Callback functions with different arguments - c++

I have two functions with a little different functionality, so I can't make them as template functions.
int func64(__int64 a) {
return (int) a/2;
}
int func32(int a) {
return a--;
}
Depending on variable b64, I would like to call func64 or func32. I don't want check if b64 is true many times in my code, so I use pointers to functions.
void do_func(bool b64) {
typedef int (*pfunc32)(int);
typedef int (*pfunc64)(__int64);
pfunc32 call_func;
if (b64)
call_func = func64; //error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'int (__cdecl *)(__int64)' to 'pfunc32'
else
call_func = func32;
//...
call_func(6);
}
How can I avoid this error and cast call_func to pfunc32 or pfunc64?

The language requires all functions called through the same function pointer to have the same prototype.
Depending on what you want to achieve, you could use the pointer/cast aproach already mentioned (which satisfies this requirement at the loss of type safety) or pass a union instead:
union u32_64
{
__int64 i64;
int i32;
};
int func64(union u32_64 a) {
return (int) a.i64/2;
}
int func32(union u32_64 a) {
return --a.i32;
}
void do_func(bool b64) {
typedef int (*pfunc)(union u32_64);
pfunc call_func;
if (b64)
call_func = func64;
else
call_func = func32;
//...
union u32_64 u = { .i64 = 6 };
call_func(u);
}

Pass a void pointer and cast it in the function body.
Of course this means less compiler control if you use the wrong type; if you call func64 and pass an int to it the program will compile and produce wrong results without giving you any tip of what is going wrong.
int func64(void *a) {
__int64 b = *((__int64*) a);
return (int) b/2;
}
int func32(void *a) {
int b = *((int *) a)
return b-1;
}

I need to call func32() or func64() depending on flag b64
So do that:
void do_func(bool b64) {
if (b64)
func64(6);
else
func32(6);
}

Well, first of all, please note that function func32 is returning the input argument as is.
This is because with return a--, you are returning the value of a before decrementing it.
Perhaps you meant to return a-1 instead?
In any case, you can simply declare this function as int func32(__int64 a).
This way, it will have the same prototype as function func64, but will work exactly as before.
BTW, calling a function through a pointer might be more "expensive" than a simple branch operation, so depending on your application, you might be better off with a simple if/else conditional statement...

Make a wrapper for func64:
int func64_as_32(int a) {
return func64(a);
}
Now you can assign either func32 or func64_as_32 to call_func since they have the same signature. The value you pass in, 6, has type int so passing it to func64_as_32 has the same effect as passing it directly to func64.
If you have call sites where you pass in a value of type __int64 then you'd do it the other way around, wrap func32.

As bool in C++ converts to int ( true => 1, false => 0 ) you can use b64 as array index. So take SJuan76's advice, convert your functions prototype to int f(void*) and put them into array int (*array_fun[2])(void* x); . You can call these functions then like that :
int p = 6;
array_fun[b64](&p);

Related

C/C++ How to hand over a const function pointer or a simple pointer in one function call

I have a function (func1) that gets as a parameter a const pointer.
The value of this pointer is used for a second function (func2).
Depending on a boolean I want to modify this value before handing it to func2 or not. If I have to modify it I allocate new memory to store the modified version of it. Because in reality the const int pointer is a big array, I don't want to copy it.
I tried to solve it that way:
void func1(const int* value, bool change)
{
int* valueToUse;
if(change)
{
int changedValue = (*value)++;
valueToUse = &changedValue;
}
else
{
valueToUse = value; // <= here the Error occurs
}
func2(valueToUse);
}
void func2(const int* foo)
{
// ...
}
But if I do it this way, I get an error because I assign a const pointer to a simple pointer:
error: invalid conversion from 'const int* to int*'
Is there any easy way to solve this?
I can imagine a solution with two extra functions for each case or a version that calls func2 at two points. But because this presented code is only a very simplified version of my real code, I'm wandering if there is an easier solution to that.
Best would be a solution that works for C and C++.
Thanks guys in advance!
This works?
void func1(const int* value, bool change)
{
const int* valueToUse;
int changedValue;
if(change)
{
changedValue = (*value) + 1;
valueToUse = &changedValue;
}
else
{
valueToUse = value;
}
func2(valueToUse);
}
A const int* is a pointer to const int, which is not a const pointer to int. Therefore the pointer itself is free to change.
Also, incrementing (*value) is an error because *value is a const int.
In func1, you can make 2 calls to func2, this way there is no copy when not needed and the original value is never changed:
void func1(const int* value, bool change)
{
if(change)
{
int changedValue = *value+1;
func2(&changedValue);
}
else
{
func2(value);
}
}
void func1(const int* value, int change)
{
int* valueToUse;
if(change)
{
(*(int*)value)++;
valueToUse = (int*)value;
}
else
{
valueToUse = (int*)value; // <= here the Error occurs
}
func2(valueToUse);
}
But you don't really need this valueToUse, it's what i think, so.
void func1(const int* value, int change)
{
if(change)
(*(int*)value)++;
func2(value);
}
const int* value
This means pointer to a constant int value. It is not permitted to change the value of a constant int.
There are two ways of solving this.
Change signature of first function void func1(int* value, bool change)
Pass arguments to func1 after constant casting using const_cast and change
int changedValue = (*value)++; to int changedValue = *value + 1;
Well, running this code i receive just a warning, though i think that type conversion will help you.
valueToUse = (int*)value;

Passing parameters to function pointer

I am trying to pass parameters to a function pointer being passed as a parameter.
Code:
void Test(wchar_t* a, wchar_t* b)
{
// ...
}
void Test2(void(*Func)(wchar_t*, wchar_t*))
{
// ...
}
int main()
{
Test2(Test(L"Hello", L"Testing"));
return 0;
}
I am getting this error:
argument of type "void" is incompatible with parameter of type "void (*)(wchar_t *, wchar_t *)"
How do I fix this to accomplish what I'm trying to achieve?
Edit: Sorry for not being clear. What I'm actually trying to accomplish is inject a function into a child process and pass two parameters (wchar_t*, wchar_t*) so I can use them. But the main function can either be void or int argc, char** argv. So I accomplished what I'm trying to achieve by simply using global variables
You probably want to have something like
void Test2(void(*Func)(wchar_t*, wchar_t*),wchar_t* x, wchar_t* y)
{
(*Func)(x,y);
}
int main()
{
Test2(Test,L"Hello", L"Testing");
return 0;
}
instead.
As for your comment
How do i do this in C++ with templates?
I could think of
template<typename Param>
void Test2(void(*Func)(Param, Param), Param x, Param y) {
(*Func)(x,y);
}
void Test(wchar_t* a, wchar_t* b);
int main() {
Test2(Test,L"Hello", L"Testing");
return 0;
}
This should just work fine.
There are more than one way to fix tihs issue, however, let me just try to show why this error is occuring.
Every function has a type of value associated with it. This means, that every function evaluates to a value of some type. This is indicated by its return value.
For example:
int foo(/*whatever*/);
evaluates to an int. So foo(/*whatever*/) can be used anywhere an int is expected. For example like int a = b + foo(/*whatever*/).
Simlarly float bar(/*whatever*/); evaluates to a float, hence bar(/*whatever*/) can be used anywhere a float is expected. For example like float a = b + bar(/*whatever*/).
A function that returns void like void foobar(/*whatever*/) however, evaluates to void and cannot be used where a value of some type (say int, float, etc) is expected.
Now coming to code. This line in your main function has the issue:
int main()
{
Test2(Test(L"Hello", L"Testing")); /* Issue here */
return 0;
}
Here you are passing Test(L"Hello", L"Testing") as the argument to Test2. Now remember, that Test(/*whatever*/), evaluates to a void because Test returns a void.
So what you are doing in that line is something like
Test2(/*something that evaluates to a void*/);
However, Test2 expectes a void (*)(wchar_t*, wchar_t*), which is a pointer to a function that returns void, which is different from void.
So what is happening, is that the compiler is seeing that you are passing a void in a place where a void (*) (wchar_t*, wchar_t*) is expected, so it is correctly indicating that error.
There can be different ways to solve this issue which are mentioned in other answers.
Do I need to use C++ templates?
Of course, you can do that using C++ templates as it follows:
#include<utility>
// ...
template<typename F, typename... A>
void Test2(F &&f, A&&... a)
{
std::forward<F>(f)(std::forward<A>(a)...);
// ...
}
// ...
Test2(Test, L"Hello", L"Testing");
But you don't need them to do what you are trying to do.
#πάνταῥεῖ has already explained why in its answer.

Advance function pointer?

Is the following possible in c++?
int do_stuff(int one, int two)
{
...
return ...;
}
int main()
{
void *ptr = &do_stuff(6, 7);//DON'T CALL THE FUNCTION, just store a pointer
cout << *ptr;//call the function from the pointer without having to pass the arguments again
}
I know this can be done with classes, but is it possible the way I am trying to do it?
Well with c++11 and a little magic from std::function and std::bind you can.
std::function<int()> f = std::bind(&do_stuff,6,7);
std::cout << f();
No, not like that. There is nothing in the code
void *ptr = &do_stuff(6, 7);
that makes it parse like you want. I'm unsure if it would parse at all, if you can take the address of the return value. Taking the address of a function is basically a no-op, but function pointers don't convert to void * so it has problems anyway.
You need more magic, like C++11's lambda closures.
I'm no C++11 programmer, but I guess your code would look like:
int main(void)
{
auto func = [] () { do_stuff(6, 7); };
func();
return 0;
}

C++ same function parameters with different return type

I need to find some way to mock an overload of a function return type in C++.
I know that there isn't a way to do that directly, but I'm hoping there's some out-of-the-box way around it.
We're creating an API for users to work under, and they'll be passing in a data string that retrieves a value based on the string information. Those values are different types. In essence, we would like to let them do:
int = RetrieveValue(dataString1);
double = RetrieveValue(dataString2);
// Obviously, since they don't know the type, they wouldn't use int =.... It would be:
AnotherFunction(RetrieveValue(dataString1)); // param of type int
AnotherFunction(RetrieveValue(dataString2)); // param of type double
But that doesn't work in C++ (obviously).
Right now, we're having it set up so that they call:
int = RetrieveValueInt(dataString1);
double = RetrieveValueDouble(dataString2);
However, we don't want them to need to know what the type of their data string is.
Unfortunately, we're not allowed to use external libraries, so no using Boost.
Are there any ways we can get around this?
Just to clarify, I understand that C++ can't natively do it. But there must be some way to get around it. For example, I thought about doing RetrieveValue(dataString1, GetType(dataString1)). That doesn't really fix anything, because GetType also can only have one return type. But I need something like that.
I understand that this question has been asked before, but in a different sense. I can't use any of the obvious answers. I need something completely out-of-the-box for it to be useful to me, which was not the case with any of the answers in the other question asked.
You've to start with this:
template<typename T>
T RetrieveValue(std::string key)
{
//get value and convert into T and return it
}
To support this function, you've to work a bit more, in order to convert the value into the type T. One easy way to convert value could be this:
template<typename T>
T RetrieveValue(std::string key)
{
//get value
std::string value = get_value(key, etc);
std::stringstream ss(value);
T convertedValue;
if ( ss >> convertedValue ) return convertedValue;
else throw std::runtime_error("conversion failed");
}
Note that you still have to call this function as:
int x = RetrieveValue<int>(key);
You could avoid mentioning int twice, if you could do this instead:
Value RetrieveValue(std::string key)
{
//get value
std::string value = get_value(key, etc);
return { value };
}
where Value is implemented as:
struct Value
{
std::string _value;
template<typename T>
operator T() const //implicitly convert into T
{
std::stringstream ss(_value);
T convertedValue;
if ( ss >> convertedValue ) return convertedValue;
else throw std::runtime_error("conversion failed");
}
}
Then you could write this:
int x = RetrieveValue(key1);
double y = RetrieveValue(key2);
which is which you want, right?
The only sane way to do this is to move the return value to the parameters.
void retrieve_value(std::string s, double& p);
void retrieve_value(std::string s, int& p);
<...>
double x;
retrieve_value(data_string1, x);
int y;
retrieve_value(data_string2, y);
Whether it is an overload or a specialization, you'll need the information to be in the function signature. You could pass the variable in as an unused 2nd argument:
int RetrieveValue(const std::string& s, const int&) {
return atoi(s.c_str());
}
double RetrieveValue(const std::string& s, const double&) {
return atof(s.c_str());
}
int i = RetrieveValue(dataString1, i);
double d = RetrieveValue(dataString2, d);
If you know your value can never be something like zero or negative, just return a struct holding int and double and zero out the one you don't need...
It's a cheap and dirty, but easy way...
struct MyStruct{
int myInt;
double myDouble;
};
MyStruct MyFunction(){
}
If the datastrings are compile-time constants (as said in answering my comment), you could use some template magic to do the job. An even simpler option is to not use strings at all but some data types which allow you then to overload on argument.
struct retrieve_int {} as_int;
struct retrieve_double {} as_double;
int RetrieveValue(retrieve_int) { return 3; }
double RetrieveValue(retrieve_double) { return 7.0; }
auto x = RetrieveValue(as_int); // x is int
auto y = RetrieveValue(as_double); // y is double
Unfortunately there is no way to overload the function return type see this answer
Overloading by return type
int a=itoa(retrieveValue(dataString));
double a=ftoa(retrieveValue(dataString));
both return a string.
As an alternative to the template solution, you can have the function return a reference or a pointer to a class, then create subclasses of that class to contain the different data types that you'd like to return. RetrieveValue would then return a reference to the appropriate subclass.
That would then let the user pass the returned object to other functions without knowing which subclass it belonged to.
The problem in this case would then become one of memory management -- choosing which function allocates the returned object and which function deletes it, and when, in such a way that we avoid memory leaks.
The answer is simple just declare the function returning void* type and in the definition return a reference to the variable of different types. For instance in the header (.h) declare
void* RetrieveValue(string dataString1);
And in the definition (.cpp) just write
void* RetrieveValue(string dataString1)
{
if(dataString1.size()<9)
{
static double value1=(double)dataString1.size();
return &value1;
}
else
{
static string value2=dataString1+"some string";
return &value2;
}
}
Then in the code calling RetrieveValue just cast to the right value
string str;
string str_value;
double dbl_value;
if(is_string)
{
str_value=*static_cast<*string>(RetrieveValue(str));
}
else
{
dbl_value=*static_cast<*double>(RetrieveValue(str));
}
Since you used an example that wasn't really what you wanted, you threw everyone off a bit.
The setup you really have (calling a function with the return value of this function whose return type is unknowable) will not work because function calls are resolved at compile time.
You are then restricted to a runtime solution. I recommend the visitor pattern, and you'll have to change your design substantially to allow for this change. There isn't really another way to do it that I can see.

How to pass Virtually Anything To A Function In C++ (or C)?

I need to pass something like a pointer that takes anything as a function parameter. You know, something without any predefined type or a type that can take anything like this:
void MyFunc( *pointer );
And then use it like:
char * x = "YAY!";
MyFunc(x);
int y = 10;
MyFunc(&y);
MyObj *b = new MyObj();
MyFunc(b);
And I don't want to use templates because I am mostly using C in my project.
Is there anything that can be used here except a function macro?
In C++, Boost.Any will let you do this in a type-safe way:
void func(boost::any const &x)
{
// any_cast a reference and it
// will throw if x is not an int.
int i = any_cast<int>(x);
// any_cast a pointer and it will
// return a null pointer if x is not an int.
int const *p = any_cast<int>(&x);
}
// pass in whatever you want.
func(123);
func("123");
In C, you would use a void pointer:
void func(void const *x)
{
// it's up to you to ensure x points to an int. if
// it's not, it might crash or it might silently appear
// to work. nothing is checked for you!
int i = *(int const*)x;
}
// pass in whatever you want.
int i = 123;
func(&i);
func("123");
You seem adverse to it but I'll recommend it anyway: if you're using C++, embrace it. Don't be afraid of templates. Things like Boost.Any and void pointers have a place in C++, but it is very small.
Update:
Well , I am making a small signals - slots - connections library to be
used with my gui toolkit. So that I can get rid of the Ugly WNDPROC. I
need these pointers for the connections.
If you need multi-target signals, Boost.Signals already provides a full and tested signals/slots implementation. You can use Boost.Bind (or std::bind, if you've got a C++0x compiler) to connect member functions:
struct button
{
boost::signal<void(button&)> on_click;
}
struct my_window
{
button b;
my_window()
{
b.on_click.connect(std::bind(&my_window::handle_click,
this, std::placeholders::_1));
}
void handle_click(button &b)
{
}
void simulate_click()
{
b.on_click(b);
}
};
If you only want a simple callback, Boost.Function (or std::function if you've got a C++0x compiler) will work well:
struct button
{
std::function<void(button&)> on_click;
}
struct my_window
{
button b;
my_window()
{
b.on_click = std::bind(&my_window::handle_click,
this, std::placeholders::_1);
}
void handle_click(button &b)
{
}
void simulate_click()
{
b.on_click(b);
}
};
You can use a function that takes a void*, but you must be aware of the pointer types that are not compatible with void*:
pointers to functions:
void MyFunc(void*);
MyFunc(&MyFunc); // WRONG
pointers to members:
void MyFunc(void*);
struct A { int x; };
MyFunc(&A::x); // WRONG
While these pointers are not compatible with void* (even with casting, on some compilers), they are themselves data. So you can pass a pointer to the pointer:
void MyFunc(void*);
void (*pfn)(void*) = &MyFunc;
MyFunc(&pfn); // ok
struct A { int x; };
int A::*px = &A::x;
MyFunc(&px); // ok
You can define the method as taking one void * argument. Of course, at that point, it's up to you to figure out what to do with the data (as far as accessing it or casting it.)
void MyFunc(void * ptr);
You could use:
void MyFunc( void* p){}
int g = 10;
MyFunc( (void*)&g );
void * is the way to do it. You can assign any pointer type to and from a void *. But to use the pointer in the called function, you'll have to know the type so you can create an appropriate local pointer or cast appropriately. You can encode a limited set of types as enum symbols, and perhaps use a switch to select type-specific behavior. But without a specific purpose or use-case, you might end up chasing your tail in a quest for generality for which C was never intended.
Another way would be to make a union to contain all the various types you know are needed.
typedef union {
int i;
char c;
float f;
} vartype;
Then if the value can carry around its own type-identifier, it becomes a tag-union or variant-record.
typedef struct {
enum type { INT, CHAR, FLOAT } type;
vartype var;
} varrec;