[PATCH] constify some methods

[Harri Porten]

Hello Bernhard,

On Thu, 28 Aug 2008, Bernhard wrote:

> while playing with the khtml sources I've fixed some caretPos() methods 
> in the rendering directory to be const. At least for me, it helped me 
> understand more quickly that none of these methods will have side 
> effects on their objects, as the const keyword provided evidence. So I 
> figured I'd share the patch with you. Feel free to apply it in the 
> khtml/rendering directory.

Thank's for the patch. I'll apply it short - with the exception of one 
case (turning up twice) that I suggest to better not change the signature 
of:

-InlineTextBox * RenderText::findInlineTextBox( int offset, int &pos, bool 
checkFirstLetter )
+InlineTextBox * RenderText::findInlineTextBox( int offset, int &pos, bool 
checkFirstLetter ) const

There are different opinions out there whether a method should be const or 
not. The C++ spec gives away that it influence "this". From that one can 
deduct that a function may not modify the object. But that does not only 
involve direct write access. It could happen through the detour of e.g. a 
pointer (like InlineTextBox*) that allows modifying the object. What 
relationship the pointer and object have could be dependant on the case. 
I've not checked this one so I would ommit those two chunks unless 
convinced otherwise. Or maybe the function can also be changed to return 
"const InlineTextBox*"?

Harri.

P.S. Here is where I wrote up some thoughts on this topic once: 
http://www.froglogic.com/~porten/const.html