From 3bf9066215d349cd13d981f49476d41d976e978d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Robert Osfield <robert.osfield@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:34:21 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Added clone method for meta data.

---
 include/vsg/core/Object.h | 11 +++++++++++
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/vsg/core/Object.h b/include/vsg/core/Object.h
index b29a643b36..242ff12380 100644
--- a/include/vsg/core/Object.h
+++ b/include/vsg/core/Object.h
@@ -283,4 +283,15 @@ namespace vsg
         return new_object.template cast<T>();
     }
 
+    /// clone a named meta data object stored within an object's Auxliary object if available, others default construct object
+    template<class T, class C>
+    ref_ptr<T> clone(const std::string& key, C container)
+    {
+        if (container)
+        {
+            if (auto prototype = container->template getRefObject<T>(key)) return vsg::clone(prototype);
+        }
+        return T::create();
+    }
+
 } // namespace vsg