Add API to dump groups that returns a string handle.

doc/policy/api_changes.md

@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ Function removal shall be announced one release cycle before removal, following
 - `tiledb_group_get_member_by_index`
 - `tiledb_group_get_member_by_name`
 
+### 2.27.0..2.28.0
+
+- `tiledb_group_dump_str`
+
 ## Deprecation History Generation
 
 <details>

examples/c_api/groups.c

@@ -148,12 +148,15 @@ void print_group() {
   tiledb_group_alloc(ctx, "my_group", &my_group);
   tiledb_group_open(ctx, my_group, TILEDB_READ);
 
-  char* str;
-  tiledb_group_dump_str(ctx, my_group, &str, 1);
+  tiledb_string_t* str;
+  const char* str_ptr;
+  size_t str_len;
+  tiledb_group_dump_str_v2(ctx, my_group, &str, 1);
 
-  printf("%s\n", str);
-  free(str);
+  tiledb_string_view(str, &str_ptr, &str_len);
+  printf("%s\n", str_ptr);
 
+  tiledb_string_free(&str);
   tiledb_group_close(ctx, my_group);
   tiledb_group_free(&my_group);
 }

test/src/unit-capi-group.cc

@@ -1563,14 +1563,36 @@ TEST_CASE_METHOD(
   rc = tiledb_group_open(ctx_, group1, TILEDB_READ);
   REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);
 
-  char* group_dump;
-  rc = tiledb_group_dump_str(ctx_, group1, &group_dump, 1);
-  REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);
-  REQUIRE(group_dump != nullptr);
-  REQUIRE(
-      std::string(group_dump) ==
-      "group1 GROUP\n|-- group2 GROUP (does not exist)\n");
-  free(group_dump);
+  std::string group_dump;
+  // Test both the new and the deprecated API. Remove the else part when the
+  // deprecated API gets removed.
+  bool use_dump_v2 = GENERATE(true, false);
+  if (use_dump_v2) {
+    tiledb_string_t* group_dump_handle;
+    rc = tiledb_group_dump_str_v2(ctx_, group1, &group_dump_handle, 1);
+    REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);
+    REQUIRE(group_dump_handle != nullptr);
+    const char* group_dump_ptr;
+    size_t group_dump_size;
+    rc = tiledb_string_view(
+        group_dump_handle, &group_dump_ptr, &group_dump_size);
+    REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);
+    REQUIRE(group_dump_ptr != nullptr);
+    group_dump = std::string(group_dump_ptr, group_dump_size);
+    rc = tiledb_string_free(&group_dump_handle);
+    REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);
+  } else {
+    char* group_dump_ptr;
+    rc = tiledb_group_dump_str(ctx_, group1, &group_dump_ptr, 1);
+    REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);
+    REQUIRE(group_dump_ptr != nullptr);
+    group_dump = std::string(group_dump_ptr);
+    // Usually it's not safe to call free() on this pointer, but since we are
+    // building everything at the same time, tiledb's and tiledb_unit's
+    // allocators are the same.
+    free(group_dump_ptr);
+  }
+  REQUIRE(group_dump == "group1 GROUP\n|-- group2 GROUP (does not exist)\n");
 
   rc = tiledb_group_close(ctx_, group1);
   REQUIRE(rc == TILEDB_OK);

tiledb/api/c_api/group/group_api.cc

@@ -434,6 +434,19 @@ capi_return_t tiledb_group_dump_str(
   return TILEDB_OK;
 }
 
+capi_return_t tiledb_group_dump_str_v2(
+    tiledb_group_handle_t* group,
+    tiledb_string_handle_t** dump_ascii,
+    const uint8_t recursive) {
+  ensure_group_is_valid(group);
+  ensure_output_pointer_is_valid(dump_ascii);
+
+  *dump_ascii =
+      tiledb_string_handle_t::make_handle(group->group().dump(2, 0, recursive));
+
+  return TILEDB_OK;
+}
+
 capi_return_t tiledb_serialize_group(
     tiledb_ctx_handle_t* ctx,
     const tiledb_group_handle_t* group,
@@ -787,6 +800,16 @@ CAPI_INTERFACE(
       ctx, group, dump_ascii, recursive);
 }
 
+CAPI_INTERFACE(
+    group_dump_str_v2,
+    tiledb_ctx_t* ctx,
+    tiledb_group_t* group,
+    tiledb_string_handle_t** dump_ascii,
+    const uint8_t recursive) {
+  return api_entry_context<tiledb::api::tiledb_group_dump_str_v2>(
+      ctx, group, dump_ascii, recursive);
+}
+
 CAPI_INTERFACE(
     serialize_group,
     tiledb_ctx_t* ctx,

tiledb/api/c_api/group/group_api_external.h

@@ -621,21 +621,49 @@ TILEDB_EXPORT capi_return_t tiledb_group_get_query_type(
     tiledb_query_type_t* query_type) TILEDB_NOEXCEPT;
 
 /**
- * Dump a string representation of a group
+ * Dump a string representation of a group.
+ *
+ * Deprecated, use tiledb_group_dump_str_v2 instead.
  *
  * @param ctx The TileDB context.
  * @param group The group.
  * @param dump_ascii The output string. The caller takes ownership
  *   of the c-string.
- * @param recursive should we recurse into sub-groups
+ * @param recursive True if the dump should recurse into subgroups.
  * @return  `TILEDB_OK` for success and `TILEDB_ERR` for error.
  */
-TILEDB_EXPORT capi_return_t tiledb_group_dump_str(
+TILEDB_DEPRECATED_EXPORT capi_return_t tiledb_group_dump_str(
     tiledb_ctx_t* ctx,
     tiledb_group_t* group,
     char** dump_ascii,
     const uint8_t recursive) TILEDB_NOEXCEPT;
 
+/**
+ * Dump a string representation of a group.
+ *
+ * The output string handle must be freed by the user after use.
+ *
+ * **Example:**
+ *
+ * @code{.c}
+ * tiledb_string_t* tdb_string;
+ * tiledb_group_dump_str_v2(ctx, group, &tdb_string);
+ * // Use the string
+ * tiledb_string_free(&tdb_string);
+ * @endcode
+ *
+ * @param ctx The TileDB context.
+ * @param group The group.
+ * @param dump_ascii The output string handle.
+ * @param recursive True if the dump should recurse into subgroups.
+ * @return  `TILEDB_OK` for success and `TILEDB_ERR` for error.
+ */
+TILEDB_EXPORT capi_return_t tiledb_group_dump_str_v2(
+    tiledb_ctx_t* ctx,
+    tiledb_group_t* group,
+    tiledb_string_t** dump_ascii,
+    const uint8_t recursive) TILEDB_NOEXCEPT;
+
 /**
  * Consolidates the group metadata into a single group metadata file.
  *

tiledb/sm/cpp_api/group.h

@@ -473,13 +473,11 @@ class Group {
   std::string dump(const bool recursive) const {
     auto& ctx = ctx_.get();
     tiledb_ctx_t* c_ctx = ctx.ptr().get();
-    char* str;
+    tiledb_string_t* str;
     ctx.handle_error(
-        tiledb_group_dump_str(c_ctx, group_.get(), &str, recursive));
+        tiledb_group_dump_str_v2(c_ctx, group_.get(), &str, recursive));
 
-    std::string ret(str);
-    free(str);
-    return ret;
+    return impl::convert_to_string(&str).value();
   }
 
   /**