std::bind and perfect forwarding - c++

The following code does not compile:
#include <functional>
template<class ...Args>
void invoke(Args&&... args)
{
}
template<class ...Args>
void bind_and_forward(Args&&... args)
{
auto binder = std::bind(&invoke<Args...>, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
binder();
}
int main()
{
int a = 1;
bind_and_forward(a, 2);
}
If I understand correctly, the reason is as follows: std::bind copies its arguments, and when the binder's operator() is called, it passes all the bound arguments as lvalues - even those ones that entered bind as rvalues. But invoke was instantiated for the original arguments, and it can't accept what the binder attempts to pass it.
Is there any solution for this problem?

Your understanding is correct - bind copies its arguments. So you have to provide the correct overload of invoke() that would be called on the lvalues:
template<class ...Args>
void bind_and_forward(Args&&... args)
{
auto binder = std::bind(&invoke<Args&...>, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
^^^^^^^^
binder();
}
This works on most types. There are a few exceptions enumerated in [func.bind.bind] for operator(), where Arg& is insufficient. One such, as you point out, is std::reference_wrapper<T>. We can get around that by replacing the Args&usage above with a type trait. Typically, we'd just add an lvalue reference, but for reference_wrapper<T>, we just want T&:
template <typename Arg>
struct invoke_type
: std::add_lvalue_reference<Arg> { };
template <typename T>
struct invoke_type<std::reference_wrapper<T>> {
using type = T&;
};
template <typename T>
using invoke_type_t = typename invoke_type<T>::type;
Plug that back into the original solution, and we get something that works for reference_wrapper too:
template<class ...Args>
void bind_and_forward(Args&&... args)
{
auto binder = std::bind(&invoke<invoke_type_t<Args>...>,
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
std::forward<Args>(args)...);
binder();
}
Of course, if one of Arg is a placeholder this won't work anyway. And if it's a bind expression, you'll have to write something else too.

Related

C++: static assert that functor's argument is const reference

I'm writing a template function in C++17 which accepts a functor F as argument and I want to restrict the passed in functor to have only one constant reference argument, where T can be any type.
for example:
template <class T> struct my_struct{
std::vector<T> collection;
template <class F> std::vector<T> func(F f){
static_assert(
// CONDITION HERE!,
"f's argument is not const reference"
);
std::vector<T> ret;
std::copy_if(
std::make_move_iterator(this->collection.begin()),
std::make_move_iterator(this->collection.end()),
std::inserter(ret, ret.end()),
f
);
return ret;
}
};
Obviously, in case f is [](auto v){return true;} the resulting vector returned from func will have empty elements (because those are moved before adding to resulting container). So, I need to restrict possible input functors to [](const auto& v){}.
I have tried something like this:
static_assert(
std::is_invocable_v<F, const T&>,
"f's argument is not const reference"
);
But then func([](auto v){}) does not trigger the assertion, because T is copyable in my case.
The func([](auto& v){}) also passes the test, because auto can be const T.
But I need to limit possible lambdas to be func([](const auto& v){}).
You might write traits (with its limitations), something like:
template <typename Sig> struct callable_traits;
template <typename Ret, typename ...Args>
struct callable_traits<Ret(*)(Args...)>
{
using args = std::tuple<Args...>;
};
// add specialization for C-ellipsis too
template <typename Ret, class C, typename ...Args>
struct callable_traits<Ret(C::*)(Args...) const>
{
using args = std::tuple<Args...>;
};
// add specialization for variant with C-ellipsis, cv-qualifier, ref-qualifier
template <class C>
struct callable_traits<C> : callable_traits<&C::operator()>{};
Limitation of the traits: doesn't handle templated operator() (as for generic lambda), overloaded operator().
And then
template <class T> struct my_struct{
template <class F> void func(F f){
static_assert(
std::is_same_v<std::tuple<const T&>, typename callable_traits<F>::args>,
"f's argument is not const reference"
);
// here goes some code which can possibly call f with rvalue
// reference argument, so I want to avoid situation when the
// argument object is moved or modified. I don't have control
// over this code because it an STL algorithm.
}
};
I could be misunderstanding what you're trying to do but, as I read it, you want to accept a callable, then pass some argument to it with a guarantee that the argument cannot be changed (you don't want someone to accept the argument as a non-const l-value reference or an r-value reference. If so, then std::is_invocable should be enough:
#include <type_traits> // for std::is_invocable
#include <functional> // for std::invoke
template <class parameter_t> struct my_struct {
template <typename callable_t>
void function(callable_t const &callable) requires (
std::is_invocable<callable_t, parameter_t const &>::value
) {
// . . .
std::invoke(callable, parameter_t{});
// . . .
}
};
Then:
int main() {
my_struct<int>{}.function([](int const&){}); // Fine
my_struct<int>{}.function([](int){}); // Fine, a copy of the parameter is made when the lambda is invoked.
my_struct<int>{}.function([](int &){}); // error: no matching member function for call to 'function'
my_struct<int>{}.function([](int &&){}); // error: no matching member function for call to 'function'
}
(You can play around with it here)
A possible problem is that this method does allow a copy to be made, but if the main goal is to protect the variable you hold from changes this should be good enough.
P. S. I know I used c++20 requires clause as a way of future-proofing the answer, but it should be trivial to convert it to if constexpr, static_assert or any other way you prefer.
I finally managed to achieve it in the following way:
template <class T> struct my_struct{
std::vector<T> collection;
struct noncopyable_value_type : T{
noncopyable_value_type(const noncopyable_value_type&) = delete;
noncopyable_value_type& operator=(const noncopyable_value_type&) = delete;
};
template <class F> std::vector<T> func(F f){
static_assert(
std::is_invocable_v<F, noncopyable_value_type>,
"f's argument must be const reference"
);
std::vector<T> ret;
std::copy_if(
std::make_move_iterator(this->collection.begin()),
std::make_move_iterator(this->collection.end()),
std::inserter(ret, ret.end()),
f
);
return ret;
}
};
But still, the problem here is that it only works with generic lambdas.

How to use std::function using variadic template

There is a template for constructing std::function:
template< class R, class... Args >
class function<R(Args...)>;
I have not figured out how to invoke it. (VC++, if that matters.)
Question: How can I use std::function with a variadic list without using std::bind?
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
using vfunc = std::function<void()>;
using namespace std; // I know, I know.
template<class F, class... Args>
void
run(F&& f, Args&&... args) {
vfunc fn = bind(forward<F>(f), forward<Args>(args)...); //OK
//vfunc fn = vfunc(forward<F>(f), forward<Args>(args)...); // COMPILER ERROR
fn();
}
void foo(int x) {
cout << x << " skidoo\n";
}
int main() {
run(foo, 23);
return 0;
}
There is a template for constructing std::function.
template< class R, class... Args >
class function<R(Args...)>;
That's not what that declaration means. It's not declaring a constructor or a "template for constructing" anything; it's a specialization for the template class std::function. The specialization is the only definition of std::function; the base template is never defined. I think the point of this has something to do with using a function signature in the template declaration. That is, being able to use the template via function rather than as function.
You want to take a callable object and some number of values and create a new callable object that stores those values, which has an operator() overload that calls the given function with those values. std::function does not do that; it has no constructors for doing so.
This is exactly what std::bind is for. Basically, your code is fine as is: storing the result of bind within function is entirely valid.
In that case, you can just wrap the function in a lambda and construct your std::function from it.
template<class F, class... Args>
void run(F&& f, Args&&... args) {
auto fn = vfunc{
[=]() mutable {
std::invoke(std::forward<F>(f), std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
};
fn(); // fn is of type std::function<void()>
}
I made the lambda mutable so std::forward will not silently not move.
Note however that the [=] capture will copy everything. To support move only types, you can use a tuple:
[f = std::forward<F>(f), args = std::tuple{std::forward<Args>(args)...}]() mutable {
std::apply(std::forward<F>(f), std::move(args));
}
In C++20, this becomes easier:
[f = std::forward<F>(f), ...args = std::forward<Args>(args)...]() mutable {
std::invoke(std::forward<F>(f), std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}

Template argument and deduction of std::function parameters

Assume there is a template function foo() which accepts an arbitrary number of arguments. Given the last argument is always an std::function, how do I implement a foo() template shown below in a way that CbArgs would contain this std::function's parameters?
template<typename... InArgs, typename... CbArgs = ???>
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^
void foo(InArgs... args) { ... }
For example, CbArgs should be {int,int} if invoked like this:
std::function<void(int,int)> cb;
foo(5, "hello", cb);
My first idea was:
template<typename... InArgs, typename... CbArgs>
void foo(InArgs... args, std::function<void(CbArgs...)>) { ... }
But this does not compile:
note: template argument deduction/substitution failed:
note: mismatched types ‘std::function<void(CbArgs ...)>’ and ‘int’
foo(5, "hello", cb);
Question One:
Why doesn't this compile? Why does the template argument deduction fail?
Eventually, I came up this solution:
template<typename... InArgs, typename... CbArgs>
void fooImpl(std::function<void(CbArgs...)>, InArgs... args) { ... }
template<typename... InArgs,
typename CbType = typename std::tuple_element_t<sizeof...(InArgs)-1, std::tuple<InArgs...>>>
void foo(InArgs... args)
{
fooImpl(CbType{}, args...);
}
Here CbType is the last type in InArgs which is std::function. Then a temporary of CbType is passed to fooImpl() where CbArgs are deduced. This works, but looks ugly to me.
Question Two:
I wonder if there is a better solution without having two functions and a temporary instance of CbType?
Why doesn't this compile? Why does the template argument deduction fail?
When a parameter pack is not the last parameter, it cannot be deduced. Telling the compiler the contents of InArgs... will make your foo definition work:
template<typename... InArgs, typename... CbArgs>
void foo(InArgs..., std::function<void(CbArgs...)>) { }
int main()
{
std::function<void(int,int)> cb;
foo<int, const char*>(5, "hello", cb);
}
Alternatively, as you discovered in your workaround, simply put InArgs... at the end and update your foo invocation:
template<typename... InArgs, typename... CbArgs>
void foo(std::function<void(CbArgs...)>, InArgs...) { }
int main()
{
std::function<void(int,int)> cb;
foo(cb, 5, "hello");
}
I wonder if there is a better solution without having two functions and a temporary instance of CbType?
Here's a possible way of avoiding the unnecessary temporary instance but using your same mechanism for the deduction of CbArgs...: simply wrap CbType in an empty wrapper, and pass that to fooImpl instead.
template <typename T>
struct type_wrapper
{
using type = T;
};
template<typename... InArgs, typename... CbArgs>
void fooImpl(type_wrapper<std::function<void(CbArgs...)>>, InArgs&&...) { }
template<typename... InArgs,
typename CbType =
std::tuple_element_t<sizeof...(InArgs)-1,
std::tuple<std::remove_reference_t<InArgs>...>>>
void foo(InArgs&&... args)
{
fooImpl(type_wrapper<CbType>{}, std::forward<InArgs>(args)...);
}
Additional improvements:
The typename after typename CbType = was unnecessary - it was removed.
args... should be perfectly-forwarded to fooImpl to retain its value category. Both foo and fooImpl should take args... as a forwarding-reference.
wandbox example
Note that there is a proposal that would make dealing with non-terminal parameter packs way easier: P0478R0 - "Template argument deduction for non-terminal
function parameter packs". That would make your original implementation work as intended.

Perfect forwarding of functions to build a function list class

Consider the following code that build a class storing functions.
// Function list class
template <class... F>
struct function_list
{
template <class... G>
constexpr function_list(G&&... g) noexcept
: _f{std::forward<G>(g)...}
{
}
std::tuple</* F... OR F&&... */> _f;
};
// Function list maker
template <class... F, class R = /* Can we compute the return type here? */>
constexpr R make_function_list(F&&... f)
{
return function_list<
/* decltype(std::forward<F>(f))...
* OR F...
* OR F&&...
*/>(std::forward<F>(f)...);
}
I would like these functions to be perfectly forwarded (regardless of whether they are function pointers, functors, lambdas...). But I don't exactly understand all the type deduction happening behind std::forward and universal references. In the code above, I have three questions:
Should _f be of type std::tuple<F...> or std::tuple<F&&...> (and why?)
Is it possible to deduce the return type R in the template parameter list (because doing it manually instead of auto/decltype(auto) would be helpful to understand what is going on)
In the maker, what the function_list template argument should be: decltype(std::forward<F>(f)...), F, or F&&... (and why?)
Note: the constructor of function_list is not meant to be called directly, instead make_function_list is doing the job.
EDIT:
Is this case safe, when the operator() of function_list (not shown here) is not guaranted to be called on the same statement?
template <class... F>
constexpr function_list<F...> make_function_list(F&&... f)
{
return function_list<F&&...>(std::forward<F>(f)...);
}
But I don't exactly understand all the type deduction happening behind std::forward and universal references.
It's quite simple to understand via an example.
template <typename T>
void f(T&&)
{
std::tuple<T>{}; // (0)
std::tuple<T&&>{}; // (1)
}
In the case of (0):
T is deduced as T for rvalues
T is deduced as T& for lvalues.
In the case of (1):
T is deduced as T&& for rvalues
T is deduced as T& for lvalues.
As you can see, the only difference between two is how rvalues are deduced.
Regarding std::forward, this is what it does:
template <typename T>
void g(T&&);
template <typename T>
void f(T&& x)
{
g(x) // (0)
g(std::forward<T>(x)); // (1)
}
In the case of (0):
x is always an lvalue.
In the case of (1):
x is casted to T&& if T is deduced as T.
x stays an lvalue otherwise.
std::forward basically retains the type category of x by looking at how T was deduced.
Should _f be of type std::tuple<F...> or std::tuple<F&&...>
I think that in your case it should be std::tuple<F...>, as you want to store either lvalue references or values.
std::tuple<F&&...> would store either lvalue references or rvalue references - that would lead to dangling references in the case of temporaries.
Is it possible to deduce the return type R in the template parameter list
Yes, it is just function_list<F...>.
template <class... F, class R = function_list<F...>>
constexpr R make_function_list(F&&... f)
{
return function_list<F...>(std::forward<F>(f)...);
}
You don't even need the R template parameter.
template <class... F>
constexpr function_list<F...> make_function_list(F&&... f)
{
return function_list<F...>(std::forward<F>(f)...);
}
In the maker, what the function_list template argument should be: decltype(std::forward<F>(f)...), F, or F&&...
function_list should take F... as a template parameter for the reasons listed at the beginning of this answer (i.e. avoiding dangling references to temporaries).
It should still take std::forward<F>(f)... as its arguments to allow rvalues to be forwarded as such (i.e. moving rvalues into function_list's tuple).
If they are F&&, then if you pass a temporary to make_function_list, the returned class containing a tuple will store an rvalue reference to the temporary passed to make_function_list.
On the next line, it is now a dangling reference.
This seems bad in most use cases. This is not actually bad in all use cases; forward_as_tuple does this. But such use cases are not general use cases. The pattern is extremely brittle and dangerous.
In general, if you are returning a T&&, you want to return it as a T. This can cause a copy of the object; but the alternative is danging-reference-hell.
This gives us:
template<class... Fs>
struct function_list {
template<class... Gs>
explicit constexpr function_list(Gs&&... gs) noexcept
: fs(std::forward<Gs>(gs)...)
{}
std::tuple<Fs...> fs;
};
template<class... Fs, class R = function_list<Fs...>>
constexpr R make_function_list(Fs&&... fs) {
return R(std::forward<Fs>(fs)...);
}
Also make function_list's ctor explicit, because in the 1 argument case it devolves to a rather greedy implicit conversion constructor. This can be fixed but takes more effort than it is worth.
operator() requires an instance. A type name is not an instance.
It depends on what function_list is for. There basically are two cases:
function_list is a temporary helper that should never outlive the statement it appears in. Here we can store references to functions and perfect-forward each of them to the point of invocation:
template <class... F>
struct function_list
{
std::tuple<F&&...> f_;
// no need to make this template
constexpr function_list(F&&... f) noexcept
: f_{std::forward<F>(f)...}
{}
template <std::size_t i, typename... A>
decltype(auto) call_at(A&&... a)
{
return std::invoke(std::get<i>(f_), std::forward<A>(a)...);
}
};
function_list is a wrapper/container object akin to std::bind, in this case you'd want to store decayed copies of the functions to avoid dangling references and perfect-forwarding in this context would mean forwarding functions to the constructors of their decayed versions in f_ and then at the point of call imbuing the decayed functions with value category of the function_list itself:
template <class... F>
struct function_list
{
std::tuple<std::decay_t<F>...> f_;
template <typename... G>
constexpr function_list(G&&... g)
: f_{std::forward<G>(g)...}
{}
template <std::size_t i, typename... A>
decltype(auto) call_at(A&&... a) &
{
return std::invoke(std::get<i>(f_), std::forward<A>(a)...);
}
template <std::size_t i, typename... A>
decltype(auto) call_at(A&&... a) const&
{
return std::invoke(std::get<i>(f_), std::forward<A>(a)...);
}
template <std::size_t i, typename... A>
decltype(auto) call_at(A&&... a) &&
{
return std::invoke(std::get<i>(std::move(f_)), std::forward<A>(a)...);
}
template <std::size_t i, typename... A>
decltype(auto) call_at(A&&... a) const&&
{
return std::invoke(std::get<i>(std::move(f_)), std::forward<A>(a)...);
}
};
As with std::bind if you actually want to store a reference, you must do so explicitly with std::reference_wrapper.
Construction is the same in both cases:
template <class... F>
constexpr auto make_function_list(F&&... f)
{
return function_list<F...>(std::forward<F>(f)...);
}

How to make constructor accepting std::function also accept method pointers

Say I have
class Foo
{
public:
Foo(std::function<void(std::string)> callback1,
std::function<void(int)> callback2) :
callback1(callback1), callback2(callback2)
{
}
private:
std::function<void(std::string)> callback1;
std::function<void(int)> callback2
}
I can easily construct it in the case I'm using plain functions
void callback1Handler(std::string)
{
// i'm a potato
}
void callback2Handler(int)
{
// i'm a teapot
}
int main()
{
Foo foo(callback1Handler, callback2Handler);
return 0;
}
But if I'm using a class, then things get complicated.
I'd like to be able to do something like the Addendum of this answer does
class Main
{
public:
Main()
{
Foo foo(&Main::callback1Handler, &Main::callback2Handler);
}
void callback1Handler(std::string)
{
// i'm a potato
}
void callback2Handler(int)
{
// i'm a teapot
}
}
But that obviously wouldn't compile. To make it work one would need to use either std::bind or lambdas, or something else.
I want to try to avoid the ugliness of std::bind(&Main::callbackNHandler, this, std::placeholders::_1, ..., std::placeholders::_N), which is mostly the ugliness of having those placeholders explicitly specified.
Using lambdas as [=](std::string str){callbackNHandler(str);} is also ugly, because you have to specify every single variable the callback accepts.
It would be great if I could just use &Main::callback1Handler, just like in the Main class example, or &Main::callback1Handler, this, which is a bit more flexible, since you can specify the instance pointer of Main.
Note that Foo constructor has to remain the same and callback1&callback2 member variables have to also remain the same. However, you may overload Foo constructor, making the overload convert method pointers (or whatever else you will make it to accept) into std::functions and store them in callback1&callback2.
template<class T, class R, class...Args>
std::function<R(Args...)> method( T* t, R(T::*m)(Args...) ){
return [=](Args&&...args)->R{
return (t->*m)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
};
}
then method( instance, &Main::callback1Handler ) should work, up to typos.
It gets simpler in C++14.
The above does needless type erasure: a helper type instead of a lambda lets you avoid that.
template<class T, class Sig>
struct method_t;
template<class T, class R, class... Args>
struct method_t<T,R(Args...)> {
T* t;
R(T::*m)(Args...);
template<class...Ts>
R operator()(Ts&&...ts)const{
return (t->*m)(std::forward<Ts>(ts)...);
}
};
template<class T, class R, class...Args>
method_t<T, R(Args...)> method( T* t, R(T::*m)(Args...) ){
return {t, m};
}
with the same signature. It can even be stored in a std::function<R(Args...)>. The advantage of the above is that there is no needless overhead if the signature of the std::function does not exactly match, or if you don't use a std::function at all.
The downside is 3x as much code.
In C++14 we can simply do:
template<class T, class R, class...Args>
auto method( T* t, R(T::*m)(Args...) ){
return [=](auto&&...args)->R{
return (t->*m)(decltype(args)(args)...);
};
}
which is as brief as the first one, and as powerful as the second one.
Using lambdas as [=](std::string str){callbackNHandler(str);} is also ugly, because you have to specify every single variable the callback accepts.
C++14 generic lambdas solve that problem:
[this](auto... args){ callback1Handler(args...); }
For C++11 you could write a simple utility that can be used like so:
Foo foo(simple_bind(&Main::callback1Handler, this),
simple_bind(&Main::callback2Handler, this));
That would be defined as a function template like this:
template<typename T, typename F>
SimpleBinder<T, F>
simple_bind(F T::* memfn, T* that)
{ return { that, memfn }; }
Where the type SimpleBinder<T, F> is just:
template<typename T, typename F>
struct SimpleBinder
{
T* m_this;
F T::* m_memfn;
template<typename... Args>
void operator()(Args&&... args)
{ (m_this->*m_memfn)(std::forward<Args>(args)...); }
};
This isn't a fully generic utility (for example, it doesn't do anything with the return type of the member function, always returning void, but that is OK for your requirements, where both the std::function objects return void anyway), but it solves the problem of associating an arbitrary member function with a this pointer, and then calling it with some set of arguments.
Although the SimpleBind object appears to accept any arguments, in fact you'll get a nasty compiler error if you try to call it with arguments that aren't compatible with the member function it binds. Again, that's not a problem, because the std::function objects you store it in will ensure that only the right type of arguments are ever passed to it.