Present is a class to register functions as callbacks.
class Action {
private:
static std::multimap<std::string, std::function<void()>> actions;
public:
static void registerAction(const std::string &key, std::function<void()> action);
}
Obviously it can not register member functions, as function pointer objects to member functions require the class to be specified, but every class should be able to register their functions. std::function<void(Class&)>
Using a template system, I couldn't access all actions from one "instance" of the static class I suppose. How could this be realized?
Example how it should look like:
class B {
public:
B() {
Action::registerAction("some_action", &callMe);
}
void callMe(){}
}
Given that member functions taken an additional argument, you need to bind this argument. For example, you could use something like this:
Action::registerAction("come_action", std::bind(&callMe, this));
The bind() expression will created a function object taking no arguments. Obviously, for this approach to work, this needs to stick around long enough.
you could use std::bind or a lambda function
// std::bind
Action::registerAction( "bla", std::bind(&callMe, this) );
// lambda
Action::registerAction( "bla", [this]() { this->callMe(); } );
i would suggest reading up on lambda functions. Pretty easy to use, and much more powerful than std::bind.
Related
So I have done some research, and have found you can create a boost::thread object and have it start with a non-static class function by using "this" and boost::bind etc. It really doesn't make much sense to me and all the examples I could find had the boost::thread object launched within the same class as the function it was starting with so this could be used. I however, am launching the thread in a different class so I'm afraid by using "this", I will be saying the "this" is from the class I am creating the thread from, rather than the one the function is in (I'm probably wrong, I need to learn more about this "this" guy). Here is an example of my source I am having the problem with.
ANNGUI.h
class ANNGUI
{
private:
boost::thread *GUIThread;
Main *GUIMain;
public:
// Creates the entire GUI and all sub-parts.
int CreateGUI();
}
ANNGUI.cpp
int ANNGUI::CreateGUI()
{
GUIMain = new Main();
GUIThread = new boost::thread(GUIMain->MainThreadFunc);
};
This isn't all the source, but I think my problem is in here somewhere, I know I have to deal with the "this" somehow, but I'm unsure how. I Could use a static function, but I didn't really want to make my variables static either.
Thanks.
Also, Is there any very good resource for using any boost libraries? Their web site documentation seems good, but over my head.
The this keyword is used with boost::bind when the function object you're creating is bound to a object member function. Member functions can't exist apart from instances, so when creating a functor object out of a member function with boost::bind, you need a pointer to an instance. That's exactly what the this keyword actually is. If you use the this keyword within a member function of a class, what you get is a pointer to the current instance of that class.
If you were to call bind from outside a class member function, you might say something like:
int main()
{
Foo f;
boost::thread* thr = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Foo::some_function, &f));
}
Here, we're using Foo::some_function as our thread function. But we can't use this because we're calling bind from main. But the same thing could be achieved using this if we called bind from within a member function of Foo, like so:
void Foo::func1()
{
boost::thread* thr = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Foo::some_function, this));
}
If a member function is static, or is simply a regular (non-member) function, then you don't need an instance pointer at all. You would just do:
boost::thread* thr = new boost::thread(some_regular_function);
As others mentioned, when you want to call an object method in a new thread, you have to supply the address of that object. But you don't need to call boost::bind, you can use the overloaded boost::thread constructor like this:
GUIThread = new boost::thread(&Main::MainThreadFunc, GUIMain);
If the method is in the same class you use this to get the address of the current instance, e.g.:
t = new boost::thread(&myclass::compute, this);
If the method has parameters, you can specify them after the second argument, e.g.:
t = new boost::thread(&myclass::compute, this, p1, p2);
boost::bind is your friend (it can sometimes have a rough way of showing it though)!
use GUIThread = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Main::MainThreadFunc, GUIMain));
and then make your MainThreadFunc a regular member. That means that you can use the instance variables directly like you would normally do.
Something like this:
class GUIMain {
public:
GUIMain() : m_Member(42) {}
void MainThreadFunc() {
// use all members as you would normally do
std::cout << m_Member << std::endl;
}
private:
int m_Member;
};
In cases like this it is useful to think of non-static member functions as free functions that take the this as first parameter, for example in your case void MainThreadFunc(Main* this).
boost::thread accepts a nullary functor, so you have to pass it a nullary functor which contains a reference to the instance GUIMain and calls GUIMain->MainThreadFunc which, seen as I explained above, would be something like MainThreadFunc(GUIMain).
Boost (and now also C++ with TR1) provides helpers to create such functors, namely boost::bind (or alternatively boost::lambda::bind). The expression boost::bind(f, arg1, arg2, ...) means "return a nullary functor which calls f(arg1, arg2, ...)".
That said, you can use the following expression to create the thread:
GUIThread = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Main::MainThreadFunc, GUIMain))
If your object is a functor, i.e. has an operator(), you can pass an instance of it to boost::thread. The operator() does not need to be static. For example:
#include <boost/thread.hpp>
struct th {
void operator()();
};
void th::operator()()
{
for (;;) {
// stuff
}
}
int main()
{
th t;
boost::thread my_thread( t ); // takes a copy of t !
my_thread.join(); // blocks
return 0;
}
I have two classes that don't know anything about themselfs class A, class B.
Class A is called the ENGINE,
Class B is called the GUI.
I want GUI class to have a pointer to a function in class ENGINE, so that when an event occurs on GUIControl, it calls ENGINE member function with two parameters (int,int).
Here's how i would like to have it:
class CGUIManager
{
public:
void SetControlCallback(void(*pFunctionPointer)(int,int) );
private:
void (*m_pControlCallbackFunction)(int,int) ;
};
void CGUIManager::SetControlCallback(void(*pFunctionPointer)(int,int) )
{
if(pFunctionPointer)
m_pControlCallbackFunction = pFunctionPointer;
}
class CEngine
{
private:
void GUIControlsCallback(int iControlID, int iControlMessage);
CGUIManager *pGUI;
};
Now while initializing ENGINE, i want to call:
//Set Controls Callback to CEngine Method
pGUI->SetControlsCallback( GUIControlsCallback );
To register a callback within CGUIManager class, that points to a method in CEngine class.
How can i do that?
Thanks in advance.
I would suggest using an interface (or something like that) if you would like it to be oo instead of function pointers ( which must point to a static member btw )
class IGuiCallback
{
public:
virtual void GUIControlsCallback(int iControlID, int iControlMessage)=0;
};
class CGUIManager
{
public:
void SetControlCallback(IGuiCallback*);
private:
IGuiCallback* m_pCallback;
};
class CEngine:public IGuiCallback
{
public:
void GUIControlsCallback(int iControlID, int iControlMessage);
private:
CGUIManager *pGUI;
};
then in engine:
pGUI->SetCallback(this);
There may be some syntax errors in my code but you should get the picture
Pointers-to-member-functions are not function pointers in C++.
To call your callback later (using provided SetControlsCallback signature), the caller need to have a valid instance of CEngine. You can achieve that by binding the pointer to CEngine to GUIControlsCallback:
CEngine* pEngine; // initialized somewhere
pGUI->SetControlsCallback(std::bind1st(pEngine, GUIControlsCallback));
If you use Boost or C++11, you'd better use their versions of bindings (boost::bind or std::bind respectively).
The easiest approach is to use std::function<void(int, int) as the type of the registered callback: this object can be used to call any function [object] which is callable with two ints. In particular, it could call the member function CEngine::GUIControlsCallback(int, int) which actually has three parameters:
the two obvious parameter to the member function of type int
the implicit pointer to the object (which becomes this)
The way this is done is to construct a function object which provides as first parameter a pointer to the CEngine object and takes two integers:
struct CEngine_bind {
CEngine_bind(CEngine* engine): engine_(engine) {}
void operator()(int i0, int i1) { this->engine_->GUIControlsCallback(i0, i1); }
CEngine* engine_;
};
Alternatively, you can use std:bind() which is a create a suitably bound function:
CEngine engine; // ... wherever this object is coming from)
std::function<void(int, int)> callback(std::bind(&CEngine::GUIControlsCallback, &engine,
std::placeholders::_1, std::placeholders::_2));
... and then set the callback object as the callback. This object simply be called passing two integer parameters which will cause the member function on the referenced object to be called:
callback(10, 20);
would call
engine.GUIControlsCallback(10, 20);
The std::function<void(int, int)> is copyable, i.e. you can easily store it in your CGUIManager class.
If you are able to change the interface of the CGUIManager class, I ssugest you generalise it to use boost::function<void(int, int)> (or std::function if writing in C++11) instead of a function pointer.
If you can't, unfortunately you are a victim of bad design. C-style callbacks that use function pointers usually allow for some kind of void* user data parameter to carry any additional information bound to the callback - in this case the your CEngine pointer could be cast to void* and a free function wrapper could be written to cast the void* back to CEngine. However, if you are able to change the callback interface, using boost/STL function is a superior technique.
I'm using a 3rd party library that allows me to register callbacks for certain events. The register function looks something like this. It uses the Callback signature.
typedef int (*Callback)(std::string);
void registerCallback(Callback pCallback) {
//it gets registered
}
My problem is that I want to register a member function as a callback something like this
struct MyStruct {
MyStruct();
int myCallback(std::string str);
};
MyStruct::MyStruct() {
registerCallback(&MyStruct::myCallback);
}
int MyStruct::myCallback(std::string str) {
return 0;
}
Of course, the compiler complains, saying
error C2664: 'registerCallback' : cannot convert parameter 1 from 'int (__thiscall MyStruct::* )(std::string)' to 'Callback'
I've been looking at boost libraries like function and bind, but none of those seem to be able to do the trick. I've been searching all over Google for the answer, but I don't even know what to call this, so it hasn't been much help.
Thanks in advance.
You're trying to pass a member function pointer as a normal function pointer which won't work. Member functions have to have the this pointer as one of the hidden parameters, which isn't the case for normal functions, so their types are incompatible.
You can:
Change the type of your argument to accept member functions and also accept an instance to be the invoking object
Quit trying to pass a member function and pass a normal function (perhaps by making the function static)
Have a normal function that takes an instance of your class, a member function pointer, and a std::string and use something like boost's bind to bind the first two arguments
Make the callback registration function accept a functor object, or an std::function (I think that's the name)
Numerous other ways which I won't detail here, but you get the drift.
Member functions are not convertible to the normal functions for its own good reasons. If your design allows, then make MyStruct::myCallback() a static member method and the code should work fine.
struct MyStruct {
...
static int myCallback(std::string str);
^^^^^^
};
Due to the inflexible hardcoding of an actual function type for the callback you can't use any of the normal adapting or binding tricks to help you here. The third party library really wants you to pass in a non-member function and there isn't much you can do. You may want to consider why you're trying to pass it the address of a member function, and if your design or use of the library could change.
One option, if you only need to set a single callback, is to have a static or namespace private function that refers to a singleton instance pointer, and uses that to dispatch upon callback.
If you need multiple items, then possibly a template would wrap the hackiness (untested code here, just the idea).
template <int which_callback>
struct CallbackHolderHack
{
static int callback_func(std::string str) { dispatchee_->myCallback(str); }
static MyStruct* dispatchee_;
};
template <int which_callback>
MyStruct* CallbackHolderHack::dispatchee_(0);
And use it:
CallbackHolderHack<0>::dispatchee_ = new MyStruct;
registerCallback(&CallbackHolderHack<0>::callback_func);
Depends on how you are using it.... eg a Singlton would be much simplier
struct MyStruct {
static MyStruct& Create() {
static MyStruct m; return m;
}
static int StaticCallBack(std::string str) {
return Create().Callback(str)
}
private:
int CallBack(std::string str);
MyStruct();
};
Or if you want to have many of these objects you have several choices. You would need a way to route it before the callback is called.
Since you are using C++, why not make the callback a functor object? Then you can use std::mem_fun.
Edit: Seems std::mem_fun has been deprecated in the latest C++11 standard. So std::function might be a better solution if you have a new compiler.
See this SO question for hints about using it.
class ICallBackInterface
{
public:
virtual void FireCallBack( std::string& str ) = 0;
};
std::set<ICallBackInterface*> CallBackMgr;
class MyStruct : public ICallBackInterface
{
public:
MyStruct()
{
CallBackMgr.insert( this );
}
~MyStruct()
{
CallBackMgr.erase( this );
}
virtual void FireCallBack( std::string& str )
{
std::cout << "MyStruct called\n";
}
};
void FireAllCallBack(std::string& str )
{
for ( std::set<ICallBackInterface*>::iterator iter = CallBackMgr.begin();
iter != CallBackMgr.end();
++iter)
{
(*iter)->FireCallBack( str );
}
}
This is another way to use polymorphism to achieve the same effect
So I have done some research, and have found you can create a boost::thread object and have it start with a non-static class function by using "this" and boost::bind etc. It really doesn't make much sense to me and all the examples I could find had the boost::thread object launched within the same class as the function it was starting with so this could be used. I however, am launching the thread in a different class so I'm afraid by using "this", I will be saying the "this" is from the class I am creating the thread from, rather than the one the function is in (I'm probably wrong, I need to learn more about this "this" guy). Here is an example of my source I am having the problem with.
ANNGUI.h
class ANNGUI
{
private:
boost::thread *GUIThread;
Main *GUIMain;
public:
// Creates the entire GUI and all sub-parts.
int CreateGUI();
}
ANNGUI.cpp
int ANNGUI::CreateGUI()
{
GUIMain = new Main();
GUIThread = new boost::thread(GUIMain->MainThreadFunc);
};
This isn't all the source, but I think my problem is in here somewhere, I know I have to deal with the "this" somehow, but I'm unsure how. I Could use a static function, but I didn't really want to make my variables static either.
Thanks.
Also, Is there any very good resource for using any boost libraries? Their web site documentation seems good, but over my head.
The this keyword is used with boost::bind when the function object you're creating is bound to a object member function. Member functions can't exist apart from instances, so when creating a functor object out of a member function with boost::bind, you need a pointer to an instance. That's exactly what the this keyword actually is. If you use the this keyword within a member function of a class, what you get is a pointer to the current instance of that class.
If you were to call bind from outside a class member function, you might say something like:
int main()
{
Foo f;
boost::thread* thr = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Foo::some_function, &f));
}
Here, we're using Foo::some_function as our thread function. But we can't use this because we're calling bind from main. But the same thing could be achieved using this if we called bind from within a member function of Foo, like so:
void Foo::func1()
{
boost::thread* thr = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Foo::some_function, this));
}
If a member function is static, or is simply a regular (non-member) function, then you don't need an instance pointer at all. You would just do:
boost::thread* thr = new boost::thread(some_regular_function);
As others mentioned, when you want to call an object method in a new thread, you have to supply the address of that object. But you don't need to call boost::bind, you can use the overloaded boost::thread constructor like this:
GUIThread = new boost::thread(&Main::MainThreadFunc, GUIMain);
If the method is in the same class you use this to get the address of the current instance, e.g.:
t = new boost::thread(&myclass::compute, this);
If the method has parameters, you can specify them after the second argument, e.g.:
t = new boost::thread(&myclass::compute, this, p1, p2);
boost::bind is your friend (it can sometimes have a rough way of showing it though)!
use GUIThread = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Main::MainThreadFunc, GUIMain));
and then make your MainThreadFunc a regular member. That means that you can use the instance variables directly like you would normally do.
Something like this:
class GUIMain {
public:
GUIMain() : m_Member(42) {}
void MainThreadFunc() {
// use all members as you would normally do
std::cout << m_Member << std::endl;
}
private:
int m_Member;
};
In cases like this it is useful to think of non-static member functions as free functions that take the this as first parameter, for example in your case void MainThreadFunc(Main* this).
boost::thread accepts a nullary functor, so you have to pass it a nullary functor which contains a reference to the instance GUIMain and calls GUIMain->MainThreadFunc which, seen as I explained above, would be something like MainThreadFunc(GUIMain).
Boost (and now also C++ with TR1) provides helpers to create such functors, namely boost::bind (or alternatively boost::lambda::bind). The expression boost::bind(f, arg1, arg2, ...) means "return a nullary functor which calls f(arg1, arg2, ...)".
That said, you can use the following expression to create the thread:
GUIThread = new boost::thread(boost::bind(&Main::MainThreadFunc, GUIMain))
If your object is a functor, i.e. has an operator(), you can pass an instance of it to boost::thread. The operator() does not need to be static. For example:
#include <boost/thread.hpp>
struct th {
void operator()();
};
void th::operator()()
{
for (;;) {
// stuff
}
}
int main()
{
th t;
boost::thread my_thread( t ); // takes a copy of t !
my_thread.join(); // blocks
return 0;
}
I'm looking to find how to implement this scenario:
I have logic code that is inside function,
now I like to be able to execute this function in a separate thread.
now what I have is a raw implementation of this ..
I simple Init the Thread that in its Start/Run method I keep the function logic .
how can I make it more generic? so I could send the function (maybe function pointer)
to generic thread factory/pool?
in c++
This is the command pattern. The usual solution is to bundle the logic into a function object:
class DoSomething {
public:
// Constructor accepts and stores parameters to be used
// by the code itself.
DoSomething(int i, std::string s)
: i_(i), s_(s) { }
void operator()() {
// Do the work here, using i_ and s_
}
private:
int i_;
std::string s_;
};
Have a look at boost::thread and boost::bind as these will become the std::tr1::thread and std::tr1::bind.
boost::thread is a small object, receiving a functor pointer with no return value and no arguments.
That means either a pointer to a function declared as void (*function)(void); or a struct/class implementing void operator()().
If you also use boost::bind, you can adapt basically any functor to be called as void (*functor)(void).
That's as flexible as you can get (as you can transform any function or function-like object to be called with no parameters, then launch it in it's own thread).