Refs #8506. ScopedWorkspace: unique name generation.

Code/Mantid/Framework/API/inc/MantidAPI/ScopedWorkspace.h

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 #ifndef MANTID_API_SCOPEDWORKSPACE_H_
 #define MANTID_API_SCOPEDWORKSPACE_H_
 
-#include "MantidKernel/System.h"
+#include <string>
 
+#include "MantidKernel/System.h"
 
 namespace Mantid
 {
@@ -36,7 +37,22 @@ namespace API
   public:
     ScopedWorkspace();
     virtual ~ScopedWorkspace();
-
+
+    /// Returns ADS name of the workspace
+    std::string name() const { return m_name; }
+
+  private:
+    /// ADS name of the workspace
+    std::string m_name;
+
+    /// Generates a tricky name which is unique within ADS 
+    static std::string generateUniqueName();
+
+    /// Generates a random alpha-numeric string
+    static std::string randomString(size_t len);
+
+    /// Length of workspace names generated
+    static const size_t NAME_LENGTH;
   };
 
 

Code/Mantid/Framework/API/src/ScopedWorkspace.cpp

@@ -1,17 +1,23 @@
 #include "MantidAPI/ScopedWorkspace.h"
+#include "MantidAPI/AnalysisDataService.h"
 
 namespace Mantid
 {
 namespace API
 {
-
+
+  const size_t ScopedWorkspace::NAME_LENGTH = 16;
 
   //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   /** 
    * Constructor
    */
   ScopedWorkspace::ScopedWorkspace()
   {
+    // Randomize 
+    srand( static_cast<unsigned int>( time(0) ) );
+
+    m_name = generateUniqueName();
   }
 
   //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -22,5 +28,43 @@ namespace API
   {
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Generates a tricky name which is unique within ADS.  
+   */
+  std::string ScopedWorkspace::generateUniqueName()
+  {
+    std::string newName;
+
+    do 
+    { 
+      // __ makes it hidden in the MantidPlot
+      newName = "__ScopedWorkspace_" + randomString(NAME_LENGTH);
+    } 
+    while( AnalysisDataService::Instance().doesExist(newName) );
+
+    return newName;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Generates random alpha-numeric string.
+   * @param len :: Length of the string
+   * @return Random string of the given length
+   */
+  std::string ScopedWorkspace::randomString(size_t len)
+  {
+    static const std::string alphabet = "0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+
+    std::string result;
+    result.reserve(len);
+
+    while(result.size() != len) 
+    {
+      size_t randPos = ( (rand() % (alphabet.size() - 1)));
+      result.push_back(alphabet[randPos]);
+    }
+
+    return result;
+  }
+
 } // namespace API
 } // namespace Mantid

Code/Mantid/Framework/API/test/ScopedWorkspaceTest.h

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 #include "MantidAPI/ScopedWorkspace.h"
 #include "MantidAPI/AnalysisDataService.h"
 
+#include <boost/algorithm/string/predicate.hpp>
+
 using namespace Mantid::API;
 
 class ScopedWorkspaceTest : public CxxTest::TestSuite
@@ -36,6 +38,16 @@ class ScopedWorkspaceTest : public CxxTest::TestSuite
     TS_ASSERT( ! ads.doesExist( test.name() ) );
   }
 
+  void test_name()
+  {
+    ScopedWorkspace test;
+
+    const std::string prefix("__ScopedWorkspace_");
+
+    TS_ASSERT( boost::starts_with(test.name(), prefix) );
+    TS_ASSERT_EQUALS( test.name().size(), prefix.size() + 16 );
+  }
+
 private:
   AnalysisDataServiceImpl& ads;
 };