Non-intrusive object introspection in C++

We describe the design and implementation of system architecture to support object introspection in C++. In this system, information is collected by parsing class declarations, and used to build a supporting environ- ment for object introspection. Our approach is non- intrusive because it requires no change to the original class declarations and libraries, and it guarantees com- patibility between objects before and after the addi- tion of introspective capability. This is critical if one wants to integrate third-party class libraries, which are often supplied as black boxes and allow no modifica- tion, into highly dynamic applications. We show two applications: The first on automatic 1/0 support for C++ objects, and the other on interactive exercise of dynamically loaded C++ class libraries.