Design issue with template map with takes different structures - c++

Question

Problem Description and Question
I have a template class Class1. It contains in map in which I want to insert structures A or B.
The problem is that the structures A and B have different types of member variables. Structure A has an std::string member variable whereas structure B has an int member variable.
The comparator is based on structure A. So obviously when I want to insert a structure B it will not compile.
Class1<B,B> c2;
c2.AddElement({1},{1});
How can I fix that design Issue? For instance is it possible to keep Class1 as template class and do something to TestCompare?
I also have a constraint. I cannot modify the structures A and B. they are written in C code. I have no right to change them because they are external codes used by other users. I just simplified the code as much as possible.
Source Code
The code was compiled on cpp.sh
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <map>
typedef struct {
std::string a;
} A;
typedef struct {
int b;
} B;
template<typename T1, typename T2> class Class1 {
public :
struct TestCompare {
bool operator()(const T1 & lhs, const T1 & rhs) const {
return lhs.a < rhs.a;
}
};
Class1() {}
~Class1() {}
void AddElement(const T1 & key, const T2 & value) {
m.emplace(key, value);
}
private :
std::map<T1,T2,TestCompare> m;
};
int main()
{
Class1<A,A> c1;
c1.AddElement({"1"},{"1"});
// Problem here. Obviously it will not compile because the Operator is using
// the member variable of struct A.
//Class1<B,B> c2;
//c2.AddElement({1},{1});
//return 0;
}
New Source code
// Example program
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <map>
typedef struct {
std::string a;
} A;
typedef struct {
int b;
} B;
bool operator<(const A & lhs, const A & rhs) {
return lhs.a < rhs.a;
}
bool operator<(const B & lhs, const B & rhs) {
return lhs.b < rhs.b;
}
template<typename T1, typename T2> class Class1 {
public :
Class1() {}
~Class1() {}
void AddElement(const T1 & key, const T2 value) {
m.emplace(key, value);
}
std::map<T1,T2> getMap() {
return m;
}
private :
std::map<T1,T2> m;
};
int main()
{
Class1<A,A> c1;
c1.AddElement({"1"},{"1"});
// Problem here. Obviously it will not compile because the Operator is using
// the member variable of struct A.
Class1<B,B> c2;
c2.AddElement({1},{1});
c2.AddElement({2},{2});
for(const auto &e: c2.getMap()) {
std::cout << e.first.b << " " << e.first.b << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}

Answer 1

I guess you could remove TestCompare from Class1 and template that.
template<typename T> struct TestCompare {
bool operator()(const T & lhs, const T & rhs) const {
// default implementation
return lhs < rhs;
}
};
template<typename T1, typename T2> class Class1 {
...
private :
std::map<T1,T2,TestCompare<T1>> m;
}
You could then specialise TestCompare for A and B
template<> struct TestCompare<A> {
bool operator()(const A & lhs, const A & rhs) const {
return lhs.a < rhs.a;
}
};
template<> struct TestCompare<B> {
bool operator()(const B & lhs, const B & rhs) const {
return lhs.b < rhs.b;
}
};
EDIT:
Actually you could just use std::less instead of TestCompare. It amounts to pretty much the same thing, and std::map uses std::less by default.

Answer 2

TestCompare requires that every type you use must have a member a that can be compared using <. That's a lot of requirements, which implies a terrible design. Add a 3rd template parameter that will be used to pass a function or a functor that compares the objects
struct CompareA {
bool operator()(A const & lhs, A const & rhs) const {
return lhs.a < rhs.a;
}
};
struct CompareB {
bool operator()(B const& lhs, B const& rhs) const {
/*...*/
}
};
template<typename KeyT, typename ValueT, typename Compare> class Dict {
public :
Class1() {}
~Class1() {}
void AddElement(KeyT const & key, ValueT const & value) {
m.emplace(key, value);
}
private :
std::map<KeyT, ValueT, Compare> m;
};
Dict<A, B, CompareA> dictA;
Dict<B, B CompareB> dictB;
You could specialize the struct TestCompare, like john has suggested in his answer, and provide it as the default template argument
template<typename KeyT, typename ValueT, typename Compare = TestCompare<KeyT>> class Dict { /*...*/ };
Such solution will allow you to provide only 2 arguments, like so
Dict<B, B> dict;
while still maintaining the ability to provide another comparer if necessary.