C++ Implementation Details

Dependencies

The C++ OpentimelineIO (OTIO) library implementation will have the following dependencies:

  • rapidjson

  • any (C++ class)

  • optional (C++ class)

  • The C++ Opentime library (see below)

The need for an “optional” (i.e. a container class that holds either no value or some specific value, for a given type T) is currently small, but does occur in one key place (schemas which need to hold either a TimeRange or indicate their time range is undefined).

In contrast, the need for an “any” (a C++ type-erased container) is pervasive, as it is the primary mechanism that serialization and deserialization rest upon. It is also the bridge to scripting systems like Python that are not strongly typed. The C++17 standard defines the types std::optional and std::any and these types are available in std::experimental in some other cases, and our implementation targets those. However, since many (probably most) sites are not yet compiling with C++17, our implementation makes available public domain C++11 compliant versions of these types:

Support for Python will require pybind11.

The C++ Opentime library (i.e. RationalTime, TimeRange and TimeTransform) will have no outside dependencies. In fact, given the current Python specification, a C++ Opentime API (should) be fairly straightforward and uncontroversial.

Reminder: these sample header files exist only to show the API; namespacing and other niceties are ommitted.

Starting Examples

Defining a Schema

Before jumping into specifics, let’s provide some simple examples of what we anticipate code for defining and using schemas will look like. Consider the Marker schema, which adds a TimeRange and a color to a schema which already defines properties name and metadata:

class Marker : public SerializableObjectWithMetadata {
public:
    struct Schema {
        static std::string constexpr name = "Marker";
        static int constexpr version = 1;
    };

    using Parent = SerializableObjectWithMetadata;

    Marker(std::string const& name = std::string(),
           TimeRange const& marked_range = TimeRange(),
           std::string const& color = std::string("red"),
           AnyDictionary const& metadata = AnyDictionary());

    TimeRange marked_range() const;
    void set_marked_range(TimeRange marked_range);

    std::string const& color() const;
    void set_color(std::string const& color);

protected:
    virtual ~Marker();

    virtual bool read_from(Reader&);
    virtual void write_to(Writer&) const;

private:
    TimeRange _marked_range;
    std::color _color;
};

The contructor takes four properties, two of which (marked_range and color) are stored directly in Marker, with the remaining two (name and metadata) handled by the base class SerializableObjectWithMetadata.

For the OTIO API, we will write standard getters/setters to access properties; outside of OTIO, users could adopt this technique or provide other mechanisms (e.g. public access to member variables, if they like). The supplied Python binding code will allow users to define their own schemas in Python exactly as they do today, with no changes required.

The Schema structure exists so that this type can be added to the OTIO type registry with a simple call:

TypeRegistry::instance()::register_type<Marker>();

The call to add a schema to the type registry would be done within the OTIO library itself for schemas known to OTIO; for schemas defined outside OTIO, the author of the schema would need to make the above call for their class early in a program’s execution.

Reading/Writing Properties

Code must also be written to read/write the new properties. This is simple as well:

bool Marker::read_from(Reader& reader) {
    return reader.read("color", &_color) &&
        reader.read("marked_range", &_marked_range) &&
        Parent::read_from(reader);
 }

void Marker::write_to(Writer& writer) const {
    Parent::write_to(writer);
    writer.write("color", _color);
    writer.write("marked_range", _marked_range);
}

Even when we define more complex properties, the reading/writing code is as simple as shown above, in almost all cases.

When an error is encountered in reading, read_from should set the error on the Reader instance and return false:

bool Marker::read_from(Reader& reader) {
    if (!reader.read(“color”, &_color)) {
        return false;
    }
    if (_color == “invalid_value”) {
        reader.error( ErrorStatus(ErrorStatus::JSON_PARSE_ERROR,
                                                  “invalid_value not allowed for color”));
        return false;
}
    return reader.read(“marked_range”, &_marked_range) &&
        Parent::read_from(reader);
}

This is a contrived example but it describes the basic mechanics. Adjust the details above as appropriate for your case.

Note

Properties are written to the JSON file in the order they are written to from within write_to(). But the reading code need not be in the same order, and changes in the ordering of either the reading or writing code will not break compatability with previously written JSON files.

However, it is vital to invoke Parent::read_from() after reading all of the derived class properties, while for writing Parent::write_to() must be invoked before writing the derived class properties.

Note

Also note that the order of properties within a JSON file for data that is essentially a std::map<> (see AnyDictionary below) is always alphebetical by key. This ensures deterministic JSON file writing which is important for comparison and testing.

Using Schemas

Creating and manipulating schema objects is also simple:

Track* track = new Track();
Clip* clip1 = new Clip("clip1", new ExternalReference("/path/someFile.mov"));
Clip* clip2 = new Clip("clip2");

track->append_child(clip1);
track->append_child(clip2);

...

for (Item* item: track->children()) {
    for (Effect* effect: item->effects()) {
         std::cout << effect->effect_name();
         ...
    }
}

Serializable Data

Data in OTIO schemas must be read and written as JSON. Data must also be available to C++, in some cases as strongly typed data, while in other cases as untyped data (i.e. presented as an any).

For discussion purposes, let us consider that all data that is read and written to JSON is transported as a C++ any. What can that any hold?

First, the any can be empty, which corresponds with a null JSON value. The any could also hold any of the following “atomic” types: bool, int, double, std::string, RationalTime, TimeRange and TimeTransform. All but the last three are immediately expressable in JSON, while the three Opentime types are read/written as compound structures with the same format that the current Python implementation delivers. The final “atomic” type that an any can hold is a SerializableObject*, which represents the C++ base class for all schemas. (Note: it will not be valid for an any to hold a pointer to a derived class, for example, a Clip* value. The actual C++ static type in the any will always be a pointer to the base class SerializableObject.)

Next, for any of the above atomic types T, excepting for SerializableObject*, an any can store a type of optional<T>. (Supporting serialization of an optional<SerializableObject*> would be ambiguous and unneeded; putting a null pointer of type SerializableObject* in an any, is written as a null to the JSON file.)

Finally, the any can hold two more types: an AnyDictionary and an AnyVector. For this discussion, consider an AnyDictionary to be the type std::map<std::string, any> and the type AnyVector to be the type std::vector<any>. The actual implementation is subtly different, but not to end-users: the API for both these types exactly mirrors the APIs of std::vector<any> and std::map<std::string, any> respectively. The AnyVector and AnyDictionary types are of course the JSON array and object types.

C++ Properties

In most cases, we expect C++ schemas to hold data as strongly-typed properties. The notable exception is that low in the inheritance hierarchy, a C++ property named metadata which is of type AnyDictionary is made available, which allows clients to story data of any type they want. Manipulating such data will be as simple as always, from an untyped language like Python, while in C++/Swift, the typical and necessary querying and casting would need to be written.

As we saw above, declaring and handling reading/writing for “atomic” property types (e.g. std::string, TimeRange) is straightforward and requires little effort. Additionally, reading/writing support is automatically provided for the (recursively defined) types std::vector<P>, std::list<P> and std::map<std::string, P> where P is itself a serializable property type. Accordingly, one is free to declare a property of type std::vector<std::map<std::string, std::list<TimeRange>>> and it will serialize and deserialize properly. However, such a type might be hard to reflect/bind in a Python or Swift bridge. Our current implementation however bridges one-level deep types such as std::vector<RationalTime> or std::map<std::string, double> to Python (and later Swift) quite easily and idiomatically.

Finally, one can declare lists and dictionaries for schema objects, in as strongly typed fashion as required. That is, a property might be a list of schema objects of any type, or the property might specify a particular derived class the schema object must satisfy. Again, this is taken care of automatically:

class DerivedSchema : public SerializableObject {
   ...
private:
   std::vector<MediaReference*> _extra_references;   // (don't actually do this)
};

In this case, the derived schema could choose to store extra media references. The reading/writing code would simply call:

reader.read("extra_references", &_extra_references)

To read the property, and:

writer.write("extra_references", _extra_references)

To write the property.

Note

The comment “don’t actually do this” will be explained in the next section; the actual type of this property needs to be slightly different. The code for reading/writing the property however is correct.

Object Graphs and Serialization

The current Python implementation assumes that no schema object is referenced more than once, when it comes to serialization and deserialization. Specifically, the object “graph” is assumed to implicitly be a tree, although this is not always enforced. For example, the current Python implementation has this bug:

clip1 = otio.schema.Clip("clip1")
clip2 = otio.schema.Clip("clip2")
ext_ref = otio.schema.ExternalReference("/path/someFile.mov")
clip1.media_reference = ext_ref
clip2.media_reference = ext_ref

As written, modifying ext_ref modifies the external media reference data for both clip1 and clip2. However, if one serializes and then deserializes this data, the serialized data replicates the external references. Thus, upon reading back this object graph, the new clips no longer share the same media reference.

The C++ implementation for serialization will not have this limitation. That means that the object structure need no longer be a tree; it doesn’t, strictly speaking, even need to be a DAG:

Clip* clip1 = new Clip();
Clip* clip2 = new Clip();

clip1->metadata()["other_clip"] = clip2;
clip2->metadata()["other_clip"] = clip1;

This will work just fine: writing/reading or simply cloning clip1 would yield a new clip1 that pointed to a new clip2 and vice versa.

Note

This really does work, except that it forms an unbreakable retain cycle in memory that is only broken by manually severing one of the links by removing, for example, the value under “other_clip” in one of the metadata dictionaries.

The above example shows what one could (but shouldn’t do). More practical examples are that clips could now share media references, or that metadata could contain references to arbitrary schemas for convenience.

Most importantly, arbitrary serialization lets us separate the concepts of “I am responsible for reading/writing you” from the “I am your (one and only) parent” from “I am responsible to deleting you when no longer needed.” In the current Python implementation, these concepts are not explicitly defined, mostly because of the automatic nature of memory management in Python. In C++, we must be far more explicit though.

Memory Management

The final topic we must deal with is memory management. Languages like Python and Swift natually make use of reference counted class instances. We considered such a route in C++, by requiring that manipulations be done not in terms of SerializableObject* pointers, but rather using std::shared_ptr<SerializableObject> (and the corresponding std::weak_ptr). While some end users would find this a comfortable route, there are others who would not. Additionally (and this is a topic that is very deep, but that we are happy to discuss further) the std::shared_ptr<> route, coupled with the pybind binding system (or even with the older boost Python binding system) wouldn’t provide an adequate end-user experience in Python. (And we would expect similar difficulties in Swift.)

Consider the following requirements from the perspective of an OTIO user in a Python framework. In Python, a user types:

clip = otio.schema.Clip()

Behind the scenes, in C++, an actual Clip instance has been created. From the user’s perspective, they “own” this clip, and if they immediately type:

del clip

Then they would expect the Python clip object to be destroyed (and the actual C++ Clip instance to be deleted). Anything less than this is a memory leak.

But what if before typing del clip the Python user puts that clip into a composition? Now neither the Python object corresponding to the clip nor the actual C++ Clip instance can be destroyed while the composition has that clip as a child.

The same situation applies if the end user does not create the objects directly from Python. Reading back a JSON file from Python creates all objects in C++ and hands back only the top-most object to Python. Yet that object (and any other objects subsequently exposed and held by Python) must remain undeletable from C++ while the Python interpreter has a reference to those objects.

It might seem like shared pointers would fix all this but in fact, they do not. The reason is that there are in reality two objects: the C++ instance, and the reflected object in Python. (While it might be feasible to “auto-create” the reflected Python object whenever it was needed, and really think of having one object, this choice makes it impossible to allow defining new schemas in Python. The same consequence applies to allowing for new schemas to be defined in Swift.) Ensuring a system that does not leak memory, and that also keeps both objects alive as long as either side (C++ or the bridged language) is, simply put, challenging.

With all that as a preamble, here is our proposed solution for C++:

  • A new instance of a schema object is created by a call to new. - All schema objects have protected destructors. Given a raw pointer to a schema object, client code may not directly invoke the delete operator, but may write:

    Clip* c = new Clip();
    ...
    c->possibly_delete();    // returns true if c was deleted
    
  • The OTIO C++ API uses raw pointers exclusively in all its function signatures (e.g. property access functions, property modifier functions, constructors, etc.).

  • Schema objects prevent premature destruction of schema instances they are interested in by storing them in variables of type SerializableObject::Retainer<T> where T is of type SerializableObject (or derived from it).

For example:

 class ExtendedEffect : public Effect {
 public:
    ...
    MediaReference* best() const {
        return _best;
    }

    void set_best(MediaReference* best) {
        _best = best;
    }

    MediaReference* best_or_other() {
        return _best ? _best : some_other_reference();
    }

private:
  Retainer<MediaReference> _best;
};

In this example, the ExtendedEffect schema has a property named best that must be a MediaReference. To indicate that it needs to retain its instance, the schema stores the property not as a raw pointer, but using the Retainer structure.

Nothing special needs to be done for the reading/writing code, and there is automatic two-way conversion between Retainer<MediaReference> and MediaReference* which keeps the code simple. Even testing if the property is set (as best_or_other() does) is done as if we were using raw pointers.

The implementation of all this works as follow:

  • Creating a new schema instance starts the instance with an internal count of 0.

  • Putting a schema instance into a Retainer object increases the count by 1.

  • Destroying the retainer object or reassigning a new instance to it decreases the count by 1 of the object if any in the retainer object. If this causes the count to reach zero, the schema instance is destroyed.

  • The possibly_delete() member function of SerializableObject* checks that the count of the instance is zero, and if so deletes the object in question.

  • An any instance holding a SerializableObject* actually holds a Retainer<SerializableObject>. That is, blind data safely retains schema instances.

The only rules that a developer needs to know is:

  • A new instance of a schema object is created by a call to new.

  • If your class wants to hold onto something, it needs to store it using a Retainer<T> type.

  • If the caller created a schema object (by calling new, or equivalently, by obtaining the instance via a deserialize call) they are responsible for calling possibly_delete() when they are done with the instance, or by giving the pointer to someone else to hold.

In practice, these rules mean that only the “root” of the object graph needs to be held by a user in C++ to prevent destruction of the entire graph, and that calling possibly_delete() on the root of the graph will cause deletion of the entire structure (assuming no cyclic references) and/or assuming the root isn’t currently sitting in the Python interpreter.

We have extensively tested this scheme with Python and written code for all the defined schema instances that exist so far. The code has proven to be lightweight and simple to read and write, with few surprises encountered. The Python experience has been unchanged from the original implementation.

Examples

Here are some examples that illustrate these rules:

Track* t = new Track;

Clip* c1 = new Clip;
c1->possibly_delete();    // c1 is deleted

Clip* c2 = new Clip;
t->add_child(c2);
c2->possibly_delete();   // no effect
t->possibly_delete();   // deletes t and c2

Here is an example that would lead to a crash:

Track* t = new Track;
Clip* c1 = new Clip;
t->add_child(c1);           // t is now responsible for c1
t->remove_child(0);         // t destroyed c1 when it was removed

std::cout << c1->name();    // <crash>

To illustrate the above point in a less contrived fashion, consider this incorrect code:

 void remove_at_index(Composition* c, int index) {
 #if DEBUG
     Item* item = c->children()[index];
 #endif
     c->remove_child(index);

 #if DEBUG
     std::cout << "Debug: removed item named " << item->name();
 #endif
}

This could crash, because the call to remove_child() might have destroyed item. A correct version of this code would be:

 void remove_at_index(Composition* c, int index) {
 #if DEBUG
     SerializableObject::Retainer<Item> item = c->children()[index];
 #endif
     c->remove_child(index);

 #if DEBUG
     std::cout << "Debug: removed item named " << item.value->name();
 #endif
}

Note

We do not expect the following scenario to arise, but it is certainly possible to write a function which returns a raw pointer back to the user and also gives them the responsibility for possibly deleting it:

Item* remove_and_return_named_item(Composition* c, std::string const& name) {
    auto& children = c->children();
    for (size_t i = 0; i < children.size(); ++i) {
        if (children[i].value->name() == name) {
            SerializableObject::Retainer<Item> r_item(children[i]);
            c->remove_child(i);
            return r_item.take_value();
        }
    }
    return nullptr;
}

The raw pointer in a Retainer object is accessed via the value member. The call to take_value() decrements the reference count of the pointed to object but does not delete the instance if the count drops to zero. The pointer is returned to the caller, and the Retainer instance sets its internal pointer to null. Effectively, this delivers a raw pointer back to the caller, while also giving them the responsibility to try to delete the object if they were the only remaining owner of the object.

Error Handling

The C++ implementation will not make use of C++ exceptions. A function which can “fail” will indicate this by taking an argument ErrorStatus* error_status. The ErrorStatus structure has two members: an enum code and a “details” string. In some cases, the details string may give more information than the enum code (e.g. for a missing key the details string would be the missing string) while for other cases, the details string might simply be a translation of the error code string (e.g. “method not implemented”).

Here are examples in the proposed API of some “failable” functions:

 class SerializableObject {
   ...
   static SerializableObject* from_json_string(std::string const& input, ErrorStatus* error_status);
   ...
   SerializableObject* clone(std::string* err_msg = nullptr) const;
 };

 class Composition {
   ...
   bool set_children(std::vector<Composable*> const& children, ErrorStatus* error_status);

   bool insert_child(int index, Composable* child, ErrorStatus* error_status);

   bool set_child(int index, Composable* child, ErrorStatus* error_status);
   ...
};

The Composition schema in particular offers multiple failure paths, ranging from invalid indices, to trying to add children which are already parented in another composition. Note that the proposed failure mechanism makes it awkward to allow constructors to “fail” gracefully. Accordingly, a class like Composition doesn’t allow children to be passed into its constructor, but requires a call to set_children() after construction. Neither the Python API (nor the Swift API) would be subject to this limitation.

The OpenTime and OpenTimelineIO libraries both have their own error definitions. The tables below outline the errors, which python exceptions they raise, and what their semantic meaning is.

OpenTime Errors

Value

Python Exception Type

Meaning

OK

n/a

No Error

INVALID_TIMECODE_RATE

ValueError

Timecode rate isn’t a valid SMPTE rate

INVALID_TIMECODE_STRING

ValueError

String is not properly formatted SMPTE timecode string

TIMECODE_RATE_MISMATCH

ValueError

Timecode string has a frame number higher than the frame rate

INVALID_TIME_STRING

ValueError

NEGATIVE_VALUE

ValueError

INVALID_RATE_FOR_DROP_FRAME_TIMECODE

ValueError

Timecode rate isn’t valid for SMPTE Drop-Frame Timecode

OpenTimelineIO error codes

Value

Python Exception Type

Meaning

OK

n/a

No Error

NOT_IMPLEMENTED

NotImplementedError

A feature is known but deliberately unimplemented

UNRESOLVED_OBJECT_REFERENCE

ValueError

An object reference is unresolved while reading

DUPLICATE_OBJECT_REFERENCE

ValueError

An object reference is duplicated while reading

MALFORMED_SCHEMA

ValueError

The Schema string was invalid

JSON_PARSE_ERROR

ValueError

Malformed JSON encountered when parsing

CHILD_ALREADY_PARENTED

ValueError

Attempted to add a child to a collection when it’s already a member of another collection instance

FILE_OPEN_FAILED

ValueError

failed to open file for reading

FILE_WRITE_FAILED

ValueError

failed to open file for writing

SCHEMA_ALREADY_REGISTERED

ValueError

SCHEMA_NOT_REGISTERED

ValueError

SCHEMA_VERSION_UNSUPPORTED

UnsupportedSchemaError

KEY_NOT_FOUND

KeyError

The key used for a mapping doesn’t exist in the collection

ILLEGAL_INDEX

IndexError

The collection index is out of bounds

TYPE_MISMATCH

ValueError

INTERNAL_ERROR

ValueError

Internal error (aka this is a bug)

NOT_AN_ITEM

ValueError

NOT_A_CHILD_OF

NotAChildError

NOT_A_CHILD

NotAChildError

NOT_DESCENDED_FROM

NotAChildError

CANNOT_COMPUTE_AVAILABLE_RANGE

CannotComputeAvailableRangeError

INVALID_TIME_RANGE

ValueError

OBJECT_WITHOUT_DURATION

ValueError

CANNOT_TRIM_TRANSITION

ValueError

Thread Safety

Multiple threads should be able to examine or traverse the same graph of constructed objects safely. If a thread mutates or makes any modifications to objects, then only that single thread may do so safely. Moreover, additional threads could not safely read the objects while the mutation was underway. It is the responsibility of client code to ensure this however.

Proposed OTIO C++ Header Files

Proposed stripped down OTIO C++ header files.

Extended Memory Management Discussion

There have been a number of questions about the proposed approach which embeds a reference count in SerializableObject and uses a templated wrapper, Retainer<> to manipulate the reference count. This raises the obvious question, why not simply used std::shared_ptr<>? If we only had C++ to deal with, that would be an obvious choice; however, wrapping to other languages complicates things.

Here is a deeper discussion of the issues involved.

What makes this complicated is the following set of rules/constraints:

  1. If you access a given C++ object X in Python, this creates a Python wrapper object instance P which corresponds to X. As long as the C++ object X remains alive, P must persist. This is true even if it appears that the Python interpreter holds no references to P, because as long as X exists, it could always be given back to Python for manipulation.

    In particular, it is not acceptable to destroy P, and then regenerate a new instance P2, as if this was the first time X had been exposed to Python. This rule is imperative in a world where we can extend the schema hierarchy by deriving in Python. (It is also useful to allow Python code to add arbitrary dynamic data onto P, in a persistent fashion.)

    Note that using pybind11 with shared pointers in the standard way does not satisfy this rule: the pybind11/shared pointer approach will happily regenerate a new instance P2 for X if Python loses all references to the original P.

  2. As long as Python holds a reference to P, corresponding to some C++ object X, the C++ object X cannot be deleted, for obvious reasons.

  3. Say that C++ SerializableObject B is made a child of A. As long as A retains B, then B cannot be destroyed. The same holds if C++ code outside OTIO chooses to retain particular C++ objects.

  4. If a C++ object X exists, and (3) does not hold, then if X is deleted, and a Python wrapper instance P corresponding to X exists, then P must be destroyed when X is destroyed.

    Consider the implications of this rule in conjunction with rule (2).

  5. If a C++ object X wasn’t ever given out to Python, there will be no corresponding wrapper instance P for that C++ object. Note however that it may be that the C++ object X was created by virtue of a Python wrapper instance P being constructed from Python. Until that C++ object X is passed to C++ in some way, then X will exist only as long as P does.

How can we satisfy all these contraints, while ensuring we don’t create retain cycles (which might be fixable with Python garbage collection, but also might not)? Here is the solution we came up with; if you have an alternate suggestion, we would be happy to hear it.

Our scheme works as follows:

  • When you create a Python wrapper instance P for a C++ object X, the Python instance P holds within itself a Retainer<> which holds X. The existence of that retainer bumps the reference count of the C++ object up by 1.

  • Whenever X’s C++ reference count increases past 1, which means there is at least one C++ Retainer<> object in addition to the one in P, a “keep-alive” reference to P is created and held by X. This ensures that P won’t be destroyed even if the Python interpreter appears to lose all references to P, because we’ve hidden one away. (Remember, the C++ object X could always be passed back to Python, and we can’t/don’t want to regenerate a new P corresponding to X.)

  • However, when X’s C++ count reference count drops back to one, then we know that P is now the only reason we are keeping X alive. At this point, the keep-alive reference to P is destroyed. That means that if/when Python loses the last reference to P, we can (and should) allow both P and X to be destroyed. Of course, if X’s reference count bumps up above 1 before that happens, a new keep-alive reference to P would be created.

The tricky part here is the interaction of watching the reference count of C++ objects oscillate from 1 to greater than one, and vice versa. (There is no way of watching the Python reference count change, and even if we could, the performance constraints this would be entail would be likely untenable.)

Essentially, we are monitoring changes in whether or not there is a single unique Retainer<> instance pointing to a given C++ object, or multiple such retainers. We’ve verified with some extremely processor intensive multi-threading/multi-core tests that our coding of the mutation of the C++ reference count, coupled with creating/destroying the Python keep-alive references (when necessary) is: leak free, thread-safe, and deadlock free (the last being tricky, since there is both a mutex in the C++ object X protecting the reference count and Python keep-alive callback mechanism, as well as a GIL lock to contend with whenever we actually manipulate Python references).

Our reasons for not considering std::shared_ptr as an implementation mechanism are two-fold. First, we wanted to keep the C++ API simple, and we have opted for raw C++ pointers in most API functions, with Retainer<> objects only as members of structures/classes where we need to indicate ownership of an object. However, even if the community opted to use a smart-pointer approach for the OTIO API, std::shared_ptr wouldn’t work (as far as we know), because there is no facility in it that would let us catch/monitor transitions between reference count values of one, and greater than one.

We hope this answers questions about why we have chosen our particular implementation. This is the only solution we have found that satisfies all the constraints we listed above, and should work with Swift as well. We are very happy though to hear ideas for different ways to do all of this.