Simulate std::vector with mixed const and non-const elements - c++

I'd like to simulate a std::vector that has mixed const and non-const elements. More specifically, I want to have functions that operate on a vector and are allowed to see the entire vector but may only write to specific elements. The elements that can and cannot be written will be determined at runtime and may change during runtime.
One solution is to create a container that holds an array of elements and an equal sized array of booleans. All non-const access would be through a function that checks against the boolean array if the write is valid and throws an exception otherwise. This has the downside of adding a conditional to every write.
A second solution might be to have the same container but this time write access is done by passing an array editing function to a member function of the container. The container member function would let the array editing function go at the array and then check that it didn't write to the non-writable elements. This has the downside that the array editing function could be sneaky and pass around non-const pointers to the array elements, let the container function check that all is well, and then write to non-writable elements.
The last issue seems difficult to solve. It seems like offering direct writable access ever means we have to assume direct writable access always.
Are there better solutions?
EDIT: Ben's comment has a good point I should have addressed in the question: why not a vector of const and a vector of non-const?
The issue is that the scenario I have in mind is that we have elements that are conceptually part of one single array. Their placement in that array is meaningful. To use vectors of const and non-const requires mapping the single array that exist in concept to the two vectors that would implement it. Also, if the list of writable elements changes then the elements or pointers in the two vectors would need to be moved about.

I think you can accomplish what you wish with the following class, which is very simplified to illustrate the main concept.
template <typename T>
struct Container
{
void push_back(bool isconst, T const& item)
{
data.push_back(std::make_pair(isconst, item));
}
T& at(size_t index)
{
// Check whether the object at the index is const.
if ( data[index].first )
{
throw std::runtime_error("Trying to access a const-member");
}
return data[index].second;
}
T const& at(size_t index) const
{
return data[index].second;
}
T const& at(size_t index, int dummy) // Without dummy, can't differentiate
// between the two functions.
{
return data[index].second;
}
T const& at(size_t index, int dummy) const // Without dummy, can't differentiate
// between the two functions.
{
return data[index].second;
}
std::vector<std::pair<bool, T> > data;
};
Here's a test program and its output.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <utility>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <vector>
//--------------------------------
// Put the class definition here.
//--------------------------------
int main()
{
Container<int> c;
c.push_back(true, 10);
c.push_back(false, 20);
try
{
int value = c.at(0); // Show throw exception.
}
catch (...)
{
std::cout << "Expected to see this.\n";
}
int value = c.at(0, 1); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[0]: " << value << "\n";
value = c.at(1); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[1]: " << value << "\n";
value = c.at(1, 1); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[1]: " << value << "\n";
// Accessing the data through a const object.
// All functions should work since they are returning
// const&.
Container<int> const& cref = c;
value = cref.at(0); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[0]: " << value << "\n";
value = cref.at(0, 1); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[0]: " << value << "\n";
value = cref.at(1); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[1]: " << value << "\n";
value = cref.at(1, 1); // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[1]: " << value << "\n";
// Changing values ... should only work for '1'
try
{
c.at(0) = 100; // Show throw exception.
}
catch (...)
{
std::cout << "Expected to see this.\n";
}
c.at(1) = 200; // Should work.
std::cout << "Got c[1]: " << c.at(1) << "\n";
}
Output from running the program:
Expected to see this.
Got c[0]: 10
Got c[1]: 20
Got c[1]: 20
Got c[0]: 10
Got c[0]: 10
Got c[1]: 20
Got c[1]: 20
Expected to see this.
Got c[1]: 200

Related

Add an element to a vector inside a struct, from within another struct

This is most probably trivial and I'm confusing struct allocation and pointers somehow, I apologize for this. I have read answers to similar questions but it didn't help. The code is, as always, way more complicted, this is a reduction from 3000+ lines of code to the gist.
The output I expected was
prep 1
main 1
Instead, I get
prep 1
main 0
This is the code:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
struct Entry
{
vector<int> list;
};
struct Registry
{
vector<Entry> entries;
void prep()
{
Entry* entry = new Entry();
entries.push_back(*entry);
entry->list.push_back(0);
cout << "prep " << entry->list.size() << "\n";
}
};
int main()
{
Registry registry;
registry.prep();
cout << "main " << registry.entries[0].list.size() << "\n";
return 1;
}
You don't store pointers in your vector<Entry> so you should not use new. Instead add a default constructed Entry using emplace_back.
A C++17 approach:
void prep()
{
Entry& entry = entries.emplace_back(); // returns a ref the added element
entry.list.push_back(0);
cout << "prep " << entry.list.size() << "\n";
}
Prior to C++17:
void prep()
{
entries.emplace_back(); // does NOT return a ref the added element
Entry& entry = entries.back(); // obtain a ref to the added element
entry.list.push_back(0);
cout << "prep " << entry.list.size() << "\n";
}
If you do want to create and maniplate your Entry before adding it to entries, you can do that too and then std::move it into entries.
void prep()
{
Entry entry;
entry.list.push_back(0);
cout << "prep " << entry.list.size() << "\n";
entries.push_back(std::move(entry)); // moving is a lot cheaper than copying
}
The problem is the order of the prep() function. If you change to push an element into the Element object, and then push it tho the entries vector, the behavior will be the expected.
void prep()
{
Entry* entry = new Entry();
entry->list.push_back(0);
entries.push_back(*entry);
cout << "prep " << entry->list.size() << "\n";
}
This is happening, because you uses a copy in the entries list.
It is also possible to store the pointer of the object therefore you can edit the actual instance after you pushed to the entries vector.
Edit:
As Ted mentioned, there is a memory leak, because the entry created with the new operator never deleted. Another approach could be to use smart pointers (however, in this small example it seems overkill, just use reference)
void prep()
{
std::unique_ptr<Entry> entry = std::make_unique<Entry>();
entry->list.push_back(0);
entries.push_back(*entry.get()); // get the pointer behind unique_ptr, then dereference it
cout << "prep " << entry->list.size() << "\n";
} // unique_ptr freed when gets out of scope
You need to change the implementation of prep():
void prep()
{
Entry entry;
entry.list.push_back(0);
entries.emplace_back(entry);
cout << "prep " << entries.back().list.size() << "\n";
}
There is no need to allocate a Entry on the heap just to make a copy of it.

Array like data structure with negetive index in C++

I need a structure to keep track of presence of some items. I just wanted to take an array a0....aN and mark the elements as a[0]=0,a[1]=0,a[2]=1........(a[i]=1 if the element is present,a[i]=0 if element is not present).
But the items range from -1000 to +1000. It can be done by putting the negative range from 1001 to 2000. I needed to know if there is any other data structure in c++ that can work like array and with negative indexes. Thank you for your time.
map is used for this only, to have key/index of any basic/user-defined data type. See - http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/map/map/
Example for your case:
#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <string>
int main ()
{
std::map<int, int> mymap;
mymap[-1]=1;
mymap[-2]=0;
mymap[-3]=1;
std::cout << mymap[-1] << '\n';
std::cout << mymap[-2] << '\n';
std::cout << mymap[-3] << '\n';
return 0;
}
Example for char:
#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <string>
int main ()
{
std::map<char,std::string> mymap;
mymap['a']="an element";
mymap['b']="another element";
mymap['c']=mymap['b'];
std::cout << "mymap['a'] is " << mymap['a'] << '\n';
std::cout << "mymap['b'] is " << mymap['b'] << '\n';
std::cout << "mymap['c'] is " << mymap['c'] << '\n';
std::cout << "mymap['d'] is " << mymap['d'] << '\n';
std::cout << "mymap now contains " << mymap.size() << " elements.\n";
return 0;
}
You an create your own data structure which supports -ve indexes. Just add an offset to the indexs while storing them in an array.
class MyArray {
int *arr;
public:
MyArray(int offset) {
arr = new int[2*offset]; // size must to double the offset
}
~MyArray(){
delete arr;
}
void add(int index, int val) {
arr[index + offset] = val;
}
void get(int index) {
return arr[index + offset];
}
}
Then you can just use your class to add and get elements with any index.
MyArray arr = MyArray(1000); // pass max -ve index as offset
arr.add(10, -150);
cout << arr.get(100);
I need a structure to keep track of presence of some items.
If what you want is set semantics, use a set data structure.
No need to implement a custom array wrapper.
You can use a std::set (or std::unordered_set) for that. Remember that "premature optimization is the root of all evil".
Insert the values that are there, leave out the values that are missing. No need to worry about negative indices.
You can use the methods std::set::find() or std::set::count() to check the presence of an item. Have a look at the documentation to find some example code.
If you later find it's a performance critical optimization, you can replace a std::set<int> with a data structure that you wrote yourself on the basis of an array of bits anytime. If it's not, doing so prematurely might turn out to be an unnecessary source of unexpected errors and a waste of time.
For reference:
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/container/set
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/container/unordered_set
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/container/set/find
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/container/set/count
How to check that an element is in a std::set?
Most efficient approach will be just shifting your array indexes so all of them are non-negative. In your case just use a[i+1000] and it will be sufficient.
If you really need to use negative indexes it is also possible.
C / C++ calculates memory address of array element using address of table and then adding index value to it. Using negative numbers just points to memory area placed before your table (which is not you normally want).
int a[2001];
int *b = &a[1000];
int x = b[-1000]; // This points to 1000 places before b which translates to a[0] (valid place)
Another approach will be using containers. Then any number can be translated to string and stored in proper container.
I think that the answer of #Rajev is almost fine. I have just replaced a plain array with a std::vector. Thus, the memory management is secure and copying and moving is easy.
template <typname T>
class MyArray {
private:
std::vector<T> arr;
public:
MyArray(int offset) {
arr.resize(2*offset); // size must to double the offset
}
void set(int index, int val) {
arr[index + offset] = val;
}
void get(int index) {
return arr[index + offset];
}
}
You can expand this further by overloading the operator [] of MyArray.

c++ create reference variable inside function

Suppose I have the following function:
void myFunc(P& first, P& last) {
std::cout << first.child.grandchild[2] << endl;
// ...
}
Now, let's assume that first.child.grandchild[2] is too long for my purposes. For example, suppose it will appear frequently in equations inside myFunc(P&,P&). So, I'd like to create some sort of symbolic reference inside the function so that my equations would be less messy. How could I do this?
In particular, consider the code below. I need to know what statement I could insert so that not only would the output from line_1a always be the same as the output from line_1b, but also so that the output from line_2a would always be the same as the output from line_2b. In other words, I don't want a copy of the value of first.child.grandchild, but a reference or symbolic link to the object first.child.grandchild.
void myFunc(P& first, P& last) {
// INSERT STATEMENT HERE TO DEFINE "g"
std::cout << first.child.grandchild[2] << endl; // line_1a
std::cout << g[2] << endl; // line_1b
g[4] = X; // where X is an in-scope object of matching type
std::cout << first.child.grandchild[4] << endl; // line_2a
std::cout << g[4] << endl; // line_2b
//...
}
Say that the type of grandchild is T and size is N; then below is the way to create a reference for an array.
void myFunc(P& first, P& last) {
T (&g)[N] = first.child.grandchild;
...
}
I would not prefer pointer here, though it's also a possible way. Because, the static size of array is helpful to a static analyzer for range checking.
If you are using C++11 compiler then auto is the best way (mentioned by #SethCarnegie already):
auto &g = first.child.grandchild;
Use a pointer - then you can change it in the function.
WhateverGrandchildIs *ptr=&first.child.grandchild[2];
std::cout << *ptr << std::endl;
ptr=&first.child.grandchild[4];
std::cout << *ptr << std::endl;

iterator for vector of structures in thrust

I'm trying to get access to vector elements in this manner
struct point
{
unsigned int x;
unsigned int y;
};
...
thrust::device_vector<point> devPoints(hPoints.begin(), hPoints.end());
for(thrust::device_vector<point>::iterator iter = devPoints.begin(); iter != devPoints.end(); iter++)
{
std::cout << iter->x << " " << iter->y << " " << std::endl; (1)
}
device_vector was initialized properly. I get following errors:
error: expression must have pointer type (at 1)
error: no suitable user-defined conversion from "const thrust::detail::normal_iterator<thrust::device_ptr<point>>" to "thrust::device_ptr<point>" exists
detected during instantiation of "Pointer thrust::experimental::iterator_facade<Derived, Pointer, Value, Space, Traversal, Reference, Difference>::operator->() const [with Derived=thrust::detail::normal_iterator<thrust::device_ptr<point>>, Pointer=thrust::device_ptr<point>, Value=point, Space=thrust::detail::cuda_device_space_tag, Traversal=thrust::random_access_traversal_tag, Reference=thrust::device_reference<point>, Difference=ptrdiff_t]"
What am I doing wrong?
Ok this one was a bit more complicated than I expected :)
Here are the results of my investigations:
Your problem comes from thrust's implementation. Thrust uses a type called device_reference which, as its documentation says: http://wiki.thrust.googlecode.com/hg/html/classthrust_1_1device__reference.html
device_reference acts as a
reference-like object to an object
stored in device memory.
device_reference is not intended to be
used directly; rather, this type is
the result of deferencing a
device_ptr. Similarly, taking the
address of a device_reference yields a
device_ptr.
However, there are some cases when we are dealing implicitly with device_reference. For example, when a device_reference is passed as a parameter to functions waiting for POD (more or less what you are trying to do with operator<<), the following problem appears:
Another common case where a
device_reference cannot directly be
used in place of its referent object
occurs when passing them as parameters
to functions like printf which have
varargs parameters. Because varargs
parameters must be Plain Old Data, a
device_reference to a POD type requires a cast
when passed to printf:
Having said that, all you have to do is to cast your device_reference to the POD you're handling. In your case, you'd do:
for(thrust::device_vector<point>::iterator iter = devPoints.begin(); iter != devPoints.end(); iter++) {
std::cout << (static_cast<point>(*iter)).x << " " << (static_cast<point>(*iter)).y << std::endl;
}
In my opinion, this is not the most elegant solution, I'd rather use the std::copy algorithm to print the content of your point class. Thus, I've written a small example file, using your point class and printing it using three different ways:
#include <thrust/host_vector.h>
#include <thrust/device_vector.h>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
struct point
{
unsigned int x;
unsigned int y;
};
__host__
point getRandomPoint() {
point p;
p.x = rand();
p.y = rand();
return p;
}
__host__
std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& os, const point& p) {
os << "[ " << p.x << " ; " << p.y << " ]";
return os;
}
int main() {
// fill the host_vector with random points
thrust::host_vector<point> hPoints(512);
thrust::generate(hPoints.begin(), hPoints.end(), getRandomPoint);
// copy hPoints content to device memory
thrust::device_vector<point> devPoints(hPoints.begin(), hPoints.end());
// first way
for(thrust::device_vector<point>::iterator iter = devPoints.begin(); iter != devPoints.end(); iter++) {
std::cout << (static_cast<point>(*iter)).x << " " << (static_cast<point>(*iter)).y << std::endl;
}
// second way
for(thrust::device_vector<point>::iterator iter = devPoints.begin(); iter != devPoints.end(); iter++)
{
std::cout << *iter << std::endl;
}
// third way
std::copy(devPoints.begin(), devPoints.end(), std::ostream_iterator< point >(std::cout, " $ ") );
return 0;
}
Now, it's up to you to choose the one you prefer!
std::cout << iter->x << " " << iter->y << " " << std::endl;
^^^^
:))

C++: Why is my vector of structs acting as one struct?

I'm working my way through Accelerated C++ and have decided to mess around with the one of structs that were defined in there. While doing so, I've come across a problem: creating a vector of these structs and modifying the elements in each one seems to modify the elements in all of them.
I realize that this probably means I've initialized all the structs in the vector to a struct at a single memory address, but I used the .push_back() method to insert "dummy" structs in to the vector. I was under the impression that .push_back() pushes a copy of its argument, effectively creating a new struct.
Here is the header for the struct:
#ifndef _STUDENT_INFO__CHAPTER_9_H
#define _STUDENT_INFO__CHAPTER_9_H
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
class Student_info9{
public:
Student_info9(){homework = new std::vector<double>;};
Student_info9(std::istream& is);
std::string getName() const {return name;};
double getMidterm() const {return midterm;};
double getFinal() const {return final;};
char getPassFail() const {return passFail;};
std::vector<double> *getHw(){return homework;};
void setName(std::string n) {name = n;};
void setMidterm(double m) {midterm = m;};
void setFinal(double f) {final = f;};
private:
std::string name;
double midterm;
double final;
char passFail;
std::vector<double> *homework;
};
#endif /* _STUDENT_INFO__CHAPTER_9_H */
And here is the code that i'm fooling around with (excuse the excessive print statements... the result of some time trying to debug :) ):
vector<Student_info9> did9, didnt9;
bool did_all_hw9(Student_info9& s)
{
vector<double>::const_iterator beginCpy = s.getHw()->begin();
vector<double>::const_iterator endCpy = s.getHw()->end();
return(find(beginCpy, endCpy, 0) == s.getHw()->end());
}
void fill_did_and_didnt9(vector<Student_info9> allRecords)
{
vector<Student_info9>::iterator firstDidnt = partition(allRecords.begin(), allRecords.end(), did_all_hw9);
vector<Student_info9> didcpy(allRecords.begin(), firstDidnt);
did9 = didcpy;
vector<Student_info9> didntcpy(firstDidnt, allRecords.end());
didnt9 = didntcpy;
}
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
vector<Student_info9> students;
Student_info9 record;
for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
students.push_back(record);
}
for(int i = 0; i < students.size(); i++)
{
students[i].setMidterm(85);
students[i].setFinal(90);
students[i].getHw()->push_back(90);
std::cout << "student[" << i << "]'s homework vector size is " << students[i].getHw()->size() << std::endl;
students[i].getHw()->push_back(80);
std::cout << "student[" << i << "]'s homework vector size is " << students[i].getHw()->size() << std::endl;
students[i].getHw()->push_back(70);
std::cout << "student[" << i << "]'s homework vector size is " << students[i].getHw()->size() << std::endl;
std::cout << "Just pushed back students[" << i << "]'s homework grades" << std::endl;
if(i == 3)
students[i].getHw()->push_back(0);
}
std::cout << "student[3]'s homework vector size is " << students[3].getHw()->size() << std::endl;
for(vector<double>::const_iterator it = students[3].getHw()->begin(); it != students[3].getHw()->end(); it++)
std::cout << *it << " ";
std::cout << std::endl;
std::cout << "students[3] has " << ( ( find(students[3].getHw()->begin(),students[3].getHw()->end(), 0) != students[3].getHw()->end()) ? "atleast one " : "no " )
<< "homework with a grade of 0" << std::endl;
fill_did_and_didnt9(students);
std::cout << "did9's size is: " << did9.size() << std::endl;
std::cout << "didnt9's size is: " << didnt9.size() << std::endl;
}
As you can see by the print statements, it seems that the homework grades are being added only to one Student_info9 object, copies of which seem to be populating the entire vector. I was under the impression that if you were to use consecutive copies of .push_back() on a single object, it would create copies of that object, each with different memory addresses.
I'm not sure if that's the source of the problem, but hopefully someone could point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
When you push a StudentInfo onto the vector, it is indeed copied, so that's not the problem. The problem is the vector containing the homework grades. Since you only store a pointer to that vector in StudentInfo, only the pointer, not the vector, is copied when you copy a StudentInfo. In other words you have many different StudentInfos that all have a pointer to the same homework vector.
To fix this you should define a copy constructor which takes care of copying the homework vector.
Have you learned about the copy constructor yet? If so, think about what is happening with vector<Student_info9> students on push_back().
Specifically, what happens with this pointer.
std::vector<double> *homework;
The line Student_info9 record; constructs a Student_info9 using the first constructor. This first constructor creates a vector and stores a pointer to it as a member variable. You then proceed to add a copy of this Student_info9 to a vector 5 times. Each copy has a pointer to the same vector.
Your StudentInfo9 class contanis a pointer to a std::vector<double>, which means in the default copy constructor (which will be called when you add a StudentInfo9 object to your vector), the pointer itself is copied. That means all of your StudentInfo9 objects have the same homework vector.
Does that make sense? Please refer to http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~hasti/cs368/CppTutorial/NOTES/CLASSES-PTRS.html for a more in depth look at pointers and copy constructors.