// Copyright (C) 2001,2002 Open Source Telecom Corporation.
//
// This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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//
// As a special exception to the GNU General Public License, permission is
// granted for additional uses of the text contained in its release
// of Common C++.
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/**
 * @file counter.h
 * @short Generic automatic counter data type template class.
 **/

namespace ost {

/**
 * The counter template is used for generic objects which act as
 * automatic counters.  Each time the object is accessed, the underlying
 * counted data type is incremented.
 *
 * @author David Sugar <dyfet@gnutelephony.org>
 * @short Automatic counter template class.
 */
template <typename T>
class Counter
{
protected:
	T count;

public:
	/**
	 * Construct and initialize a counter to zero.
	 */
	inline Counter()
		{count = 0;};

	/**
	 * Construct a counter with an initial value set for another counter.
	 *
	 * @param counter to copy from.
	 */
	inline Counter(const Counter &counter)
		{count = counter.count;};

	/**
	 * Construct a counter with an initial value of the specified
	 * data type.
	 *
	 * @param initial value to set.
	 */
	inline Counter(T initial)
		{count = initial;};

	inline T& operator=(T c)
		{counter = c;};

	inline operator T()
		{return count++;}
};

} // namespace