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b> PartialEq<Cow<'a, str>> for &'b str

fn eq(&self, other: &Cow<'a, str>) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &Cow<'a, str>) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b> PartialEq<String> for Cow<'a, str>

fn eq(&self, other: &String) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &String) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b> PartialEq<Cow<'a, str>> for String

fn eq(&self, other: &Cow<'a, str>) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &Cow<'a, str>) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b, A: Clone, B> PartialEq<&'b [B]> for Cow<'a, [A]> where
    A: PartialEq<B>, 

fn eq(&self, other: &&'b [B]) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &&'b [B]) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b, A: Clone, B> PartialEq<&'b mut [B]> for Cow<'a, [A]> where
    A: PartialEq<B>, 

fn eq(&self, other: &&'b mut [B]) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &&'b mut [B]) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'a, 'b, A: Clone, B> PartialEq<Vec<B>> for Cow<'a, [A]> where
    A: PartialEq<B>, 

fn eq(&self, other: &Vec<B>) -> bool

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==.

fn ne(&self, other: &Vec<B>) -> bool

This method tests for !=.

impl<'_, B: ?Sized> Eq for Cow<'_, B> where
    B: Eq + ToOwned, 

impl<'_, B: ?Sized> Ord for Cow<'_, B> where
    B: Ord + ToOwned, 

fn cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> Ordering

This method returns an Ordering between self and other.

fn max(self, other: Self) -> Self

Compares and returns the maximum of two values.

fn min(self, other: Self) -> Self

Compares and returns the minimum of two values.

fn clamp(self, min: Self, max: Self) -> Self

🔬 This is a nightly-only experimental API. (clamp #44095)

Restrict a value to a certain interval.

impl<'a, B: ?Sized> PartialOrd<Cow<'a, B>> for Cow<'a, B> where
    B: PartialOrd + ToOwned, 

fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &Cow<'a, B>) -> Option<Ordering>

This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists.

#[must_use] fn lt(&self, other: &Rhs) -> bool

This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator.

#[must_use] fn le(&self, other: &Rhs) -> bool

This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator.

#[must_use] fn gt(&self, other: &Rhs) -> bool

This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator.

#[must_use] fn ge(&self, other: &Rhs) -> bool

This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator.

impl<'_, B: ?Sized> Hash for Cow<'_, B> where
    B: Hash + ToOwned, 

fn hash<H: Hasher>(&self, state: &mut H)

Feeds this value into the given [Hasher].

fn hash_slice<H>(data: &[Self], state: &mut H) where
    H: Hasher, 

Feeds a slice of this type into the given [Hasher].

impl<'_, B: ?Sized> Display for Cow<'_, B> where
    B: Display + ToOwned,
    <B as ToOwned>::Owned: Display, 

fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> Result

Formats the value using the given formatter.

impl<'_, B: ?Sized> Debug for Cow<'_, B> where
    B: Debug + ToOwned,
    <B as ToOwned>::Owned: Debug, 

fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> Result

Formats the value using the given formatter.

impl<'a> Add<&'a str> for Cow<'a, str>

type Output = Cow<'a, str>

The resulting type after applying the + operator.

fn add(self, rhs: &'a str) -> Self::Output

Performs the + operation.

impl<'a> Add<Cow<'a, str>> for Cow<'a, str>

type Output = Cow<'a, str>

The resulting type after applying the + operator.

fn add(self, rhs: Cow<'a, str>) -> Self::Output

Performs the + operation.

impl<'a> AddAssign<&'a str> for Cow<'a, str>

fn add_assign(&mut self, rhs: &'a str)

Performs the += operation.

impl<'a> AddAssign<Cow<'a, str>> for Cow<'a, str>

fn add_assign(&mut self, rhs: Cow<'a, str>)

Performs the += operation.

impl<'a> Extend<Cow<'a, str>> for String

fn extend<I: IntoIterator<Item = Cow<'a, str>>>(&mut self, iter: I)

Extends a collection with the contents of an iterator.

impl<'a> FromIterator<Cow<'a, str>> for String

fn from_iter<I: IntoIterator<Item = Cow<'a, str>>>(iter: I) -> String

Creates a value from an iterator.

impl<'a> FromIterator<char> for Cow<'a, str>

fn from_iter<I: IntoIterator<Item = char>>(it: I) -> Cow<'a, str>

Creates a value from an iterator.

impl<'a, 'b> FromIterator<&'b str> for Cow<'a, str>

fn from_iter<I: IntoIterator<Item = &'b str>>(it: I) -> Cow<'a, str>

Creates a value from an iterator.

impl<'a> FromIterator<String> for Cow<'a, str>

fn from_iter<I: IntoIterator<Item = String>>(it: I) -> Cow<'a, str>

Creates a value from an iterator.

impl<'a, T> FromIterator<T> for Cow<'a, [T]> where
    T: Clone, 

fn from_iter<I: IntoIterator<Item = T>>(it: I) -> Cow<'a, [T]>

Creates a value from an iterator.

impl<'_, T: ?Sized + ToOwned> AsRef<T> for Cow<'_, T>

fn as_ref(&self) -> &T

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a> From<Cow<'a, str>> for String

fn from(s: Cow<'a, str>) -> String

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a> From<&'a str> for Cow<'a, str>

fn from(s: &'a str) -> Cow<'a, str>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a> From<String> for Cow<'a, str>

fn from(s: String) -> Cow<'a, str>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a> From<&'a String> for Cow<'a, str>

fn from(s: &'a String) -> Cow<'a, str>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a, T> From<Cow<'a, [T]>> for Vec<T> where
    [T]: ToOwned<Owned = Vec<T>>, 

fn from(s: Cow<'a, [T]>) -> Vec<T>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a, T: Clone> From<&'a [T]> for Cow<'a, [T]>

fn from(s: &'a [T]) -> Cow<'a, [T]>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a, T: Clone> From<Vec<T>> for Cow<'a, [T]>

fn from(v: Vec<T>) -> Cow<'a, [T]>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'a, T: Clone> From<&'a Vec<T>> for Cow<'a, [T]>

fn from(v: &'a Vec<T>) -> Cow<'a, [T]>

Performs the conversion.

impl<'_, B: ?Sized + ToOwned> Clone for Cow<'_, B>

fn clone(&self) -> Self

Returns a copy of the value.

fn clone_from(&mut self, source: &Self)

Performs copy-assignment from source.

impl<'_, B: ?Sized> Default for Cow<'_, B> where
    B: ToOwned,
    <B as ToOwned>::Owned: Default, 

fn default() -> Self

Creates an owned Cow<'a, B> with the default value for the contained owned value.

impl<'a, B: ?Sized> Borrow<B> for Cow<'a, B> where
    B: ToOwned,
    <B as ToOwned>::Owned: 'a, 

fn borrow(&self) -> &B

Immutably borrows from an owned value.