-/*!
-
- @page overview_windowids Window IDs overview
-
- @b See Also
- #wxIdManager
- wxWindow::NewControlId
- wxWindow::UnreserveControlId
- #Introduction
- @ref windowidstypes_overview
- @ref windowidsusing_overview
-
-
- @section windowidsoverviewintro Introduction
-
- Various contols and other parts of wxWidgets need an ID. Sometimes the
- ID may be directly provided by the use or have a predefined value, such as
- @c wxID_OPEN. Often, however, the value of the ID is unimportant and is
- created automatically by calling wxWindow::NewControlId
- or by passing @c wxID_ANY as the ID of an object.
- There are two ways to generate an ID. One way, is to start at a negative number,
- and for each new ID, return the next smallest number. This is fine for systems
- that can used the full range of negative numbers for an ID, as this provides
- more than enough IDs and it would take a very very long time to run out and
- wrap around. However, some systems can not use the full range of the ID value.
- Windows, for example, can only use 16 bit IDs, and only has about 32000 possible
- automatic IDs that can be generated by wxWindow::NewControlId.
- If the program runs long enough, depending on the program itself, using this first
- method would cause the IDs to wrap around into the positive ID range and cause possible
- clashes with any directly specified ID values.
- The other way is to keep track of the IDs returned by wxWindow::NewControlId
- and don't return them again until the ID is completely free and not being used by
- any other objects. This will make sure that the ID values do not clash with one
- another. This is accomplished by keeping a reference count for each of the IDs
- that can possibly be returned by wxWindow::NewControlId.
- Other IDs are not reference counted.
-
- @section windowidsoverviewtypes Data types
-
- A wxWindowID is just the integer type for a window ID. It should be used almost
- everywhere. To help keep track of the count for the automatically generated IDs,
- a new type, wxWindowIDRef exists, that can take the place of wxWindowID where needed.
- When an ID is first created, it is marked as reserved. When assigning it to a
- wxWindowIDRef, the usage count of the ID is increased, or set to 1 if it is currently
- reserved. Assigning the same ID to several wxWindowIDRefs will keep track of the count.
- As the wxWindowIDRef gets destroyed or its value changes, it will decrease the count
- of the used ID. When there are no more wxWindowIDRef types with the created ID, the
- ID is considered free and can then be used again by wxWindow::NewControlId.
- If a created ID is not assigned to a wxWindowIDRef, then it remains reserved until it
- is unreserved manually with wxWindow::UnreserveControlId.
- However, if it is assigned to a wxWindowIDRef, then it will be unreserved automatically
- and will be considered free when the count is 0, and should NOT be manually unreserved.
- wxWindowIDRef can store both automatic IDs from wxWindow::NewControlId
- as well as normal IDs. Reference counting is only done for the automatic IDs. Also,
- wxWindowIDRef has conversion operators that allow it to be treated just like a wxWindowID.
-
- @section windowidsoverviewusing Using wxWindowIDRef
-
- A wxWindowIDRef should be used in place of a wxWindowID where you want to make sure the
- ID is not created again by wxWindow::NewControlId
- at least until the wxWindowIDRef is destroyed, usually when the associated object is destroyed.
- This is done already for windows, menu items, and tool bar items.
- It should only be used in the main thread, as it is not thread safe.
-
- */