Compile-time check if iterator's parent class public member exists - templates

I have a class:
class A
{
// ...
public:
std::string s;
// ...
}
And a function:
void some_process(RandomIt first, RandomIt last)
{
static_assert(/* some check if *RandomIt has member with name `s` */,
"Iterator must point to an object with member `s`");
// further process using RandomIt and using *RandomIt.s
}
How to implement this check in terms of C++ up to C++17?

c++11, c++14:
#include <type_traits>
#include <utility>
template <typename T, typename = void>
struct has_s : std::false_type {};
template <typename T>
struct has_s<T, decltype(void(std::declval<T>()->s))> : std::true_type {};
template <typename RandomIt>
void some_process(RandomIt first, RandomIt last)
{
static_assert(has_s<RandomIt>{},
"Iterator must point to an object with member `s`");
}
DEMO
c++20:
#include <type_traits>
#include <utility>
template <typename T>
using has_s_t = decltype(std::declval<T>()->s);
template <typename RandomIt>
void some_process(RandomIt first, RandomIt last)
{
static_assert(std::is_detected_v<has_s_t, RandomIt>,
"Iterator must point to an object with member `s`");
}
DEMO 2

One other potential C++1z option is Concepts. Here's a simple example of a concept that probably isn't useful on its own, but the idea can be used to make what you need for your situation.
template<typename T>
concept bool PointeeHasSMember = requires(T t)
{
t->s; // require t->s to be a valid expression
};
struct with_s
{
int s;
};
struct no_s {};
void some_process(PointeeHasSMember first, PointeeHasSMember last) {}
int main()
{
with_s* with;
no_s* without;
some_process(with, with); // compiles
some_process(without, without); // doesn't compile
}
Under the latest GCC, the second call produces an error with the relevant line concept 'PointeeHasSMember<no_s*>' was not satisfied' was not satisfied.
The advantage of using concepts is the simple implementation, even compared to the detection idiom, and that the concept becomes part of the function template. You have the flexibility of nesting requirements, doing on-the-fly requirements, and overloading on the concept. Your function declaration also clearly states its requirements instead of delaying that to a static assertion.

Related

Recursive function acting on variadic class template parameters

So I have the following (cut down) classes:
template <typename A, typename... B>
struct ComponentTupleAccessor:
public ComponentArray<A>,
public ComponentTupleAccessor<B...>
{
ComponentTupleAccessor(const uint32_t capacity):
ComponentArray<A>(capacity),
ComponentTupleAccessor<B...>(capacity)
{}
};
template <typename A>
struct ComponentTupleAccessor<A>:
public ComponentArray<A>
{
ComponentTupleAccessor<A>(const uint32_t capacity):
ComponentArray<A>(capacity)
{}
};
template <typename A, typename ...B>
class ComponentTuple {
ComponentTupleAccessor<A, B...> m_Components;
uint32_t m_Capacity;
public:
ComponentTuple(const RB32u capacity):
m_Capacity{capacity},
m_Components(capacity)
{}
template <typename S, typename ...T>
void pop_back() {
m_Components.Component<S>::pop_back();
pop_back<T...>();
}
template <typename S>
void pop_back() {
m_Components.Component<S>::pop_back();
}
void pop_back() {
pop_back<A, B...>();
}
};
The ComponentArray class is basically a wrapper around a vector that holds a bunch of components of a particular type.
The ComponentBlockTupleAccessor class more or less emulates a cut down version of std::tuple where the any number of unique types of ComponentArray can be inherited into the class ComponentTuple using the variadic templates.
The pop_back function in ComponentTuple is designed to recursively pop_back an element off each of the ComponentArrays.
Outside of the ComponentTuple class I'd like to be able to simply call something like compTupleInstance.pop_back() and all ComponentArray's should have their last elements removed.
I get a compile error "call of overloaded ‘pop_back()’ is ambiguous" pop_back();
I can't seem to figure out a combination of the A, B (pack), S, and T (pack) template parameters that gives me the functionality I need. What am I missing here?
Edit: Here is a simple usage scenario:
// ComponentTuple contains an int and a float ComponentArray with capacity 8.
ComponentTuple<int, float> dut(8);
// Push a set of new components to the ComponentArrays.
// This function has a similar structure to that of pop_back.
dut.push_back({8}, {3.141f});
// Another one
dut.push_back({4}, {2.718f});
// Remove the last element from all of the ComponentArrays.
dut.pop_back();
ComponentTuple template parameters will always be unique types, and there will always be greater than one.
A copy from the question:
template <typename S, typename ...T> // T can be empty
void pop_back() {
m_Components.Component<S>::pop_back();
pop_back<T...>();
}
template <typename S>
void pop_back() {
m_Components.Component<S>::pop_back();
}
If I invoke pop_back<A>() I have S = A. But, am I calling the first method with T empty, or am I calling the second method?
The core issue: template <typename S, typename ... T> and template <typename S> look equally good for the compiler when there is only one template argument (the pack can be empty). It cannot make a decision on which overload to use.
Solution: You can use fold expression (c++17 or above).
void pop_back() {
(m_Components.ComponentArray<A>::pop_back(), ... , m_Components.ComponentArray<B>::pop_back());
}
...Also the code breaks (even with the fold expression above) if used like this:
ComponentTuple<int, int, double> (ambiguous base class).
Thanks for your help guys, the ambiguity between <typename S> and <typename S, typename... T> seems obvious now that you've pointed it out. It seems it's just not possible to do it the way I was trying to, for that reason.
I ended up using a if constexpr to test if the recursion is at the last Type, so I can terminate the recursion at that point. I like this even better since in the non templated pop_back there is no risk of giving template parameters that weren't used in declaring the class. e.g.
ComponentTuple<int, float> dut(8);
push_back<Banana, char>; // Not int, float so should cause compile error.
Using the constexpr method, I can privatise the pop_back function (see pop_back_ below), and only expose the no-params version so that the method can only be called in the correct way:
template <typename A, typename ...B>
class ComponentTuple {
ComponentTupleAccessor<A, B...> m_Components;
uint32_t m_Capacity;
template <typename S, typename... T>
void pop_back_() {
m_Components.ComponentBlock<S>::pop_back();
if constexpr (sizeof...(T) > 0) {
pop_back_<T...>();
}
}
public:
ComponentTuple(const RB32u capacity):
m_Capacity{capacity},
m_Components(capacity)
{}
void pop_back() {
pop_back_<A, B...>();
}
};
Obviously I need to make sure I'm using at least c++17 to use if constexpr.

Template class with iterator to a STL container

I want to create a template class which has an iterator of a STL container as a member. That is how far I got:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
template<typename Element, template <class> class StdLibContainer>
struct ClassHoldingAnIteratorToAStandardContainer
{
ClassHoldingAnIteratorToAStandardContainer(){}
typename StdLibContainer<Element*>::iterator std_lib_iterator;
};
int main()
{
vector<int> vec{1,2,3};
ClassHoldingAnIteratorToAStandardContainer<int,vector<int>> holding_iterator_to_vec;
//DOES NOT WORK, compiler says: expected a class template, got ‘std::vector<int>’
return 0;
}
Could you explain the syntax template <typename> class StdLibContainer?
I found it somewhere on stackoverflow. BUt I don't understand it.
How can I create an instance of ClassHoldingAnIteratorToAStandardContainer ? All my attempts failed so far. The compiler always gives the error message: `expected a class template, got ‘std::vector’
In the above example i want to assign holding_iterator_to_vec vec.begin().
template <typename> class is the same as template <class> class. Originally, when templates were introduced, they allowed two equivalent forms:
template<class T> struct Foo {};
// or
template<typename T> struct Foo {};
Do not ask me why! However, the same was not true for template template parameters:
template <template <class> typename T> struct Foo {};
was the only allowed syntax. Apparently, people were unhappy about it, so the syntax was relaxed.
As for your second question, std::vector takes at least two template arguments, data type and allocator. This is why a single argument template doesn't cut it before C++17. After C++17, it would work.
To make it universal, use
template<template <class...> class Container> struct Foo{};
Unless you really need to know the type of the container, I would strongly recommend to keep your ClassHoldingAnIteratorToAStandardContainer independent of the concrete container type. If you just need the iterator, this is simpler and sufficient:
template<typename iterator>
struct iterator_wrapper {
iterator iter;
};
Thats the minimum you need to have an iterator as member :).
I dont really know what you want to use the iterator for, so just for the sake of an example lets add methods that actually use the iterator....
#include <iterator>
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
template<typename iterator>
struct iterator_wrapper {
using value_type = typename std::iterator_traits<iterator>::value_type;
iterator iter;
bool operator!=(const iterator& other) { return iter != other;}
iterator_wrapper& operator++(){
++iter;
return *this;
}
const value_type& operator*() { return *iter; }
};
template <typename iterator>
iterator_wrapper<iterator> wrap_iterator(iterator it) {
return {it};
}
int main() {
std::vector<int> vec{1,2,3};
auto it = wrap_iterator(vec.begin());
for (;it != vec.end();++it) std::cout << *it;
}
Also there is a problem in your code.
typename StdLibContainer<Element*>::iterator
is for containers of pointers while in main you have ints. If you want to infer the iterator type from the container type then you can do it for example like this:
template <typename container,
typename iterator = typename container::iterator>
iterator_wrapper<iterator> wrap_begin(container& c) {
return {c.begin()};
}
which makes creating an iterator_wrapper as simple as
auto x = wrap_begin(vec);
Note that this answer applies to C++11, in newer standards there are deduction guides that make such make_x methods more or less superfluous afaik.

How is nested template specialization done C++

I have a templated function defined as:
template<typename TObject> TObject Deserialize(long version, const Value &value)
what I need to do, is to write a specialization which would take vector defined as:
template<typename TNum, int cnt> class Vec
and still has access to cnt and TNum.
I have unsuccesfully tried
template<typename TNum, int cnt> Vec<TNum, cnt> Deserialize<Vec<TNum, cnt>>(long version, Value &value)
resulting in error: illegal use of explicit template arguments
What is the correct way to do it?
Usually, the correct answer to dealing with function templates and needing to partially specialize them, is to simply overload them instead. In this case this trick doesn't work directly because there are no arguments that depend on the template parameter, i.e. the template parameter is explicitly specified and not deduced. However, you can forward along to implementation functions, and make overloading work by using a simple tag struct.
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
#include <type_traits>
#include <vector>
#include <array>
template <class T>
struct tag{};
template<typename TObject>
TObject Deserialize_impl(long version, tag<TObject>) {
std::cerr << "generic\n";
return {};
}
template<typename T, std::size_t N>
std::array<T,N> Deserialize_impl(long version, tag<std::array<T,N>>) {
std::cerr << "special\n";
return {};
}
template<typename TObject>
TObject Deserialize(long version) {
return Deserialize_impl(version, tag<TObject>{});
}
int main() {
Deserialize<int>(0);
Deserialize<std::array<int,3>>(0);
return 0;
}
Live example: http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/9c4fa84d2686997a
I generally find these approaches strongly preferable to partial specialization of a struct with a static method (the other major approach here) as there are many things you can take advantage with functions, and it behaves more intuitively compared to specialization. YMMV.
While the functional tag-dispatch is a nice approach, here's a class specialization version for comparison. Both have their use, and I don't think either is an inherently regrettable decision but maybe one matches your personal style more.
For any class you write that needs a custom deserialize handler, just write a specialization of the Deserializer class:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
using Value = std::string;
// default deserialize function
template <typename TObject>
struct Deserializer {
static TObject deserialize(long version, const Value &value) {
std::cout << "default impl\n";
return TObject();
}
};
// free standing function (if you want it) to forward into the classes
template <typename TObject>
TObject deserialize(long version, const Value &value) {
return Deserializer<TObject>::deserialize(version, value);
}
// Stub example for your Vec class
template<typename TNum, int cnt> class Vec { };
// Stub example for your Vec deserializer specialization
template <typename TNum, int cnt> struct Deserializer<Vec<TNum, cnt>> {
static auto deserialize(long version, const Value &value) {
std::cout << "specialization impl: cnt=" << cnt << "\n";
return Vec<TNum, cnt>();
}
};
int main() {
Value value{"abcdefg"};
long version = 1;
deserialize<int>(version, value);
deserialize<Vec<int, 10>>(version, value);
}
Ideally in this situation, Vec should reflect its own template parameters as members Vec::value_type and Vec::size() which should be constexpr.
If the class fails to provide its own properties in its own interface, the next best thing is to define your own extension interface. In this situation, you can have separate metafunctions (like accessor functions), or a traits class (like a helper view class). I'd prefer the latter:
template< typename >
struct vector_traits;
template< typename TNum, int cnt >
struct vector_traits< Vec< TNum, cnt > > {
typedef TNum value_type;
constexpr static int size = cnt;
};
template<typename TVec> TVec Deserialize(long version, Value &value) {
typedef vector_traits< TVec > traits;
typedef typename traits::value_type TNum;
constexpr static int cnt = traits::size;
…
}
This solution fits into any existing function, and even makes the signatures cleaner. Also, the function is more flexible because you can adapt it by adding traits specializations instead of entire new overloads.

Check if type is hashable

I would like to make a type trait for checking if a particular type is hashable using the default instantiations of the standard library's unordered containers, thus if it has a valid specialization for std::hash. I think this would be a very useful feature (e.g. for using std::set as failsafe for std::unordered_set in generic code). So I, thinking std::hash is not defined for each type, started making the following SFINAE solution:
template<typename T> std::true_type hashable_helper(
const T&, const typename std::hash<T>::argument_type* = nullptr);
template<typename T> std::false_type hashable_helper(...);
//It won't let me derive from decltype directly, why?
template<typename T> struct is_hashable
: std::is_same<decltype(hashable_helper<T>(std::declval<T>())),
std::true_type> {};
(Forgive my modest SFINAE-abilities if this is not the best solution or even wrong.)
But then I learned, that both gcc 4.7 and VC++ 2012 define std::hash for any type T, just static_asserting in the non-specialized version. But instead of compiling conditionally they (and also clang 3.1 using gcc 4.7's libstdc++) fail the assertion resulting in a compile error. This seems reasonable since I think static_asserts are not handled by SFINAE (right?), so an SFINAE solution seems not possibly at all. It's even worse for gcc 4.6 which doesn't even have a static_assert in the general std::hash template but just doesn't define its () operator, resulting in a linker error when trying to use it (which is always worse than a compile error and I cannot imagine any way to transform a linker error into a compiler error).
So is there any standard-conformant and portable way to define such a type trait returning if a type has a valid std::hash specialization, or maybe at least for the libraries static_asserting in the general template (somehow transforming the static_assert error into a SFINAE non-error)?
Since C++17 it is now possible to do this in a more elegant way.
From cppreference about std::hash:
Each specialization of this template is either enabled ("untainted") or disabled ("poisoned"). For every type Key for which neither the library nor the user provides an enabled specialization std::hash, that specialization exists and is disabled. Disabled specializations do not satisfy Hash, do not satisfy FunctionObject, and std::is_default_constructible_v, std::is_copy_constructible_v, std::is_move_constructible_v, std::is_copy_assignable_v, std::is_move_assignable_v are all false. In other words, they exist, but cannot be used.
This meant that the STL had to remove the static_assert in C++17. Here is a working solution with 'Clang-6.0.0 -std=c++17':
#include <functional>
#include <ios>
#include <iostream>
#include <type_traits>
template <typename T, typename = std::void_t<>>
struct is_std_hashable : std::false_type { };
template <typename T>
struct is_std_hashable<T, std::void_t<decltype(std::declval<std::hash<T>>()(std::declval<T>()))>> : std::true_type { };
template <typename T>
constexpr bool is_std_hashable_v = is_std_hashable<T>::value;
struct NotHashable {};
int main()
{
std::cout << std::boolalpha;
std::cout << is_std_hashable_v<int> << std::endl;
std::cout << is_std_hashable_v<NotHashable> << std::endl;
return 0;
}
This might for example come in handy when you use boost::hash_combine or boost::hash_range. If you include a header containing the following code sample you do not need to define boost hashes for specific types anymore.
#include <boost/functional/hash_fwd.hpp>
template <typename T, typename = std::void_t<>>
struct is_boost_hashable : std::false_type { };
template <typename T>
struct is_boost_hashable<T, std::void_t<decltype(boost::hash_value(std::declval<T>()))>> : std::true_type { };
template <typename T>
constexpr bool is_boost_hashable_v = is_boost_hashable<T>::value;
namespace boost
{
template <typename T>
auto hash_value(const T &arg) -> std::enable_if_t<is_std_hashable_v<T> &&
!is_boost_hashable_v<T>, std::size_t>
{
return std::hash<T>{}(arg);
}
}
Notice the is_boost_hashable_v, this is necessary to avoid ambiguity as boost already provides hashes for a lot of hashes.
It seems we have two conflicting requirements:
SFINAE is meant to avoid any instantiation of a template if the instantiation might fail and remove the corresponding function from the overload set.
static_assert() is meant to create an error, e.g., during instantiation of a template.
To my mind, 1. clearly trumps 2., i.e., your SFINAE should work. From the looks of two separate compiler vendors disagree, unfortunately not between themselves but with me. The standard doesn't seem to specify how the default definition of std::hash<T> looks like and seems to impose constraints only for the cases where std::hash<T> is specialized for a type T.
I think your proposed type traits is a reasonable idea and it should be supported. However, it seems the standard doesn't guarantee that it can be implemented. It may be worth bringing this up with the compiler vendors and/or filing a defect report for the standard: The current specification doesn't give clear guidance what should happen, as far as I can tell. ... and if the specification currently mandates that a type traits as above fails it may be a design error which needs to be corrected.
Here is a VERY dirty solution to your problem: It works for GCC 4.7 (and not 4.6, due to missing C++11 feature: mangling overload)
// is_hashable.h
namespace std {
template <class T>
struct hash {
typedef int not_hashable;
};
}
#define hash hash_
#define _Hash_impl _Hash_impl_
#include<functional>
#undef hash
#undef _Hash_impl
namespace std {
struct _Hash_impl: public std::_Hash_impl_{
template <typename... Args>
static auto hash(Args&&... args)
-> decltype(hash_(std::forward<Args>(args)...)) {
return hash_(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
};
template<> struct hash<bool>: public hash_<bool> {};
// do this exhaustively for all the hashed standard types listed in:
// http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/hash
}
template <typename T>
class is_hashable
{
typedef char one;
typedef long two;
template <typename C> static one test( typename std::hash<C>::not_hashable ) ;
template <typename C> static two test(...);
public:
enum { value = sizeof(test<T>(0)) == sizeof(long) };
};
// main.cpp
// #include "is_hashable.h"
#include<iostream>
#include<unordered_set>
class C {};
class D {
public:
bool operator== (const D & other) const {return true;}
};
namespace std {
template <> struct hash<D> {
size_t operator()(const D & d) const { return 0;}
};
}
int main() {
std::unordered_set<bool> boolset;
boolset.insert(true);
std::unordered_set<D> dset;
dset.insert(D());// so the hash table functions
std::cout<<is_hashable<bool>::value<<", ";
std::cout<<is_hashable<C>::value << ", ";
std::cout<<is_hashable<D>::value << "\n";
}
And the output is:
1, 0, 1
We basically "hijack" the hash symbol and inject some helper typedef in it. You'll need to modify it for VC++, in particular, the fix for _Hash_impl::hash() since it's an implementation detail.
If you make sure that the section labelled as is_hashable.h is included as the first include this dirty trick should work...
I hit this too. I tried a few workarounds and went with a whitelist filter for std::hash<>. the whitelist is not pleasant to maintain, but it is safe and it works.
I tried this on VS 2013, 2015, clang and gcc.
#include <iostream>
#include <type_traits>
// based on Walter Brown's void_t proposal
// http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n3911.pdf
namespace detail {
template<class... TN> struct void_t {typedef void type;};
}
template<class... TN>
struct void_t {typedef typename detail::void_t<TN...>::type type;};
// extensible whitelist for std::hash<>
template <class T, typename = void>
struct filtered_hash;
template <class T>
struct filtered_hash<T,
typename std::enable_if<std::is_enum<T>::value>::type>
: std::hash<T> {
};
template <class T>
struct filtered_hash<T,
typename std::enable_if<std::is_integral<T>::value>::type>
: std::hash<T> {
};
template <class T>
struct filtered_hash<T,
typename std::enable_if<std::is_pointer<T>::value>::type>
: std::hash<T> {
};
template<typename, typename = void>
struct is_hashable
: std::false_type {};
template<typename T>
struct is_hashable<T,
typename void_t<
typename filtered_hash<T>::result_type,
typename filtered_hash<T>::argument_type,
typename std::result_of<filtered_hash<T>(T)>::type>::type>
: std::true_type {};
// try it out..
struct NotHashable {};
static_assert(is_hashable<int>::value, "int not hashable?!");
static_assert(!is_hashable<NotHashable>::value, "NotHashable hashable?!");
int main()
{
std::cout << "Hello, world!\n";
}

enable_if iterator as a default template parameter?

I have a constructor like that :
class MyClass
{
template<class TI> MyClass(TI first, TI last);
};
template<class TI> MyClass::MyClass(TI first, TI last)
{
;
}
I would like to enable this constructor only if TI is an iterator (that means TI has an iterator_category I think). How to do that in C++ 2011 using an enable_if as a default template parameter (in the declaration and in the definition) ?
Thank you very much.
It depends on what you want. If there are no other overloads, it can be ok with just nothing at all. The compiler will produce an error if a type is passed that doesn't provide the necessary operation.
If you really want to limit it to iterators, it's preferable to do so with a static_assert, since it produces an error with a nice custom error message, instead of "ambiguous function call, here are all the gazillion overloads I could find: follows endless list of overloads" or "could not find function, find it yourself".
If there is another templated overload that conflicts, then you do indeed need some enable_if thing. I wrote a blog post about using enable_if with C++11 features, and why default template parameters are not very good for that. I settled with something like this instead:
enum class enabler {};
template <typename Condition>
using EnableIf = typename std::enable_if<Condition::value, enabler>::type;
class MyClass
{
template<class TI, EnableIf<is_iterator<TI>>...> MyClass(TI first, TI last);
};
template<class TI, EnableIf<is_iterator<TI>>...> MyClass::MyClass(TI first, TI last)
{ /* blah */ }
All that you need now is a trait for the test. I think testing for the existence of iterator_category is enough, but it should be done with std::iterator_traits, because pointers are iterators and don't have nested typedefs.
That can be done with the usual techniques that use SFINAE. With C++11, I do the following:
template <typename T>
struct sfinae_true : std::true_type {};
struct is_iterator_tester {
template <typename T>
static sfinae_true<typename std::iterator_traits<T>::iterator_category> test(int);
template <typename>
static std::false_type test(...);
};
template <typename T>
struct is_iterator : decltype(is_iterator_tester::test<T>(0)) {};
All that said, this could have been done with the traditional technique of using a defaulted function parameter:
class MyClass
{
template<class TI>
MyClass(TI first, TI last,
typename std::iterator_traits<T>::iterator_category* = nullptr)
};
template<class TI>
MyClass::MyClass(TI first, TI last,
typename std::iterator_traits<T>::iterator_category*)
{ /* blah */ }