Using different interface with stl datastructure - c++

I want to create a class with these two constructors, but unordered_map<void*,void*> * and those two created in constructor is not compatible. How can I change to make the following code works while preserving the prototype of the constructors.
struct eq_fun
{
bool operator()(void* s1, const void* s2) const
{
return ( _cmp_fn((void*)s1,(void*)s2) == 0 );
}
int (*_cmp_fn)(void*, void*);
eq_fun(int (*fn)(void*, void*)):_cmp_fn(fn){}
};
struct hash_fun
{
size_t operator()(const void *p) const
{
return _hash_fn(p);
}
int (*_hash_fn)(const void*);
hash_fun(int (*fn)(const void*)):_hash_fn(fn){}
};
class MyClass {
private:
unordered_map<void*,void*> *h_map;
public:
template<class EQ,class HF>MyClass()
{ h_map = new unordered_map<void*,void*,HF,EQ>(); }
MyClass(int (*h)(const void*),int (*cmp)(void*,void*))
{ h_map = new unordered_map<void*,void*,hash_fun,eq_fun>(0,hash_fun(h),eq_fun(cmp)); }
};

It seems you're trying to create a different templated member depending on the template arguments of the constructor. This is impossible in C++ in two ways.
This:
unordered_map<void*,void*> *h_map;
h_map = new hash_map<void*,void*,HF,EQ>();
is invalid because hash_map is not a derived class of unordered_map.
You cannot mix uncovertible template parameters like you're trying to do with the EQ and HF parameters. hash_map<..,..,HF1> and hash_map<..,..,HF2> are not compatible types.
The only way out that I can see is to choose either hash_map or unordered_map and make MyClass a template MyClass<HF, EQ>.
Note that when the TR1 class hash_map was accepted into C++11 it was renamed unordered_map. So they're the same thing, and it makes no sense to mix these two types in the same code. Reference: http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2003/n1456.html

Related

Can static polymorphism (templates) be used despite type erasure?

Having returned relatively recently to C++ after decades of Java, I am currently struggling with a template-based approach to data conversion for instances where type erasure has been applied. Please bear with me, my nomenclature may still be off for C++-natives.
This is what I am trying to achieve:
Implement dynamic variables which are able to hold essentially any value type
Access the content of those variables using various other representations (string, ints, binary, ...)
Be able to hold variable instances in containers, independent of their value type
Convert between variable value and representation using conversion functions
Be able to introduce new representations just by providing new conversion functions
Constraints: use only C++-11 features if possible, no use of libraries like boost::any etc.
A rough sketch of this might look like this:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
void convert(const std::string &f, std::string &t) { t = f; }
void convert(const int &f, std::string &t) { t = std::to_string(f); }
void convert(const std::string &f, int &t) { t = std::stoi(f); }
void convert(const int &f, int &t) { t = f; }
struct Variable {
virtual void get(int &i) = 0;
virtual void get(std::string &s) = 0;
};
template <typename T> struct VariableImpl : Variable {
T value;
VariableImpl(const T &v) : value{v} {};
void get(int &i) { convert(value, i); };
void get(std::string &s) { convert(value, s); };
};
int main() {
VariableImpl<int> v1{42};
VariableImpl<std::string> v2{"1234"};
std::vector<Variable *> vars{&v1, &v2};
for (auto &v : vars) {
int i;
v->get(i);
std::string s;
v->get(s);
std::cout << "int representation: " << i <<
", string representation: " << s << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}
The code does what it is supposed to do, but obvoiusly I would like to get rid of Variable::get(int/std::string/...) and instead template them, because otherwise every new representation requires a definition and an implementation with the latter being exactly the same as all the others.
I've played with various approaches so far, like virtual templated, methods, applying the CRDT with intermediate type, various forms of wrappers, yet in all of them I get bitten by the erased value type of VariableImpl. On one hand, I think there might not be a solution, because after type erasure, the compiler cannot possibly know what templated getters and converter calls it must generate. On the other hand I think i might be missing something really essential here and there should be a solution despite the constraints mentioned above.
This is a classical double dispatch problem. The usual solution to this problem is to have some kind of dispatcher class with multiple implementations of the function you want to dispatch (get in your case). This is called the visitor pattern. The well-known drawback of it is the dependency cycle it creates (each class in the hierarchy depends on all other classes in the hierarchy). Thus there's a need to revisit it each time a new type is added. No amount of template wizardry eliminates it.
You don't have a specialised Visitor class, your Variable serves as a Visitor of itself, but this is a minor detail.
Since you don't like this solution, there is another one. It uses a registry of functions populated at run time and keyed on type identification of their arguments. This is sometimes called "Acyclic Visitor".
Here's a half-baked C++11-friendly implementation for your case.
#include <map>
#include <vector>
#include <typeinfo>
#include <typeindex>
#include <utility>
#include <functional>
#include <string>
#include <stdexcept>
struct Variable
{
virtual void convertValue(Variable& to) const = 0;
virtual ~Variable() {};
virtual std::type_index getTypeIdx() const = 0;
template <typename K> K get() const;
static std::map<std::pair<std::type_index, std::type_index>,
std::function<void(const Variable&, Variable&)>>
conversionMap;
template <typename T, typename K>
static void registerConversion(K (*fn)(const T&));
};
template <typename T>
struct VariableImpl : Variable
{
T value;
VariableImpl(const T &v) : value{v} {};
VariableImpl() : value{} {}; // this is needed for a declaration of
// `VariableImpl<K> below
// It can be avoided but it is
// a story for another day
void convertValue(Variable& to) const override
{
auto typeIdxFrom = getTypeIdx();
auto typeIdxTo = to.getTypeIdx();
if (typeIdxFrom == typeIdxTo) // no conversion needed
{
dynamic_cast<VariableImpl<T>&>(to).value = value;
}
else
{
auto fcnIter = conversionMap.find({getTypeIdx(), to.getTypeIdx()});
if (fcnIter != conversionMap.end())
{
fcnIter->second(*this, to);
}
else
throw std::logic_error("no conversion");
}
}
std::type_index getTypeIdx() const override
{
return std::type_index(typeid(T));
}
};
template <typename K> K Variable::get() const
{
VariableImpl<K> vk;
convertValue(vk);
return vk.value;
}
template <typename T, typename K>
void Variable::registerConversion(K (*fn)(const T&))
{
// add a mutex if you ever spread this over multiple threads
conversionMap[{std::type_index(typeid(T)), std::type_index(typeid(K))}] =
[fn](const Variable& from, Variable& to) {
dynamic_cast<VariableImpl<K>&>(to).value =
fn(dynamic_cast<const VariableImpl<T>&>(from).value);
};
}
Now of course you need to call registerConversion e.g. at the beginning of main and pass it each conversion function.
Variable::registerConversion(int_to_string);
Variable::registerConversion(string_to_int);
This is not ideal, but hardly anything is ever ideal.
Having said all that, I would recommend you revisit your design. Do you really need all these conversions? Why not pick one representation and stick with it?
Implement dynamic variables which are able to hold essentially any value type
Be able to hold variable instances in containers, independent of their value type
These two requirements are quite challenging on its own. The class templates don't really encourage inheritance, and you already did the right thing to hold what you asked for: introduced a common base class for the class template, which you can later refer to in order to store pointers of the said type in a collection.
Access the content of those variables using various other representations (string, ints, binary, ...)
Be able to introduce new representations just by providing new conversion functions
This is where it breaks. Function templates assume common implementation for different types, while inheritance assumes different implementation for the same types.
You goal is to introduce different implementation for different types, and in order to make your requirements viable you have to switch to one of those two options instead (or put up with a number of functions for each case which you have already introduced yourself)
Edit:
One of the strategies you may employ to enforce inheritance approach is generalisation of the arguments to the extent where they can be used interchangeably by the abstract interface. E.g. you may wrap the converting arguments inside of a union like this:
struct Variable {
struct converter_type {
enum { INT, STRING } type;
union {
int* m_int;
std::string* m_string;
};
};
virtual void get(converter_type& var) = 0;
virtual ~Variable() = default;
};
And then take whatever part of it inside of the implementation:
void get(converter_type& var) override {
switch (var.type) {
case converter_type::INT:
convert(value, var.m_int);
break;
case converter_type::STRING:
convert(value, var.m_string);
break;
}
}
To be honest I don't think this is a less verbose approach compared to just having a number of functions for each type combination, but i think you got the idea that you can just wrap your arguments somehow to cement the abstract class interface.
Implement std::any. It is similar to boost::any.
Create a conversion dispatcher based off typeids. Store your any alongside the conversion dispatcher.
"new conversion functions" have to be passed to the dispatcher.
When asked to convert to a type, pass that typeid to the dispatcher.
So we start with these 3 types:
using any = std::any; // implement this
using converter = std::function<any(any const&)>;
using convert_table = std::map<std::type_index, converter>;
using convert_lookup = convert_table(*)();
template<class T>
convert_table& lookup_convert_table() {
static convert_table t;
return t;
}
struct converter_any: any {
template<class T,
typename std::enable_if<
!std::is_same<typename std::decay<T>::type, converter_any>::value, bool
>::type = true
>
converter_any( T&& t ):
any(std::forward<T>(t)),
table(&lookup_convert_table<typename std::decay<T>::type>())
{}
converter_any(converter_any const&)=default;
converter_any(converter_any &&)=default;
converter_any& operator=(converter_any const&)=default;
converter_any& operator=(converter_any&&)=default;
~converter_any()=default;
converter_any()=default;
convert_table const* table = nullptr;
template<class U>
U convert_to() const {
if (!table)
throw 1; // make a better exception than int
auto it = table->find(typeid(U));
if (it == table->end())
throw 2; // make a better exception than int
any const& self = *this;
return any_cast<U>((it->second)(self));
}
};
template<class Dest, class Src>
bool add_converter_to_table( Dest(*f)(Src const&) ) {
lookup_convert_table<Src>()[typeid(Dest)] = [f](any const& s)->any {
Src src = std::any_cast<Src>(s);
auto r = f(src);
return r;
};
return true;
}
now your code looks like:
const bool bStringRegistered =
add_converter_to_table(+[](std::string const& f)->std::string{ return f; })
&& add_converter_to_table(+[](std::string const& f)->int{ return std::stoi(f); });
const bool bIntRegistered =
add_converter_to_table(+[](int const& i)->int{ return i; })
&& add_converter_to_table(+[](int const& i)->std::string{ return std::to_string(i); });
int main() {
converter_any v1{42};
converter_any v2{std::string("1234")};
std::vector<converter_any> vars{v1, v2}; // copies!
for (auto &v : vars) {
int i = v.convert_to<int>();
std::string s = v.convert_to<std::string>();
std::cout << "int representation: " << i <<
", string representation: " << s << std::endl;
}
}
live example.
...
Ok, what did I do?
I used any to be a smart void* that can store anything. Rewriting this is a bad idea, use someone else's implementation.
Then, I augmented it with a manually written virtual function table. Which table I add is determined by the constructor of my converter_any; here, I know the type stored, so I can store the right table.
Typically when using this technique, I'd know what functions are in there. For your implementation we do not; so the table is a map from the type id of the destination, to a conversion function.
The conversion function takes anys and returns anys -- again, don't repeat this work. And now it has a fixed signature.
To add support for a type, you independently register conversion functions. Here, my conversion function registration helper deduces the from type (to determine which table to register it in) and the destination type (to determine which entry in the table), and then automatically writes the any boxing/unboxing code for you.
...
At a higher level, what I'm doing is writing my own type erasure and object model. C++ has enough power that you can write your own object models, and when you want features that the default object model doesn't solve, well, roll a new object model.
Second, I'm using value types. A Java programmer isn't used to value types having polymorphic behavior, but much of C++ works much better if you write your code using value types.
So my converter_any is a polymorphic value type. You can store copies of them in vectors etc, and it just works.

Accessing derived class' member functions in base template function

I have a class called DBDriver that handles communication with a given table in a database. Its public entry point is a function template called execute_query(), which executes SELECT queries. Upon calling this function, some database logic is performed, and then a provided container (of the template type) is populated with results. This looks something like the following:
class DBDriver {
...
template <typename CONT_T>
void execute_query(const std::string& query, CONT_T& container);
...
};
template <typename CONT_T>
void DBDriver::execute_query(const std::string& query, CONT_T& container) {
DBCursor& cursor = ... // some database logic here
populate_container(container, cursor);
}
Of course, the above will not compile, as populate_container() is not defined in DBDriver.
DBDriver should be purely virtual and have several classes derive from it (one for each database table involved). Each derived class will define its own overloads of populate_container(), one for each relevant container type. This will look something like the following:
class SampleTableDBDriver : public DBDriver {
// ...
populate_container(const ContainerTypeOne& container, DBCursor& cursor);
populate_container(const ContainerTypeTwo& container, DBCursor& cursor);
// ...
};
My original attempt at this was unsuccessful, as I would have needed to define a virtual function template in DBDriver to serve as an entry point to a derived class' populate_container() overloads. (Of course such a thing does not exist in C++, hence my issue.)
Is there a cleaner, idiomatic solution for this type of problem?
The reason why execute_query is a template function is you need a generic container. What if you define a Interface for the container?
class IContainer
{};
Template Functions cannot be virtual. Therefore, you can use the Template Method Design Pattern.
class DBDriver
{
public:
void execute_query(const std::string& query, IContainer **_ppContainer);
{
DBCursor& cursor = ... // some database logic here
populate_container(_ppContainer, cursor);
}
virtual void populate_container(IContainer **_ppContainer, DBCursor &_dbCursor) = 0;
};
And let every derived class implement populate_container and also provide their custom Container.
class SampleTableDBDriver : public DBDriver
{
public:
class ContainerTypeOne : public IContainer
{};
void populate_container(IContainer **_ppContainer, DBCursor &_dbCursor)
{
ContainerTypeOne *pContainer = new ContainerTypeOne();
//....
(*_ppContainer) = pContainer;
}
};
SampleTableDBDriver oSampleDriver;
IContainer *pContainer = NULL;
std::string szQuery = // some query ;
oSampleDriver.execute_query(szQuery, &pContainer);
if(pContainer != NULL)
{
SampleTableDBDriver::ContainerTypeOne *pSampleDriverContainer =
dynamic_cast<SampleTableDBDriver::ContainerTypeOne*>(pContainer);
//use pSampleDriverContainer
}
Edit: For supporting multiple containers.
In your original design the populate_container seems to be overloaded in derived classes. In that case you would still pass the exact container from outside while calling execute_query.
Same thing can be done with this Template Method design. Then, you will need to decipher the type of container inside the populate_container function as follows:
New signature : int populate_container(IContainer *_pContainer, DBCursor &_dbCursor)
int populate_container(IContainer *_pContainer, DBCursor &_dbCursor)
{
if(dynamic_cast<ContainerTypeOne *>(_pContainer) != NULL)
{
ContainerTypeOne *pContainerOne = _pContainer;
//populate the result by using pContainerOne
return 1;
}
if(dynamic_cast<ContainerTypeTwo *>(_pContainer) != NULL)
{
ContainerTypeOne *pContainerTwo = _pContainer;
//populate the result by using pContainerTwo
return 1;
}
//no, I do not support the container you passed.
return 0;
}
SampleTableDBDriver oSampleDriver;
SampleTableDBDriver::ContainerTypeOne oSampleContainerTypeOne;
std::string szQuery = // some query ;
if(oSampleDriver.execute_query(szQuery, &oSampleContainerTypeOne) != 0)
{
//use oSampleContainerTypeOne;
}
You have options to choose from:
If you don't need populate_container() to be a member of DBDriver and can extend (or define) container interface, just implement
ContainerTypeOne::populate(DBCursor& cursor);
Make populate_container() a friend (in case you need access to private members of DBDriver):
template <typename CONT_T> friend void execute_query(const std::string& query, CONT_T& container);
Make populate_container() a non-member template function (if you don't need access to private members of DBDriver)
One way to do this is to employ the separation of concerns principle.
Querying databases goes to its own class hierarchy, and populating container goes to its own separate class hierarchy. These two hierarchies know nothing about each other, e.g. DBDriverThirteen knows nothing about ContainerFortyTwo. The two hierarchies only touch at their roots, i.e. DBDriver (and so its every derived class) knows about IContainerPopulator but nothing about any specific containers.
You may have a template that builds a specific ContainerPopulator for each container type. Assume for simplicity that you only need to support standard containers of strings that implement push_back.
struct IContainerPopulator {
virtual void push_back(const std::string&) = 0;
};
template <class CONT_T>
struct ContainerPopulator : IContainerPopulator {
StandardContainerPopulator (CONT_T& cont) : cont(cont) {}
void push_back(const std::string& s) override { cont.push_back(s); }
private:
CONT_T& cont;
};
Now you can do this
template <typename CONT_T>
void execute_query(const std::string& query, CONT_T& container) {
execute_query_adapted(query, ContainerPopulator<CONT_T>(container));
}
// no template!
virtual void execute_query_adapted(const std::string&,
IContainerPopulator&&) = 0;
By now you have probably recognised that IContainerPopulator is nothing but a specialised poor man's function binder. Why write another one if we have pretty good support in the language and its standard library? If you only need to support push_back, you can alternatively do this:
template <typename CONT_T>
void execute_query(const std::string& query, CONT_T& container) {
execute_query_adapted2(query,
[&](const std::string& s){container.push_back(s);});
}
// no template
virtual void execute_query_adapted2(const std::string&,
std::function<void(const std::string&)>) = 0;
Now if you need more than just push_back (or any fixed set of functions) and/or more than std::string (or any fixed set of types), things can get really hairy. More information would be needed about potential implementations of populate_query.
As long as you don't mind using RTTI (or Boost.TypeIndex, which doesn't require RTTI), you can use type erasure and void* to get what you want. It's a bit dirty, but it does the job.
#include <functional>
#include <typeindex>
#include <unordered_map>
class driver {
public:
template <typename Container, typename Populator>
void register_populator(Populator populator) {
populators[type_index<Container>()] = [populator](void* v) {
Container& container = *static_cast<Container*>(v);
populator(container);
};
}
template <typename Container>
void execute(Container& container) {
auto it = populators.find(type_index<Container>());
if (it != populators.end()) {
it->second(&container);
}
}
private:
template <typename T>
static std::type_index type_index() {
return std::type_index(typeid(std::remove_cv_t<T>));
}
std::unordered_map<std::type_index, std::function<void (void*)>> populators;
};
Then use like so:
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
int main() {
driver d;
d.register_populator<std::vector<int>>([](std::vector<int>&) {
std::cout << "Populate vector<int>\n";
});
d.register_populator<std::vector<float>>([](std::vector<float>&) {
std::cout << "Populate vector<float>\n";
});
std::vector<int> int_vector;
std::vector<float> float_vector;
d.execute(int_vector);
d.execute(float_vector);
}
Output:
Populate vector<int>
Populate vector<float>

Tables of C++ member functions

I need a table that maps codes to C++ member functions. Suppose we have this class:
class foo
{
bool one() const;
bool two() const;
bool call(char*) const;
};
What I want is a table like this:
{
{ “somestring”, one },
{ ”otherstring”, two }
};
So that if I have a foo object f, f.call(”somestring”) would look up “somestring” in the table, call the one() member function, and return the result.
All of the called functions have identical prototypes, i.e., they are const, take no parameters, and return bool.
Is this possible? How?
Yes, it's possible, using pointer to member syntax.
Using the prototypes you supplied, the map would be.
std::map< std::string, bool( foo::*)() const>
It would be called with this syntax
this->*my_map["somestring"]();
That odd-looking ->* operator is for pointer to member functions, which can have some odd considerations, due to inheritance. (It's not just a raw address, as -> would expect)
Since you only need to store members of the same class, with the same arguments and return types, you can use pointer-to-member-functions:
bool foo::call(char const * name) const {
static std::map<std::string, bool (foo::*)() const> table
{
{"one", &foo::one},
{"two", &foo::two}
};
auto entry = table.find(name);
if (entry != table.end()) {
return (this->*(entry->second))();
} else {
return false;
}
}
That uses the new initialisation syntax of C++11. If your compiler doesn't support it, there are various other options. You could initialise the map with a static function:
typedef std::map<std::string, bool (foo::*)() const> table_type;
static table_type table = make_table();
static table_type make_table() {
table_type table;
table["one"] = &foo::one;
table["two"] = &foo::two;
return table;
}
or you could use Boost.Assignment:
static std::map<std::string, bool (foo::*)() const> table =
boost::assign::map_list_of
("one", &foo::one)
("two", &foo::two);
or you could use an array, and find the entry with std::find_if (or a simple for loop if your library doesn't have that yet), or std::binary_search if you make sure the array is sorted.
Yes.
struct foo_method
{
std::string name;
bool (foo::*pfun)() const;
};
foo_method methodTable[] =
{
{ “somestring”, &foo::one },
{ ”otherstring”, &foo::one }
};
void foo::call(const char* name) const
{
size_t size = sizeof(methodTable)/sizeof(*methodTable);
for(size_t i = 0 ; i < size ; ++i)
{
if ( methodTable[i].name == name )
{
bool (foo::*pfun)() const = methodTable[i].pfun;
(this->*pfun)(); //invoke
}
}
}
I would go with boost::function with std::map. Concretely, something like this :
typedef boost::function<bool()> MyFunc;
typedef std::map<std::string, MyFunc> MyFuncMap;
Then, given an instance of MyFuncMap, you could just do map["something"](). Then you could wrap that in a class that overloads operator(). You could use function pointers/references, but I prefer using boost::function because it allows me to bind pointers to member functions (using boost::bind) or use other function objects. You can also test boost::function in conditionals as you would with regular function pointers.
Here is the relevant documentation :
Boost.Function
Boost.Bind
Good luck!
Edit: Regarding your question about the const member and boost::function, here's an example :
#include <boost/function.hpp>
#include <boost/bind.hpp>
typedef boost::function<bool ()> FuncPtr;
struct Test
{
bool test() const
{
std::cout << "yay" << std::endl;
}
};
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
Test t;
FuncPtr ptr = boost::bind(&Test::test, &t);
ptr();
}
I'd just like to add that a pointer to a member function is meaningless without having an instance of a class on which to call it. The situation you've described accounts for this (and I think you know this), however in other situations, it may be necessary to encapsulate the function pointer with a pointer or reference to the instance to which it corresponds in some sort of functor construct.

Generic container for multiple data types in C++

Using C++, I'm trying to create a generic container class to handle multiple data types. It's a common problem with a variety of solutions, but I've found nothing as... intuitive as I've grown accustomed to in languages like Python or even VB/VBA...
So here's my scenario:
I've built a DataContainer class based on boost::any which I use to store multiple data types of multiple elements. I use a map declared as:
std::map<std::string, DataContainer* (or DataContainerBase*)>
where DataContainer is a class that encapsulates an object of the type:
std::list<boost::any>
along with convenience functions for managing / accessing the list.
However, in the end, I'm still forced to do type conversions outside the data container.
For example, if I were to store a list of int values in the map, accessing them would require:
int value = boost::any_cast<int>(map["myValue"]->get());
I'd rather the boost code be contained entirely within the data container structure, so I would only need type:
int value = map["myValue"]->get();
or, worst-case:
int value = map["myValue"]->get<int>();
Of course, I could enumerate my data types and do something like:
int value = map["myValue"]->get( TYPE_INT );
or write type-specific get() functions:
getInt(), getString(), getBool() ...
The problem with the last two options is that they are somewhat inflexible, requiring me to declare explicitly each type I wish to store in the container. The any_cast solution (which I have implemented and works) I suppose is fine, it's just... inelegant? I dunno. It seems I shouldn't need to employ the internal mechanics externally as well.
As I see it, passing the value without declaring the value type in the call to the DataContainer member function would require a void* solution (which is undesirable for obvious reasons), and using a "get()" call would require (so far as I can tell) a "virtual template" member function defined at the base class level, which, of course, isn't allowed.
As it is, I have a workable solution, and really, my use in this case is limited enough in scope that most any solutions will work well. But I am wondering if perhaps there's a more flexible way to manage a generic, multi-type data container than this.
If you want to introduce some sugar for this:
int value = boost::any_cast<int>(map["myValue"]->get());
then you might want to make the get() function to return a proxy object, defined +- like this:
struct Proxy {
boost::any& value;
Proxy(boost::any& value) : value(value) {}
template<typename T>
operator T() {
return boost::any_cast<T>(value);
}
};
Then this syntax would work:
int value = map["myValue"]->get();
// returns a proxy which gets converted by any_cast<int>
However I recommend to keep things explicit and just use that syntax:
int value = map["myValue"]->get<int>();
Here get doesn't return a proxy object with a template method, but is a template method itself (but does the same as the template conversion operator shown above).
Today I have done some source code for the purpose you want. I know that this question is so old, but maybe this little piece of code is helpful for someone. It is mainly based on boost:any.
/*
* AnyValueMap.hpp
*
* Created on: Jun 3, 2013
* Author: alvaro
*/
#ifndef ANYVALUEMAP_HPP_
#define ANYVALUEMAP_HPP_
#include <map>
#include <boost/any.hpp>
using namespace std;
template <class T>
class AnyValueMap {
public:
AnyValueMap(){}
virtual ~AnyValueMap(){}
private:
map<T, boost::any> container_;
typedef typename map<T, boost::any>::iterator map_iterator;
typedef typename map<T, boost::any>::const_iterator map_const_iterator;
public:
bool containsKey(const T key) const
{
return container_.find(key) != container_.end();
}
bool remove(const T key)
{
map_iterator it = container_.find(key);
if(it != container_.end())
{
container_.erase(it);
return true;
}
return false;
}
template <class V>
V getValue(const T key, const V defaultValue) const
{
map_const_iterator it = container_.find(key);
if(it != container_.end())
{
return boost::any_cast<V>(it->second);
}
return defaultValue;
}
template <class V>
V getValue(const T key) const
{
return boost::any_cast<V>(container_.at(key));
}
template <class V>
void setValue(const T key, const V value)
{
container_[key] = value;
}
};
#endif /* ANYVALUEMAP_HPP_ */
A simple usage example:
AnyValueMap<unsigned long> myMap;
myMap.setValue<double>(365, 1254.33);
myMap.setValue<int>(366, 55);
double storedDoubleValue = myMap.getValue<double>(365);
int storedIntValue = myMap.getValue<int>(366);

Universal function pointer

There is some class which have methods like:
int getSomething1();
std::string getSomething2();
someClass getSomething3();
There is structure which describes fields of this class like:
{"name of field", pointer to getter, std::type_info}
Then I would like to use it as follows:
if(type == int){
field_int = (int)getter();
}
else if(type == std::string){
field_string = (std::string)getter();
}
etc.
How to transform getters like
int getSomething1();
std::string getSomething2();
etc.
to some universal function pointer and then to get the correct value of field?
This answer of mine to another question addresses your problem pretty well. With some minor modifications, you get this:
template<class C, class T>
T get_attribute(const C& instance, T (C::*func)() const) {
return (instance.*func)();
}
Assuming the following:
struct Foo {
int getSomething1() const;
std::string getSomething2() const;
someClass getSomething3() const;
};
You can use it like this:
Foo foo;
int value = get_attribute<Foo, int>(foo, &Foo::getSomething1);
std::string value = get_attribute<Foo, std::string>(foo, &Foo::getSomething2);
someClass value = get_attribute<Foo, someClass>(foo, &Foo::getSomething3);
You can of course transform get_attribute to a functor to bind some or all of the arguments.
There is no formal universal function pointer, the equivalent of void*
for data. The usual solution is to use void (*)(); you are guaranteed
that you can convert any (non-member) function pointer to this (or any
other function pointer type) and back without loss of information.
If there is a certain similarity in the function signatures (e.g. all
are getters, with no arguments) and how they are used, it may be
possible to handle this with an abstract base class and a set of derived
classes (possibly templated); putting pointers to instances of these
classes in a map would definitely be more elegant than an enormous
switch.
What you are trying to achieve can be better achieved with already existing containers such as a boost fusion sequence. I'd advice that you try this first.
Templates to the rescue!
// Create mapping of type to specific function
template <typename T> T getSomething(); // No default implementation
template <> int getSomething<int>() { return getSomething1(); }
template <> std::string getSomething<std::string>() { return getSomething2(); }
template <> someClass getSomething<someClass>() { return getSomething3(); }
// Convenience wrapper
template <typename T> void getSomething(T& t) { t = getSomething<T>(); }
// Use
int i = getSomething<int>();
std::string s;
getSomething(s);
As I understand, your difficulty is in storing the function pointers, since they are of different types. You can solve this using Boost.Any and Boost.Function.
#include <boost/any.hpp>
#include <boost/function.hpp>
int getInt() {
return 0;
}
std::string getString() {
return "hello";
}
int main()
{
boost::function<boost::any ()> intFunc(getInt);
boost::function<boost::any ()> strFunc(getString);
int i = boost::any_cast<int>(intFunc());
std::string str = boost::any_cast<std::string>(strFunc());
}