How to erase repeated_field of protobuf::mutable pointer? [duplicate] - c++

Question

std::vector<int *>intList;
int *a = new int;
*a = 3;
int *b = new int;
*b = 2;
int *c = new int;
*c = 1;
intList.push_back(a);
intList.push_back(b);
intList.push_back(c);
std::vector<int *>::iterator it;
for (it = intList.begin(); it != intList.end();)
{
int *a = (int*)*it;
if ((*a) == 2)
{
delete a;
intList.erase(it);
}
else
{
++it;
}
}
This code crashes at the start of the for loop when something is erased from the vector. I do not understand why. I am using Visual Studio 2015 if that helps

Answer 1

erase returns next iterator.
if ((*a) == 2)
{
delete a;
it = intList.erase(it);
}
EDIT:
remove() and remove_if() will copy the elements(pointer here) and one will end up with multiple elements pointing to same integer and if you then try to free them, you'll be left with dangling pointers.
Consider the vector has 4 elements which look something like
0x196c160 0x196bec0 0x196c180 0x196bee0
One might be tempted to use erase-remove idiom
auto temp = remove_if(vec.begin(),vec.end(),[](const auto &i){return *i==2;});
Now it looks like
0x144aec0 0x144b180 0x144b180 0x144aee0
temp would be pointing to 3rd element and a
for(auto it=temp;it!=vec.end();it++)
delete *it;
Now the second element is a dangling pointer.
EDIT 2:
The above problem could be solved if you delete before the element is copied.Look at #Dietmar's answer.

Answer 2

Better to use std::vector<std::unique_ptr<int>> (or even std::vector<int> if you don't need pointer).
then just use erase-remove idiom:
std::vector<int> intList{3, 2, 1};
intList.erase(std::remove(intList.begin(), intList.end(), 2), intList.end());
or
std::vector<std::unique_ptr<int>> intList;
intList.puch_back(std::make_unique<int>(3));
intList.puch_back(std::make_unique<int>(2));
intList.puch_back(std::make_unique<int>(1));
intList.erase(std::remove_if(intList.begin(), intList.end(),
[](const auto& p){ return *p == 2; }),
intList.end());
If you really need raw owning pointer, you may use a variant using partition:
std::vector<int*> intList{ new int {3}, new int {2}, new int{1} };
auto it = std::partition(intList.begin(), intList.end(),
[](const auto& p){ return *p != 2; });
std::foreach (it, intList.end(), [](int* p) { delete p; });
intList.erase(it, intList.end());
Finally, if you really need to do it manually, you have to fix your erase line to:
it = intList.erase(it);
to have:
std::vector<int*> intList{ new int {3}, new int {2}, new int{1} };
for (auto it = intList.begin(); it != intList.end(); /*Empty*/) {
int *p = *it;
if (*p == 2) {
delete p;
it = intList.erase(it);
} else {
++it;
}
}

Answer 3

That code is causing iterator invalidation.
You're deleting a then expecting your iterator (which is just a pointer) to know what just happened.
If you have to iterate through the whole vector then consider a temporary vector of what to keep/throwaway and use that.
Or better yet just use find
http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/algorithm/find/

Answer 4

The simple anser is: you don’t! Instead you use a two stage approach: first get rid of the elements, then resize the container. The use of raw pointers slightly complicates things but it is still doable:
auto end = std::remove_if(intList.begin(), intList.end(),
[](int *ptr){ return *ptr == 2 && (delete ptr, true); });
intList.erase(end, endList.end());
Trying to erase individual elements while iterating over std::vector has non-linear worst case complexity.

Answer 5

If you take a look at documentation the erase function returns next iterator. In your case using it = intList.erase(it) is the solution. After c++11 all erase functions from other containers follow the same idea.