added access to underlying bulk handle

include/thallium/bulk.hpp

@@ -318,6 +318,19 @@ public:
      */
     std::size_t operator<<(const remote_bulk& b) const;
 
+    /**
+     * @brief Returns the underlying hg_bulk_t handle.
+     * If copy == false, the returned handle is a reference to the internal
+     * handle managed by this bulk object, it should not be destroyed by the
+     * user and its lifetime will not exceed that of the bulk object.
+     * If copy == true, the returned handle should be destroyed by the user.
+     *
+     * @param copy whether to make a copy or not.
+     *
+     * @return The underlying hg_bulk_t handle.
+     */
+    hg_bulk_t get_bulk(bool copy=false) const;
+
     /**
      * @brief Function that serializes a bulk object into an archive.
      *

src/bulk.cpp

@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@
 
 namespace thallium {
 
+hg_bulk_t bulk::get_bulk(bool copy=false) const {
+    if(copy && m_bulk != HG_BULK_NULL)
+        margo_bulk_ref_incr(m_bulk);
+    return m_bulk;
+}
+
 bulk::bulk_segment bulk::select(std::size_t offset, std::size_t size) const {
     return bulk_segment(*this, offset, size);
 }