Is there a simple way to check unsafe expression in C++? - c++

Question

I'm trying to find a [better] way to run/check a potentially unsafe expression or perform multiple null checks in a more elegant way.
Here is an example of codes I would like to improve:
if (myObjectPointer &&
myObjectPointer->getSubObject() &&
myObjectPointer->getSubObject()->getSubSubObject() &&
myObjectPointer->getSubObject()->getSubSubObject()->getTarget()) {
// Use safely target
... *(myObjectPointer->getSubObject()->getSubSubObject()->getTarget()) ...
}
I tried to find a more elegant way to achieve this (instead of the above verbose null checks). Here is my first thoughts:
template<typename T>
bool isSafe(T && function) {
try {
function();
// Just running the func above, but we could e.g. think about returning the actual value instead of true/fase - not that important.
return true;
}
catch (...) {
return false;
}
}
...
// And use the above as follow :
if(isSafe([&](){ myObjectPointer->getSubObject()->getSubSubObject()->getTarget(); })) {
// Use safely target
}
...
The problem with the above is that we can't catch signals (Segmentation fault, ...). And I obviously don't want to handle all signals in the program, but only in this very specific check/eval function.
I'm I tackling the problem the wrong way ? Any other recommendations ? or the verbose if is inevitable ?
Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I was thinking about this, and like Jarod42 said, there must be some variadic template stuff. I'm not the best at this, but came up with this:
#include <memory>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
template <typename T, typename MemFn, typename... Params>
void safeExecute(T* ptr, MemFn memFn, Params&&... params) {
if (ptr != nullptr)
safeExecute(std::invoke(memFn, ptr), std::forward<Params>(params)...);
}
template <typename T, typename MemFn>
void safeExecute(T* ptr, MemFn memFn) {
if (ptr != nullptr) std::invoke(memFn, ptr);
}
struct Target {
void Bar() { std::cout << "tada!\n"; };
};
template<typename T>
class Object {
private:
std::unique_ptr<T> ptr;
public:
Object() : ptr(std::make_unique<T>()) {}
T* Get() { return ptr.get(); }
};
using SubSubObject = Object<Target>;
using SubObject = Object<SubSubObject>;
using MyObject = Object<SubObject>;
int main() {
auto myObjectPtr = std::make_unique<MyObject>();
safeExecute(myObjectPtr.get(),
&MyObject::Get,
&SubObject::Get,
&SubSubObject::Get,
&Target::Bar);
}
edit:
I've been playing with the idea of having a more general return type, so I experimented with the option not to call the member function, but to return an std::optional pointer to the object. This lead me to the following code:
#include <memory>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
#include <optional>
template <typename T, typename MemFn, typename... Params>
auto safeGetObject(T* ptr, MemFn memFn, Params&&... params)
-> decltype(safeGetObject(std::invoke(memFn, std::declval<T>()), std::forward<Params>(params)...))
{
if (ptr != nullptr) return safeGetObject(std::invoke(memFn, ptr), std::forward<Params>(params)...);
return {};
}
template <typename T, typename MemFn>
auto safeGetObject(T* ptr, MemFn memFn) -> std::optional<decltype(std::invoke(memFn, std::declval<T>()))> {
if (ptr != nullptr) return std::invoke(memFn, ptr);
return {};
}
struct Target {
int Bar(int a, int b) const noexcept {
return a+b;
};
};
template<typename T>
class Object {
private:
std::unique_ptr<T> ptr;
public:
Object() noexcept : ptr(std::make_unique<T>()) {}
T* Get() const noexcept { return ptr.get(); }
};
using SubSubObject = Object<Target>;
using SubObject = Object<SubSubObject>;
using MyObject = Object<SubObject>;
int main() {
auto myObjectPtr = std::make_unique<MyObject>();
auto optionalTarget = safeGetObject(
myObjectPtr.get(),
&MyObject::Get,
&SubObject::Get,
&SubSubObject::Get);
auto result = optionalTarget ? optionalTarget.value()->Bar(3, 4) : -1;
std::cout << " result " << result << '\n';
}

Answer 2

Putting possible design issues aside, you could use an extended version of std::optional. Since not all intefaces are under your control, you would have to wrap the functions were necessary into a free-function. Let's assume you can change the class MyClass of myObjectPointer, but not the classes of the sub-objects.
class MyClass {
public:
optional<std::reference_wrapper<SubObjectClass>> getSubObject();
};
optional<std::reference_wrapper<SubSubObjectClass>> getSubSubObject(SubObjectClass& s) {
SubSubObjectClass* ptr = s.getSubSubObject();
if (ptr) {
return std::ref(s.getSubSubObject());
} else {
return {};
}
}
optional<std::reference_wrapper<Target>> getTarget(SubSubObjectCLass& s) {
...
}
You can now write something like
optional<MyClass*> myObjectPointer = ...;
myObjectPointer.and_then(MyClass::getSubObject)
.and_then(getSubSubObject)
.and_then(getTarget)
.map( doSomethingWithTarget ):

Answer 3

OK, I might delete my previous answer, because I've been rethinking this, now considering using std::optional and chaining.
Your original
myObjectPointer->getSubObject()->getSubSubObject()->getTarget()
is not really reproducible, since operator->() cannot be static. But we can use another operator, like operator>>(). Thus:
#include <memory>
#include <iostream>
#include <optional>
#include <functional>
struct Target {
int Bar(int a, int b) const noexcept { return a+b; };
};
template<typename T>
class Object {
private:
T* const ptr;
public:
Object(T* ptr) noexcept : ptr(ptr) {}
T* Get() const noexcept { return ptr; }
};
using SubSubObject = Object<Target>;
using SubObject = Object<SubSubObject>;
using MyObject = Object<SubObject>;
template <typename T>
auto makeOptional(T* ptr) -> std::optional< std::reference_wrapper<T>> {
if (ptr) return std::ref(*ptr);
return {};
}
template <typename T, typename MemFn>
auto operator>> (std::optional<std::reference_wrapper<T>> optObj, MemFn memFn)
-> std::optional< std::reference_wrapper<std::remove_pointer_t<decltype(std::invoke(memFn, std::declval<T>()))>>> {
if (optObj) return makeOptional(std::invoke(memFn, *optObj));
return {};
}
int main() {
{
//complete
auto TargetPtr = std::make_unique<Target>();
auto subSubObjectPtr = std::make_unique<SubSubObject>(TargetPtr.get());
auto subObjectPtr = std::make_unique<SubObject>(subSubObjectPtr.get());
auto myObjectPtr = std::make_unique<MyObject>(subObjectPtr.get());
auto optionalMyObject = makeOptional(myObjectPtr.get());
auto optionalTarget = optionalMyObject >> &MyObject::Get >> &SubObject::Get >> &SubSubObject::Get;
auto result = (optionalTarget) ? optionalTarget->get().Bar(3, 4) : -1;
std::cout << "result is " << result << '\n';
}
{
// incomplete
auto subObjectPtr = std::make_unique<SubObject>(nullptr);
auto myObjectPtr = std::make_unique<MyObject>(subObjectPtr.get());
auto optionalMyObject = makeOptional(myObjectPtr.get());
auto optionalTarget = optionalMyObject >> &MyObject::Get >> &SubObject::Get >> &SubSubObject::Get;
auto result = (optionalTarget) ? optionalTarget->get().Bar(3, 4) : -1;
std::cout << "result is " << result << '\n';
}
}
will work...
Let me know if this is what you're looking for.
edit:
I've also tried putting it in a wrapper class
#include <memory>
#include <iostream>
#include <functional>
#include <optional>
struct Target {
constexpr int Bar(int a, int b) const noexcept { return a + b; };
};
template<typename T>
class Object {
private:
T* const ptr;
public:
constexpr Object(T* const ptr) noexcept : ptr(ptr) {}
constexpr T* Get() const noexcept { return ptr; }
};
using SubSubObject = Object<Target>;
using SubObject = Object<SubSubObject>;
using MyObject = Object<SubObject>;
template<typename T>
class ObjectWrapper {
private:
std::optional<std::reference_wrapper<T>> optRefObj{};
public:
constexpr ObjectWrapper(T* ptr) noexcept
: optRefObj(ptr ? std::make_optional(std::ref(*ptr)) : std::nullopt)
{}
template<typename MemFn>
constexpr auto operator>>(MemFn memFn) const noexcept {
return ObjectWrapper<std::remove_pointer_t<decltype(std::invoke(memFn, std::declval<T>()))>>
(optRefObj ? std::invoke(memFn, *optRefObj) : nullptr);
}
constexpr operator bool() const noexcept { return optRefObj.has_value(); }
constexpr T* Get() noexcept { return optRefObj ? &optRefObj->get() : nullptr; }
};
int main() {
{
//complete
auto const TargetPtr = std::make_unique<Target>();
auto const subSubObjectPtr = std::make_unique<SubSubObject>(TargetPtr.get());
auto const subObjectPtr = std::make_unique<SubObject>(subSubObjectPtr.get());
auto const myObjectPtr = std::make_unique<MyObject>(subObjectPtr.get());
auto const myObjWrp = ObjectWrapper(myObjectPtr.get());
auto optionalTarget = myObjWrp >> &MyObject::Get >> &SubObject::Get >> &SubSubObject::Get;
auto const result = optionalTarget ? optionalTarget.Get()->Bar(3, 4) : -1;
std::cout << "result is " << result << '\n';
}
{
// incomplete
auto const subObjectPtr = std::make_unique<SubObject>(nullptr);
auto const myObjectPtr = std::make_unique<MyObject>(subObjectPtr.get());
auto const myObjWrp = ObjectWrapper(myObjectPtr.get());
auto optionalTarget = myObjWrp >> &MyObject::Get >> &SubObject::Get >> &SubSubObject::Get;
auto const result = optionalTarget ? optionalTarget.Get()->Bar(3, 4) : -1;
std::cout << "result is " << result << '\n';
}
}