pclass: Rename Type::is_byte_based -> Type::is_byte_aligned

Also introduced the Type::cast convenience method. This is primarily to
fix type casting over in kipy when deserializing XML values. This
was necessary since properties in kipy are not type-aware, and as such
couldn't determine if the value was actually a string, or meant to
be casted to something else.

include/ki/pclass/PrimitiveType.h

@@ -8,18 +8,18 @@ namespace pclass
 	namespace detail
 	{
 		/**
-		 * Provides implementations to PrimitiveType<ValueT>::is_byte_based,
+		 * Provides implementations to PrimitiveType<ValueT>::is_byte_aligned,
 		 * PrimitiveType<ValueT>::write_to, and PrimitiveType<ValueT>::read_from.
 		 */
 		template <typename ValueT, typename Enable = void>
 		struct primitive_type_helper
 		{
-			static bool is_byte_based()
+			static bool is_byte_aligned()
 			{
 				// Provide a compiler error if this is not specialized
 				static_assert(
 					sizeof(ValueT) == 0,
-					"Missing specialization of primitive_type_helper::is_byte_based"
+					"Missing specialization of primitive_type_helper::is_byte_aligned"
 				);
 			}
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ namespace pclass
 			typename std::enable_if<std::is_integral<ValueT>::value>::type
 		>
 		{
-			static bool is_byte_based()
+			static bool is_byte_aligned()
 			{
 				return true;
 			}
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ namespace pclass
 			using type = ki::BitInteger<N, Unsigned>;
 
 		public:
-			static bool is_byte_based()
+			static bool is_byte_aligned()
 			{
 				return false;
 			}
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ namespace pclass
 			using underlying_type = ki::BitInteger<1, true>;
 
 		public:
-			static bool is_byte_based()
+			static bool is_byte_aligned()
 			{
 				return false;
 			}
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ namespace pclass
 			using uint_type = typename bits<bitsizeof<ValueT>::value>::uint_type;
 
 		public:
-			static bool is_byte_based()
+			static bool is_byte_aligned()
 			{
 				return true;
 			}
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ namespace pclass
 			using type = std::basic_string<_Elem, _Traits, _Alloc>;
 
 		public:
-			static bool is_byte_based()
+			static bool is_byte_aligned()
 			{
 				return true;
 			}
@@ -250,9 +250,14 @@ namespace pclass
 		}
 		~PrimitiveType() = default;
 
-		bool is_byte_based() const override
+		bool is_byte_aligned() const override
 		{
-			return detail::primitive_type_helper<ValueT>::is_byte_based();
+			return detail::primitive_type_helper<ValueT>::is_byte_aligned();
+		}
+
+		Value cast(Value &value) const override
+		{
+			return value.as<ValueT>();
 		}
 
 		void write_to(BitStream &stream, const bool is_file, Value &value) const override

include/ki/pclass/Type.h

@@ -56,15 +56,21 @@ namespace pclass
 		Kind get_kind() const;
 
 		/**
-		* @returns Whether or not this type works in bytes, rather than bits.
+		* @returns Whether or not this type should be byte aligned.
 		*/
-		virtual bool is_byte_based() const;
+		virtual bool is_byte_aligned() const;
 
 		/**
 		 * The TypeSystem used to define this Type instance.
 		 */
 		const TypeSystem &get_type_system() const;
 
+		/**
+		 * Casts the provided value to this type.
+		 * @returns A new Value instance that has been casted to this type.
+		 */
+		virtual Value cast(Value &value) const;
+
 		/**
 		 * Create an instance of the type being represented.
 		 * @returns A pointer to a new PropertyClass instance.

src/pclass/Type.cpp

@@ -38,11 +38,18 @@ namespace pclass
 		return m_type_system;
 	}
 
-	bool Type::is_byte_based() const
+	bool Type::is_byte_aligned() const
 	{
 		return true;
 	}
 
+	Value Type::cast(Value &value) const
+	{
+		std::ostringstream oss;
+		oss << "Type '" << m_name << "' does not implement Type::cast.";
+		throw runtime_error(oss.str());
+	}
+
 	void Type::write_to(BitStream &stream, const bool is_file, Value &value) const
 	{
 		std::ostringstream oss;

src/serialization/BinarySerializer.cpp

@@ -201,8 +201,8 @@ namespace serialization
 
 		for (auto i = 0; i < prop.get_element_count(); ++i)
 		{
-			// Realign the stream if this property works in bytes
+			// Realign the stream if necessary
-			if (prop.get_type().is_byte_based())
+			if (prop.get_type().is_byte_aligned())
 				stream.realign();
 
 			if (prop.is_pointer()
@@ -407,8 +407,8 @@ namespace serialization
 
 		for (auto i = 0; i < prop.get_element_count(); ++i)
 		{
-			// Realign the stream if this property works in bytes
+			// Realign the stream if necessary
-			if (prop.get_type().is_byte_based())
+			if (prop.get_type().is_byte_aligned())
 				stream.realign();
 
 			if (prop.is_pointer() &&

test/src/unit-serialization.cpp

@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ namespace detail
 	template <>
 	struct primitive_type_helper<Vector3D>
 	{
-		static bool is_byte_based()
+		static bool is_byte_aligned()
 		{
 			return true;
 		}