How to specialize function template for a container? - c++

I have function template that implements storing POD into stream:
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &os, const T &t)
{
os.write(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(&t), sizeof(t));
}
Is there a way to specialize this template for containers to
store container size and then call general implementation for
container items?

This works for std::vector, std::set, and std::list. Haven't tested for any other container.
It also works for POD types. Tested with int and the following struct.
struct A
{
int a;
double b;
};
// Forward declaration of the wrapper function.
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &os, const T &t);
// Implementation for POD types
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &os, const T &t, std::true_type)
{
os.write(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(&t), sizeof(t));
}
// Implementation for container types
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &os, const T &t, std::false_type)
{
auto size = std::distance(t.begin(), t.end());
os.write(reinterpret_cast<const char *>(&size), sizeof(size));
for ( auto const& item : t)
{
dumps(os, item);
}
}
// Implementation of the wrapper function.
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &os, const T &t)
{
dumps(os, t, std::integral_constant<bool, std::is_pod<T>::value>());
}

You just need to specialise the template for each container type. For example, with a vector.
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &s, const typename std::vector<T> &t)
{
auto size = t.size();
s.write(<reinterpret_cast<const char *>(&size), sizeof(size);
for (auto const &item : t)
dumps(s, item); // using your dumps() for POD types
}
or (before C++11)
template<typename T>
void dumps(std::ostream &s, const typename std::vector<T> &t)
{
typename std::vector<T>::size_type size = t.size();
s.write(<reinterpret_cast<const char *>(&size), sizeof(size);
for (std::vector<T>::const_iterator item = t.begin(), end = t.end();
i != end; ++i)
dumps(s, *item); // using your dumps() for POD types
}
Similarly, specialise for other container types. Then it will also work for containers of containers.
Aside: this does assume you won't instantiate your templates for non-POD types. It is probably worth enforcing that (although I'll leave it as an exercise).

Related

Overload [] subscript operator for std::any

is there any way to overload the operator[] for std::any?
I have a struct looking like this:
struct Container {
public:
template <typename T>
void push_back(const T &t) {
m_container.push_back(t);
}
private:
std::vector<std::any> m_container;
}
Now I'd like to be able to access an element by index (which can be of any type).
I think of a visitor like
struct subscript_visitor {
std::string operator[](const size_t &idx) {
}
int operator[](const size_t &idx) {
}
...
}
But functions with the same return type reasonably cannot be declared.
Any idea how to solve this so that something like
Container c;
c.push_back(0);
std::cout << c[0];
Will work?
You need to store additional info, if you want to access the type later. You could do so by storing a function pointer to a specialization of a template function used for printing. You'll need to add one data member to the vector element per function you want to access though to make this work. std::variant may be preferrable in this scenario depending on the use case.
struct Container {
public:
template <typename T>
void push_back(T&& t) {
m_container.emplace_back(std::forward<T>(t));
}
struct Element
{
template<class U>
Element(U&& value)
: m_value(std::forward<U>(value)),
m_printFunction(&Container::Print<U>)
{
}
std::any m_value;
void (*m_printFunction)(std::ostream&, std::any const&);
};
Element const& operator[](size_t index) const
{
return m_container[index];
}
private:
template<class U>
static void Print(std::ostream& s, std::any const& value)
{
s << any_cast<U>(value);
}
std::vector<Element> m_container;
};
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& s, Container::Element const& value)
{
value.m_printFunction(s, value.m_value);
return s;
}
int main()
{
Container c;
c.push_back(0);
c.push_back(std::string("Hello World"));
std::cout
<< c[0] << '\n'
<< c[1] << '\n';
}

Templated multistack implementation - how?

I need a 'MultiStack' taking different types of objects, putting each type in a separate stack.
This is what it looks like so far. The open problem is: how to handle the containers for a number of different T
class MultiStack
{
public:
template<typename T>
const T& Get()
{
return Container<T>.back();
}
template<typename T>
void Push( const T& t )
{
Container<T>.push_back( t );
}
template<typename T>
void Pop( const T& /*t*/ )
{
Container<T>.pop_back();
}
private:
// this does not make sense, we obv. need one stack for each T
// template<typename T>
// std::vector<T> Container;
};
Now, I could use the old trick, putting the Container in a member function, like
template<typename T>
auto GetContainer()
{
static std::vector<T> C;
return C;
}
but I don't like this anymore in the age of multi-threading. It is 'dangerous', right!?
Is there a better, elegant way? It is conceivable that I know the allowed types beforehand, if that helps realizing it.
but I don't like this anymore in the age of multi-threading. It is 'dangerous', right!?
Issue is not multi-threading. initialization would be fine.
You still have to protect/synchronize access though, as regular multi-threading code.
Issue is that the container is not per instance of MultiTask, as it is static.
It is mostly as if MultiTask were a Singleton.
It is conceivable that I know the allowed types beforehand, if that helps realizing it.
That helps, you can then use std::tuple, something like (C++14):
template <typename ... Ts>
class MultiStack
{
public:
template<typename T>
const T& Get() const
{
return GetContainer<T>().back();
}
template<typename T>
void Push(const T& t)
{
GetContainer<T>().push_back(t);
}
template <typename T>
void Pop()
{
GetContainer<T>().pop_back();
}
private:
template <typename T>
const std::vector<T>& GetContainer() const { return std::get<std::vector<T>>(Containers); }
template <typename T>
std::vector<T>& GetContainer() { return std::get<std::vector<T>>(Containers); }
private:
std::tuple<std::vector<Ts>...> Containers;
};

Autoconverting template< T> to template<const T>

This piece below is supposed to be primarily for a string view with T={char, const char} being the primary intended template instantiation target.
The cmp function is supposed to compare the views analogously to strcmp.
The problem is that while char* happily converts to const char* I don't know how to get SVec<char> to convert to SVec<const char> just as happily.
The last line (cout<<(cmp(rv, rvc));) won't compile. I have to do the convertion explicitly (cmp(SVec<const char>(rv), rvc)). Can it be automatic like with char* to const char*?
The code (much simplified):
template <typename T>
class SVec {
protected:
T* begin_;
size_t size_;
public:
SVec(T* begin, size_t size) : begin_(begin), size_(size) {};
SVec(T* begin, T* end) : begin_(begin), size_(end-begin) {};
SVec(T* begin) : begin_(begin) { while (*(begin++)) {}; size_ = begin - 1 - begin_; }
//^null element indicates the end
///Conversion
operator SVec<const T>() const { return SVec<const T>(begin_, size_); }
};
//General lexicographic compare
template <typename T>
inline int cmp(const SVec<const T>& l, const SVec<const T> & r){
return 1;
}
//Char specialization
template <> inline int cmp<char>(const SVec<const char>& l, const SVec<const char>& r){
return 1;
}
//Explicit instantiation
template int cmp<char>(const SVec<const char>& l, const SVec<const char>& r);
#include <iostream>
int main(){
using namespace std;
char ar[] = "st";
SVec<char> sv = ar;
SVec<const char> svc = "str";
cout<<(cmp(SVec<const char>(sv), svc));
cout<<(cmp(sv, svc));
}
So the first thing you should probably do is make cmp a Koenig operator.
Then we can tag dispatch between the char and non-char versions:
template <typename T>
class SVec {
private:
static T* find_end(T* in) {
// I think while(*in)++in; would be better
// then the end is the null, not one-past-the-null.
while(*in++) {};
return in;
}
protected:
T* begin_ = nullptr;
size_t size_ = 0;
public:
SVec() = default;
SVec(SVec const&) = default;
SVec(T* begin, size_t size) : begin_(begin), size_(size) {};
SVec(T* begin, T* end) : SVec(begin, end-begin) {}
SVec(T* begin) : SVec(begin, find_end(begin)) {}
operator SVec<const T>() const { return SVec<const T>(begin_, size_); }
friend int cmp(SVec<T> l, SVec<T> r) {
return cmp_impl(l, r, std::is_same<std::decay_t<T>,char>{});
}
private:
static int cmp_impl(SVec<const char> l, SVec<const char> r, std::true_type){
return 1;
}
static int cmp_impl(SVec<const T> l, SVec<const T> r, std::false_type){
return 1;
}
};
std::decay_t and enable_if_t are C++14, but are just short versions of the typename spam _t-less versions.
Notice I take things by value instead of const& : a pointer and a size_t do not merit passing by reference.
I also forward all ctors into 2 bottlenecks.
...
The Koenig operator friend int cmp uses ADL to be found. It is not a template function, but rather a function that is generated for each template class instance, which is an important distinction.
Koenig operators avoid the problems of template operators, while allowing them to vary with the type of the template. Such an operator can only be found via ADL (argument dependent lookup).
It then dispatches to the _impl overloads (which are now const-correct) based on if T is a char or not at compile time.

How can I write a custom algorithm that works on either a vector or map iterator

I want to write my own algorithm (just a function really) that takes a range of iterators. If the iterators are from a map, I want to use the data (iterator->second) value. If the iterator is "normal" like a vector or list, I just want to use the dereferenced iterator value.
I think, value-getter idea is right here, but you can implement it without c++11 and without structs at all, only using functions:
template <typename T>
const T& get(const T& t)
{
return t;
}
template <typename T, typename V>
const V& get(const std::pair<T,V>& t)
{
return t.second;
}
int main()
{
std::vector<int> v = {1};
std::cout << get(*v.begin());
std::cout << "\n----\n";
std::map<int, std::string> m;
m.insert(std::make_pair(0, "sss"));
std::cout << get(*m.cbegin());
}
You can make a value-getter class that extracts the value you're interested in. Note that this approach doesn't work if you store pairs in any container (it transforms all pairs, whether in a map or not). I'd think it would be a much clearer approach to only accept "regular" iterators and let it be callers job to transform map iterators appropriately (as suggested in the comments to your question.)
template<typename T>
struct get {
static auto val(const T& t) -> const T&
{
return t;
}
};
template<typename U, typename V>
struct get<std::pair<U, V>> {
static auto val(const std::pair<U, V>& p) -> const V&
{
return p.second;
}
};
// use like
get<decltype(*iter)>::val(*iter);
Convenience function could look like:
template<class T>
auto getval(const T& t) -> decltype(get<T>::val(t))
{
return get<T>::val(t);
}
You can overload the function based on the input:
void foo(const std::vector<int>::iterator& it1, const std::vector<int>::iterator& it2)
{
//use *it
}
void foo(const std::map<int,int>::iterator& it1, const std::map<int,int>::iterator& it2)
{
//use it->second
}
Edit:
I think this is the closest you can get to what you want to achieve:
template <typename T, typename X>
void foo(T const& x, X const& y)
{
}
template <typename T, typename S>
void foo(const typename std::map<T,S>::iterator& x, const typename std::map<T,S>::iterator& y)
{
}
int main()
{
std::map<int,int> x;
std::vector<int> y;
foo(x.begin(), x.end()); //will call second version
foo(y.begin(), y.end()); //will call first version
}
A trait should do the trick. First the type-deducing helper:
template <typename Iter>
typename iter_value<Iter>::value_type & iter_deref(Iter it)
{
return iter_value<Iter>::deref(it);
}
All we need is something like this:
template <typename Iter>
class iter_value
{
template <typename T> struct aux
{
typedef T type;
static type & deref(Iter it) { return *it; }
};
template <typename U, typename V> struct aux<std::pair<U const, V>>
{
typedef V type;
static type & deref(Iter it) { return it->second; }
};
typedef typename std::iterator_traits<Iter>::value_type type;
public:
typedef typename aux<type>::type value_type;
static value_type & deref(Iter it)
{
return aux<type>::deref(it);
}
};
You can create a function that extracts the value out of the iterator. Then you can overload that based on the type of the iterator. You can use that function in your algorithm. Assuming a vector of ints and a map of string->int, it could look like this:
int getValue(const std::vector<int>::iterator& it)
{
return *it;
}
int getValue(const std::map<std::string, int>::iterator& it)
{
return it->second;
}
Then the algorithm can use the function getValue() to get a value from the iterator.

How can I specialize a template member function for std::vector<T>

I need to define a get method in two different ways. One for simple types T. And once for std::vector.
template<typename T>
const T& Parameters::get(const std::string& key)
{
Map::iterator i = params_.find(key);
...
return boost::lexical_cast<T>(boost::get<std::string>(i->second));
...
}
How can I specialize this method for std::vector. As there the code should look something like this:
template<typename T>
const T& Parameters::get(const std::string& key)
{
Map::iterator i = params_.find(key);
std::vector<std::string> temp = boost::get<std::vector<std::string> >(i->second)
std::vector<T> ret(temp.size());
for(int i=0; i<temp.size(); i++){
ret[i]=boost::lexical_cast<T>(temp[i]);
}
return ret;
}
But I do not know how to specialize the function for this. Thanks a lot.
Don't specialize function template.
Why Not Specialize Function Templates?
Template Specialization and Overloading
Instead, use overload.
Write a function template get_impl to handle the general case, and overload (not specialize) this to handle the specific case, then call get_impl from get as:
template<typename T>
const T& Parameters::get(const std::string& key)
{
//read the explanation at the bottom for the second argument!
return get_impl(key, static_cast<T*>(0) );
}
And here goes the actual implementations.
//general case
template<typename T>
const T& Parameters::get_impl(const std::string& key, T*)
{
Map::iterator i = params_.find(key);
return boost::lexical_cast<T>(boost::get<std::string>(i->second));
}
//this is overload - not specialization
template<typename T>
const std::vector<T>& Parameters::get_impl(const std::string& key, std::vector<T> *)
{
//vector specific code
}
The static_cast<T*>(0) in get is just a tricky way to disambiguate the call. The type of static_cast<T*>(0) is T*, and passing it as second argument to get_impl will help compiler to choose the correct version of get_impl. If T is not std::vector, the first version will be chosen, otherwise the second version will be chosen.
Erm. call it something else? e.g.
template<typename T>
const T& Parameters::getVector(const std::string& key)
{
Map::iterator i = params_.find(key);
std::vector<std::string> temp = boost::get<std::vector<std::string> >(i->second)
// T is already a vector
T ret; ret.reserve(temp.size());
for(int i=0; i<temp.size(); i++){
ret.push_back(boost::lexical_cast<typename T::value_type>(temp[i]));
}
return ret;
}
You'll have to call this as:
foo.getVector<std::vector<int> > ("some_key");
Nothing in your question precludes this.
Now, if you really do need to use get(), then you have to rely on partially specializing a structure, as function partial specialization is not supported by the language.
This is a lot more complicated, for example:
template <typename T>
struct getter
{
const T& operator()(std::string const& key)
{
// default operations
}
};
// Should double check this syntax
template <typename T>
struct getter<std::vector<T, std::allocator<T> > >
{
typedef std::vector<T, std::allocator<T> > VecT;
const VecT& operator()(std::string const& key)
{
// operations for vector
}
};
Then in you method becomes:
template<typename T>
const T& Parameters::get(const std::string& key)
{
return getter<T>()(key); // pass the structures getter needs?
}