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C++ Wrapper — bitcoinkernel_wrapper.h

The C++ wrapper provides an ergonomic, modern C++20 layer over the C API. All types live in the btck namespace.

Design Principles

Feature Description
RAII All owned resources use Handle<> or UniqueHandle<> — automatically destroyed.
Views Non-owning references use View<> — zero-cost, no allocation.
Copy/move Handle<> is copyable (calls the C *_copy()) and moveable. UniqueHandle<> is move-only.
Range iteration Collections expose Inputs(), Outputs(), Transactions(), Entries(), Coins() — all std::ranges::random_access_range.
Bitmasks ScriptVerificationFlags and BlockCheckFlags support |, &, ^, ~ operators.
Callbacks KernelNotifications and ValidationInterface are virtual base classes — subclass and override.

Requirements

  • C++20 or later
  • #include <kernel/bitcoinkernel_wrapper.h>

Memory Model

View<CType>          — non-owning const pointer, no lifetime management
Handle<CType, ...>   — owning, copyable, moveable; destructor calls DestroyFunc
UniqueHandle<CType>  — owning, move-only (like unique_ptr)

Typical class hierarchy example:

// ScriptPubkeyView — non-owning (from btck_transaction_output_get_script_pubkey)
class ScriptPubkeyView : public View<btck_ScriptPubkey>, public ScriptPubkeyApi<ScriptPubkeyView> {};

// ScriptPubkey — owned handle (from btck_script_pubkey_create)
class ScriptPubkey : public Handle<btck_ScriptPubkey,
                                   btck_script_pubkey_copy,
                                   btck_script_pubkey_destroy>,
                     public ScriptPubkeyApi<ScriptPubkey> {};

Namespace

All types are in namespace btck. Either use fully qualified names or using namespace btck;.