Tools Module

The tools class is the primary utility base class, providing static helpers for file-system operations, string manipulation, hashing, base-64 encoding, and generic container algorithms. Most framework classes inherit tools so that these helpers are always available via this->.

Class: `tools`

Header: <tools/tools.h>

Inheritance: (base class — no parents)

File-System Methods

Signature	Description
`static void create_path(std::string path)`	Recursively creates the given directory path (`mkdir -p` equivalent).
`static void delete_path(std::string path)`	Deletes the file or directory at path (calls `std::filesystem::remove_all`).
`static bool is_file(std::string path)`	Returns `true` if path points to a regular file.
`static void rename(std::string start, std::string target)`	Renames / moves start to target.
`static std::string absolute_path(std::string path)`	Returns the canonical absolute path of path.
`static std::vector<std::string> ls(std::string path, std::string ext = "")`	Lists all files under path whose extension matches ext (empty = all files).

String Methods

Signature	Description
`static std::string to_string(double val)`	Converts a double to its string representation.
`static std::string to_string(double val, int prec)`	Converts a double to a string with prec significant digits.
`static void replace(std::string* in, std::string repl_str, std::string repl_with)`	Replaces the first occurrence of repl_str in `in` with repl_with* (in-place).
`static bool has_string(std::string* inpt, std::string trg)`	Returns `true` if `inpt` contains the substring trg*.
`static bool ends_with(std::string* inpt, std::string val)`	Returns `true` if `inpt` ends with the suffix val*.
`static bool has_value(std::vector<std::string>* data, std::string trg)`	Returns `true` if the vector data contains the string trg.
`static std::vector<std::string> split(std::string in, std::string delim)`	Splits in on the delimiter delim and returns the tokens.
`static std::vector<std::string> split(std::string in, size_t n)`	Splits in into substrings of length n.
`static std::string lower(std::string*)`	Returns a lower-cased copy of the input string.

Hashing and Encoding

Signature	Description
`static std::string hash(std::string input, int len = 18)`	Returns a hex string of length len derived from input via SHA-256. The default `len=18` produces the 18-character hashes used as particle and event identifiers throughout the framework.
`static std::string encode64(std::string* data)`	Base-64 encodes `*data` and returns the encoded string.
`static std::string encode64(unsigned char const*, unsigned int len)`	Base-64 encodes a raw byte buffer of len bytes.
`static std::string decode64(std::string* inpt)`	Base-64 decodes `*inpt` and returns the decoded string.
`static std::string decode64(std::string const& s)`	Base-64 decodes the const-reference string s.

Template Utilities

Signature	Description
`template<G> static std::vector<std::vector<G>> discretize(std::vector<G>* v, int N)`	Splits v into consecutive chunks of at most N elements.
`template<g> static g max(std::vector<g>* inpt)`	Returns the maximum value in inpt.
`template<g> static g min(std::vector<g>* inpt)`	Returns the minimum value in inpt.
`template<g> static g sum(std::vector<g>* inpt)`	Accumulates and returns the sum of all elements in inpt.
`template<g> static std::vector<g> put(std::vector<g>* src, std::vector<int>* trg)`	Returns a new vector by gathering elements of src at the indices trg.
`template<g> static void put(std::vector<g> out, std::vector<g> src, std::vector<int>* trg)`	In-place version: clears out and fills it by gathering from src at trg. Also sets `in_use = 1` on each selected element.
`template<g> static void unique_key(std::vector<g>* inx, std::vector<g>* oth)`	Appends elements of inx that are not already in oth to oth (union deduplication by value).