#include "RobotPtr.h"

// this function releases the Robot pointer
void RobotPtr::release()
{
   if( --*counter == 0){
      // we need to destroy the Robot object because there is no more pointers
      // pointing at the object
      delete ptr;
      delete counter;
   }

}

RobotPtr& RobotPtr::operator=(const RobotPtr& p)
{
   if( this != &p ){ // we don't need to assign an object to itself
      release();
      ptr = p.ptr;
      counter = p.counter;
      ++*counter;  // don't forget to increment the counter because now
                   // we have one more object ponting to it
   }
   return *this;
}