Add std::cell::map_ref

For slightly complex data structures like `rustc_serialize::json::Json`,
it is often convenient to have helper methods like
`Json::as_string(&self) -> Option<&str>`  that return a borrow of some
component of `&self`.

However, when `RefCell`s are involved, keeping a `Ref` around is required
to hold a borrow to the insides of a `RefCell`. But `Ref` so far only
references the entirety of the contents of a `RefCell`, not a component.
But there is no reason it couldn’t: `Ref` internally contains just a data
reference and a borrow count reference. The two can be dissociated.

This adds a `map_ref` function that creates a new `Ref` for some other data,
but borrowing the same `RefCell` as an existing `Ref`.

Example:

```rust
struct RefCellJson(RefCell<Json>);

impl RefCellJson {
    fn as_string(&self) -> Option<Ref<str>> {
        let borrow = self.borrow();
        borrow.as_string().map(|s| map_ref(&borrow, s))
    }
}
```

Author: SimonSapin

src/libcore/cell.rs

@@ -555,6 +555,33 @@ pub fn clone_ref<'b, T: ?Sized>(orig: &Ref<'b, T>) -> Ref<'b, T> {
     }
 }
 
+/// Make a new `Ref` for a component of the borrowed data, e.g. an enum variant.
+///
+/// The `RefCell` is already immutably borrowed, so this cannot fail.
+///
+/// A method would interfere with methods of the same name on the contents of a `RefCell`
+/// used through `Deref`.
+///
+/// # Example
+///
+/// ```
+/// use std::cell::{RefCell, Ref, map_ref};
+///
+/// let c = RefCell::new(Some(5));
+/// let b1: Ref<Option<u32>> = c.borrow();
+/// let b2: Ref<u32> = map_ref(&b1, (*b1).as_ref().unwrap());
+/// assert_eq!(*b2, 5);
+/// ```
+#[unstable(feature = "core",
+           reason = "recently added")]
+#[inline]
+pub fn map_ref<'b, T: ?Sized, U: ?Sized>(orig: &Ref<'b, T>, new: &'b U) -> Ref<'b, U> {
+    Ref {
+        _value: new,
+        _borrow: orig._borrow.clone(),
+    }
+}
+
 struct BorrowRefMut<'b> {
     _borrow: &'b Cell<BorrowFlag>,
 }

src/libcoretest/cell.rs

@@ -129,6 +129,22 @@ fn clone_ref_updates_flag() {
     assert_eq!(x.borrow_state(), BorrowState::Unused);
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn map_ref_updates_flag() {
+    let x = RefCell::new(Some(5));
+    {
+        let b1: Ref<Option<u32>> = x.borrow();
+        assert_eq!(x.borrow_state(), BorrowState::Reading);
+        {
+            let b2: Ref<u32> = map_ref(&b1, b1.as_ref().unwrap());
+            assert_eq!(*b2, 5);
+            assert_eq!(x.borrow_state(), BorrowState::Reading);
+        }
+        assert_eq!(x.borrow_state(), BorrowState::Reading);
+    }
+    assert_eq!(x.borrow_state(), BorrowState::Unused);
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn as_unsafe_cell() {
     let c1: Cell<usize> = Cell::new(0);