I have several structs containing various combinations of parameters. I wrote a function that takes a void pointer reference to the structs (there are several different types), and writes information from the data parameter into them. Here's the function below:
void SubModelBase::writeDataStruct(byte msgID, void *ptr, QByteArray data)
{
*(byte*)ptr[0] = msgID;
*(byte*)ptr[1] = data.length();
for (int i = 2; i < data.length(); i++)
{
*(byte*)ptr[i] = data.at(i);
}
}
The void *ptr is the reference to the struct that I want to write the data into but I'm having issues deferencing the pointer so I can write into it. I'm sure I'm just missing something silly in my syntax here but I'm not seeing it at the moment...
EDIT:
Ok, I rewrote the function to first cast the void pointer to a byte pointer before assigning values:
void SubModelBase::writeDataStruct(byte msgID, void *ptr, QByteArray data)
{
byte* structData = (byte*)ptr;
structData[0] = msgID;
structData[1] = data.length();
for (int i = 0; i < data.length(); i++)
{
structData[i + 2] = data.at(i);
}
}
Not tested yet but now it at least compiles. I did it this way because there are over 30-40 different structs that need to have data filled in them and I needed a single function that can handle the operation easily without knowing the details of each struct. However, if there is a better way to approach the problem, I'm definitely open to ideas.
EDIT 2: Fixed logic error in loop
What you seem to be looking for is a template so the compiler creates the correct method when you need it.
Related
so this is about an assignment.
I have a header file with predefined ENUM type (TDay) which I CANNOT change in any way. TDay does not support any operator other than streams.
My problem is I need to find a way to do something like this:
Object::Object (uint aSize) {
Object temp; // contains varible inicialized to zero, this variable can be bool, int, RGB structure
// or TDay enum. I also can't use templates here.
for (int i = 0; i < aSize; i++) {
this->array[i] = temp.Value() + 1; // array is of the same type as Value
}
}
This code is just for illustration of what I need to do, don't look for any use of this I just made it up just to better explain my problem.
So anyway this doesn't work because my TDay doesn't support TDay+int operator.
Is there any way around this? Solution doesn't have to be clean, I'll accept any pointer cheats.
EDIT:
So I tried putting in my Object.cpp file this:
TDay operator+(TDay aDay, int aValue) {
return static_cast<TDay>(int(aDay) + aValue);
}
And it doesn't work. Compiler error says:
Argument of type int is imcompatible with parameter of type TDay
However if I put this code to TDay.h it works fine. Is something wrong with my linker?
I would create a function taking current ENUM value named for example increase
void increase(your_enum& e){
if(e == e::MAX_VAL)
e = e::MIN_VAL; //if you have it, otherwise do same as below
else{
int val = int(e); //cast it to int
val++;
e = static_cast<your_enum>(val); //cast it back
}
}
Creating a function taking another parameter to increase/decrease by more than one should be easy from this point.
So i am learning C++ right now and i am pretty stuck right now. I have been researching in the Internet Form some time now, but could Not find a solution to my Problem. Maybe because i did not know what to look after..
And sry for the maybe misleading title, but here is the question:
Lets say I have a struct called Data with an int Array and some other members
struct Data{
...
uint8_t values [];
}
Now i have a Method test
void test (uint8_t *buffer, size_t buffer_size)
{
...
}
In that method i make an instance of Data and i want to assign the value stored in the buffer to that Array of the instance of Data and i have no Idea how to so this.
Not sure, but maybe i need a
Pointer-Pointer?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers
In c++ you can use the STL std::vector<>. You can declare it in :
struct Data{
...
std::vector<uint8_t> values;
}
Then in the Method Test :
void test (uint8_t *buffer, size_t buffer_size)
{
...
struct Data istanceData;
for (int i=0 ; i < buffer_size; ++i){
istanceData.values.push_back(buffer[i]);
}
}
Remember to dinamically allocate Struct Data (and return it's pointer) if you want to use it outside "test" function.
You can also pass an extra parameter to the "test" function and pass the istanced Struct Data with reference in this way:
void test (uint8_t *buffer, size_t buffer_size, struct Data &instanceData)
{
...
for (int i=0 ; i < buffer_size; ++i){
istanceData.values.push_back(buffer[i]);
}
}
With the following snippet:
int n = 11;
int* c = &n;
void** v = &c;
I receive the following error in visual studio:
the value of type int** cannot be used to initialize an entity of type void **.
This works fine:
int n = 11;
int* c = &n;
void* v = c;
But this code snippet is for a larger problem in someone's library.
What am I doing wrong with casting a variable to void**?
Complete Example
Using the caen digitizer library the way they try to collect data from the peripheral device has this prototype:
/******************************************************************************
* X742_DecodeEvent(char *evtPtr, void **Evt)
* Decodes a specified event stored in the acquisition buffer writing data in Evt memory
* Once used the Evt memory MUST be deallocated by the caller!
*
* [IN] EventPtr : pointer to the requested event in the acquisition buffer (MUST BE NULL)
* [OUT] Evt : event structure with the requested event data
* : return 0 = Success;
******************************************************************************/
int32_t X742_DecodeEvent(char *evtPtr, void **Evt);
And this is the implementation:
int32_t X742_DecodeEvent(char *evtPtr, void **Evt) {
CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t *Event;
uint32_t *buffer;
char chanMask;
uint32_t j,g,size;
uint32_t *pbuffer;
uint32_t eventSize;
int evtSize,h;
evtSize = *(long *)evtPtr & 0x0FFFFFFF;
chanMask = *(long *)(evtPtr+4) & 0x0000000F;
evtPtr += EVENT_HEADER_SIZE;
buffer = (uint32_t *) evtPtr;
pbuffer = (uint32_t *) evtPtr;
eventSize = (evtSize * 4) - EVENT_HEADER_SIZE;
if (eventSize == 0) return -1;
Event = (CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t *) malloc(sizeof(CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t));
if (Event == NULL) return -1;
memset( Event, 0, sizeof(CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t));
for (g=0; g<X742_MAX_GROUPS; g++) {
if ((chanMask >> g) & 0x1) {
for (j=0; j<MAX_X742_CHANNEL_SIZE; j++) {
Event->DataGroup[g].DataChannel[j]= malloc(X742_FIXED_SIZE * sizeof (float));
if (Event->DataGroup[g].DataChannel[j] == NULL) {
for (h=j-1;h>-1;h++) free(Event->DataGroup[g].DataChannel[h]);
return -1;
}
}
size=V1742UnpackEventGroup(g,pbuffer,&(Event->DataGroup[g]));
pbuffer+=size;
Event->GrPresent[g] = 1;
}
else {
Event->GrPresent[g] = 0;
for (j=0; j<MAX_X742_CHANNEL_SIZE; j++) {
Event->DataGroup[g].DataChannel[j] = NULL;
}
}
}
*Evt = Event;
return 0;
}
I use this by:
CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t* Evt = NULL; // Creating my event pointer
//Doing some config of the device
X742_DecodeEvent(evtptr, &Evt); //Decode the event data for me to read (Throws error)
Hope this gives some context.
void** means a pointer to a void* object. But there is no void* object in that code to point at! void** does NOT mean "a pointer to any kind of pointer", so please avoid using it as such. If you have a pointer to something which might be an int*, might be a double*, or etc., void* is a better type than void**. Even better would be a template or std::variant or std::any.
But if you have to use a library that is using void** to mean "a pointer to a pointer to a type unknown at compile time" or something like that, you might need to create a void* pointer to work with, or might need to add in casts to get around the fact that the compiler doesn't like this conversion (for good reason). The problem is, there are at least two reasonable ways to do this! (They will end up doing exactly the same thing on many common computer architectures, but this is not guaranteed.)
// LibraryFunc1 takes a void** argument that somehow means an int* pointer.
// But which call is correct?
int* data_in = generate_data();
LibraryFunc1(reinterpret_cast<void**>(&data_in)); // ?
void* p1 = data_in;
LibraryFunc1(&p1); // ?
// LibraryFunc2 returns a void** argument that somehow means an int* pointer.
void** p2 = LibraryFunc2();
int* data_out_1 = static_cast<int*>(*p2); // ?
int* data_out_2 = *reinterpret_cast<int**>(p2); // ?
Based on the function definition shown, the safe usage is unfortunately:
void* tmpEvt;
X742_DecodeEvent(evtptr, &tmpEvt);
auto* Evt = static_cast<CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t*>(tmpEvt);
since the library function assumes at *Evt = Event; that *Evt is actually a void* object it can modify. It may usually work to do the simpler thing instead:
CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t* Evt = NULL;
X742_DecodeEvent(evtptr, reinterpret_cast<void**>(&Evt));
but this is undefined behavior by the C++ Standard, and might do the wrong thing on some architectures.
You could make the correct way easier by wrapping it in a function:
inline CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t* Get_X742_DecodeEvent(char* evtPtr)
{
void* tmpEvt;
X742_DecodeEvent(evtPtr, &tmpEvt);
return static_cast<CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t*>(tmpEvt);
}
What am I doing wrong with casting a variable to void**?
There is no meaningful way to convert int** to void**, so what you're trying to do is wrong.
What you may do is
int n = 11;
void* c = &n;
void** v = &c;
But without a complete example, it is not possible to say whether applies to your problem.
That's simply how the language works.
void * pointers get special treatment: a pointer to an arbitrary type can be converted to a pointer to void (as long as doing so doesn't remove cv-qualifiers from the pointer).
void ** gets none of that special treatment. It's just a regular pointer type, like int **.
int32_t X742_DecodeEvent(char *evtPtr, void **Evt)
Since you want to pass CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t ** to your function, you should change the parameter type accordingly: CAEN_DGTZ_X742_EVENT_t **Evt.
In comments you were suggested to use void ** v = (void**)&c;.
While you could probably make it work in practice, strictly speaking any access to *v would violate strict aliasing and cause undefined behavior. I wouldn't use that solution.
Guys I have a function like this (this is given and should not be modified).
void readData(int &ID, void*&data, bool &mybool) {
if(mybool)
{
std::string a = "bla";
std::string* ptrToString = &a;
data = ptrToString;
}
else
{
int b = 9;
int* ptrToint = &b;
data = ptrToint;
}
}
So I want to use this function in a loop and save the returned function parameters in a vector (for each iteration).
To do so, I wrote the following struct:
template<typename T>
struct dataStruct {
int id;
T** data; //I first has void** data, but would not be better to
// have the type? instead of converting myData back
// to void* ?
bool mybool;
};
my main.cpp then look like this:
int main()
{
void* myData = nullptr;
std::vector<dataStruct> vec; // this line also doesn't compile. it need the typename
bool bb = false;
for(int id = 1 ; id < 5; id++) {
if (id%2) { bb = true; }
readData(id, myData, bb); //after this line myData point to a string
vec.push_back(id, &myData<?>); //how can I set the template param to be the type myData point to?
}
}
Or is there a better way to do that without template? I used c++11 (I can't use c++14)
The function that you say cannot be modified, i.e. readData() is the one that should alert you!
It causes Undefined Behavior, since the pointers are set to local variables, which means that when the function terminates, then these pointers will be dangling pointers.
Let us leave aside the shenanigans of the readData function for now under the assumption that it was just for the sake of the example (and does not produce UB in your real use case).
You cannot directly store values with different (static) types in a std::vector. Notably, dataStruct<int> and dataStruct<std::string> are completely unrelated types, you cannot store them in the same vector as-is.
Your problem boils down to "I have data that is given to me in a type-unsafe manner and want to eventually get type-safe access to it". The solution to this is to create a data structure that your type-unsafe data is parsed into. For example, it seems that you inteded for your example data to have structure in the sense that there are pairs of int and std::string (note that your id%2 is not doing that because the else is missing and the bool is never set to false again, but I guess you wanted it to alternate).
So let's turn that bunch of void* into structured data:
std::pair<int, std::string> readPair(int pairIndex)
{
void* ptr;
std::pair<int, std::string> ret;
// Copying data here.
readData(2 * pairIndex + 1, ptr, false);
ret.first = *reinterpret_cast<int*>(ptr);
readData(2 * pairIndex + 2, ptr, true);
ret.second = *reinterpret_cast<std::string*>(ptr);
}
void main()
{
std::vector<std::pair<int, std::string>> parsedData;
parsedData.push_back(readPair(0));
parsedData.push_back(readPair(1));
}
Demo
(I removed the references from the readData() signature for brevity - you get the same effect by storing the temporary expressions in variables.)
Generally speaking: Whatever relation between id and the expected data type is should just be turned into the data structure - otherwise you can only reason about the type of your data entries when you know both the current ID and this relation, which is exactly something you should encapsulate in a data structure.
Your readData isn't a useful function. Any attempt at using what it produces gives undefined behavior.
Yes, it's possible to do roughly what you're asking for without a template. To do it meaningfully, you have a couple of choices. The "old school" way would be to store the data in a tagged union:
struct tagged_data {
enum { T_INT, T_STR } tag;
union {
int x;
char *y;
} data;
};
This lets you store either a string or an int, and you set the tag to tell you which one a particular tagged_data item contains. Then (crucially) when you store a string into it, you dynamically allocate the data it points at, so it will remain valid until you explicitly free the data.
Unfortunately, (at least if memory serves) C++11 doesn't support storing non-POD types in a union, so if you went this route, you'd have to use a char * as above, not an actual std::string.
One way to remove (most of) those limitations is to use an inheritance-based model:
class Data {
public:
virtual ~Data() { }
};
class StringData : public Data {
std::string content;
public:
StringData(std::string const &init) : content(init) {}
};
class IntData : public Data {
int content;
public:
IntData(std::string const &init) : content(init) {}
};
This is somewhat incomplete, but I think probably enough to give the general idea--you'd have an array (or vector) of pointers to the base class. To insert data, you'd create a StringData or IntData object (allocating it dynamically) and then store its address into the collection of Data *. When you need to get one back, you use dynamic_cast (among other things) to figure out which one it started as, and get back to that type safely. All somewhat ugly, but it does work.
Even with C++11, you can use a template-based solution. For example, Boost::variant, can do this job quite nicely. This will provide an overloaded constructor and value semantics, so you could do something like:
boost::variant<int, std::string> some_object("input string");
In other words, it's pretty what you'd get if you spent the time and effort necessary to finish the inheritance-based code outlined above--except that it's dramatically cleaner, since it gets rid of the requirement to store a pointer to the base class, use dynamic_cast to retrieve an object of the correct type, and so on. In short, it's the right solution to the problem (until/unless you can upgrade to a newer compiler, and use std::variant instead).
Apart from the problem in given code described in comments/replies.
I am trying to answer your question
vec.push_back(id, &myData<?>); //how can I set the template param to be the type myData point to?
Before that you need to modify vec definition as following
vector<dataStruct<void>> vec;
Now you can simple push element in vector
vec.push_back({id, &mydata, bb});
i have tried to modify your code so that it can work
#include<iostream>
#include<vector>
using namespace std;
template<typename T>
struct dataStruct
{
int id;
T** data;
bool mybool;
};
void readData(int &ID, void*& data, bool& mybool)
{
if (mybool)
{
data = new string("bla");
}
else
{
int b = 0;
data = &b;
}
}
int main ()
{
void* mydata = nullptr;
vector<dataStruct<void>> vec;
bool bb = false;
for (int id = 0; id < 5; id++)
{
if (id%2) bb = true;
readData(id, mydata, bb);
vec.push_back({id, &mydata, bb});
}
}
I'm having issues passing an array struct into a function for processing.
I think I need to pass the function the address of the array, however have got multiple compiler errors and am running out of combinations to try.
The function then needs to return a value to a new struct member.
Here is my best shot!
//-----------------
void Function(struct MyStruct* ptr);
//------------------
int main(){
MyStruct array[MAX];
for (int i=0; i<MAX; i++)
{
File>>array[i].V1;
File>>array[i].V2;
File>>array[i].V3;
File>>array[i].V4;
MyStruct* ptr = &array[i];
array[i].V5 = Function(ptr);
}
}
//-----------------------
void Function(struct MyStruct* ptr)
{
// do something with the struct, how to I access each element in here?
}
Thanks!
You have a void type for Function, which is why you can't return anything. You should make it return whatever V5's type is instead.
Also, to access a element of ptr, use the arrow notation:
ptr->V5