Standard C++ function object template for the subscript operator - c++

Say I currently have a template function like this:
template <class T, class K>
void* get_subobject(K key)
{
T& obj = function_returning_T_ref<T>();
// do various other things...
return &obj[key];
}
And I would like to make the subscript operation configurable so that the user could apply their own code to map obj and key to the return value. Something like this:
template <class T, class K, class Op = subscript<T, K>>
void* get_subobject(K key)
{
T& obj = function_returning_T_ref<T>();
// do various other things...
return &Op{}(obj, key);
}
My question is, for the default template parameter subscript<T,K> above is there a standard template (along the lines of std::less<T>) that I can use here so that Op defaults to calling operator[]? I can't see anything appropriate in <functional>.
If there is no standard template for this, am I best to create my own or is there some way I can use std::bind() or similar to the same effect without additional overhead?

I don't know of any built-in template, but it's not too hard to create your own (that, once inlined, will have no overhead):
template<typename T, typename K>
struct subscript
{
inline auto operator()(T const& obj, K const& key) const -> decltype(obj[key])
{
return obj[key];
}
inline auto operator()(T& obj, K const& key) const -> decltype(obj[key])
{
return obj[key];
}
};
You could even have one that worked on implicit types (I like this one best):
struct subscript
{
template<typename T, typename K>
inline auto operator()(T&& obj, K&& key) const
-> decltype(std::forward<T>(obj)[std::forward<K>(key)])
{
return std::forward<T>(obj)[std::forward<K>(key)];
}
};
The user, of course, can pass in any conforming type of their own, including a std::function object or plain function pointers.

Related

Transform each of parameter pack's values based on a boolean criteria

I am trying to solve this problem in C++ TMP where in i need to convert one parameter pack types into another, and then convert back the types and also values. The conversion back part is based on a boolean criteria that whether an arg in Args... was transformed or not in the first place.
Basically, i have a pack(Args...). First, i transform this (for each args[i], call a transform function). It works like this:
For each arg in Args..., just create same type in transformed_args... unless it is one of following, in that case do following conversions:
Type In Args...
Type In transformed_Args...
SomeClass
shared_ptr to SomeClass
std::vector of SomeClass
std::vector of shared_ptr to SomeClass
everything else remains the same for ex:
int remains int
std::string remains std::string
I achieve this by template specialization, of course
For the next part, i take transformed_args..., publish a class and a functor. I receive call back on this functor from(C++generated Python using Pybind, not important though). Relevant bits of that class look like this...
template<typename C, typename...transformed_args..., typename... Args>
class SomeTemplateClass
{
MethodWrapper<C,void, Args...> func;
//.....
void operator()(transformed_args... targs)
{
//....
(*func.wrapped_method_inside)(transform_back_magic(targs)...) // this is want i want to achieve.
//transform_back_magic(targs)... is a plaeholder for code that checks if type of args[i]... != type of targs[i]... and then calls a tranform_back specialization on it else just return args[i].val
}
}
targs are in transformed_args... format, but underlying C++ function they are aimed for expects Args...
template<typename... Args, typename... transformed_args, ........whatever else is needed>
transform_back_magic(....)
{
if(Args[i].type != transformed_args[i].types)
tranform_back(targs[i]...);
}
the tranform_back function template logic is specialized for different cases and all logic is in place. But how to invoke that based on this boolean criteria is hitting my TMP knowledge limits. I just got started not many weeks ago.
Here i am listing down what i have created so far.
First of all this is what i need in pseudo code
template<typename C, typename... transformed_args, typename... Args>
class SomeTemplateClass
{
MethodWrapper<C,void, Args...> func;
void operator(transformed_args... targs)
{
**//In pseudo code, this is what i need**
Args... params = CreateArgsInstanceFromTransformedArgs(targs);
(*func.wrapped_method_inside)(params...);
}
}
In my attempt to implement this, so far I have decided on creating a tuple<Args...> object by copying data from targs(with conversions where ever required)
void operator(transformed_args... targs)
{
//....
auto mytup = call1(std::tuple<args...>(), std::make_index_sequence<sizeof...(Args)>,
std::make_tuple(targs...), targs...);
// mytup can be std::tuple<Args...>(transform_back(1st_targs), transform_back(2nd_targs)....). Once available i can write some more logic to extract Args... from this tuple and pass to(*func.wrapped_method_inside)(....)
(*func.wrapped_method_inside)(ArgsExtractorFromTuple(mytup)); // this part is not implemented yet, but i think it should be possible. This is not my primary concern at the moment
}
//call1
template<typename... Args, typename... Targs, std::size_t... N>
auto call1(std::tuple<Args...> tupA, std::index_sequence<N>..., std::tuple<Targs...> tupT, Targs ..)
{
auto booltup = tuple_creator<0>(tupA, tupT, nullptr); // to create a tuple of bools
auto ret1 = std::make_tuple<Args...>(call2(booltup, targs, N)...); // targs and N are expanded together so that i get indirect access to see the corresponding type in Args...
return ret1;
}
// tuple_creator is a recursive function template with sole purpose to create a boolean tuple.
// such that std::get<0>(booltup) = true,
//if tuple_element_t<0,std::tuple<Args...>> and tuple_element_t<0,std::tuple<targs...>> are same types else false
template<size_t I, typename... Targs, typename... Args>
auto tuple_creator(std::tuple<Args...>tupA, std::tuple<Targs...>tupT, std::enable_if_t<I == sizeof...(targs)>*)
{
return std::make_tuple(std::is_same<std::tuple_element_t<I-1, std::tuple<Targs...>>, std::tuple_element_t<I-1, std::tuple<Args...>>>::value);
}
template<size_t I = 0, typename... Targs, typename... Args>
auto tuple_creator(std::tuple<Args...>tupA, std::tuple<Targs...>tupT, std::enable_if_t<I < sizeof...(targs)>*)
{
auto ret1 = tuple_creator<I+1>(tupA, tupT, nullptr);
if(!I)
return ret1;
auto ret2 = std::is_same<std::tuple_element_t<I-1, std::tuple<Targs...>>, std::tuple_element_t<I-1, std::tuple<Args...>>>::value;
return std::tuple_cat(ret1, std::make_tuple(ret2));
}
template<typename TT, typename Tuple>
auto call2(Tuple boolyup, TT t, std::size_t I)
{
auto ret = transform_back<std::get<I>(booltup)>(t); // error: I is not a compile time constant
return ret;
}
transform_back is a template that uses a bool template param and enable_if based specialization to decide whether transform an argument back or not
below are the transform_back specialization for std::vector. Similarly i have others for when T = Class etc and so on
template<bool sameTypes, typename T>
std::enable_if_t<(is_vector<T>::value, is_shared_ptr<typename T::value_type>::value &&
is_class<remove_cvref_t<typename T::value_type_element_type>>::value
&& sameTypes), T>
transform_back(T val) // it was never transfoemd in first place, return as is
{
return val;
}
template<bool sameTypes, typename T>
std::enable_if_t<(is_vector<T>::value, is_shared_ptr<typename T::value_type>::value
&& is_class<remove_cvref_t<typename T::value_type_element_type>>::value
&& !sameTypes),
typename std::vector<typename T::value_type::element_type>>
transform(T val)
{
std::vector<T::value_type::element_type> t;
for(int i = 0 ; i < val.size(); ++i)
{
typename T::value_type::element_type obj = *val[i];
t.push_back(obj);
}
return t;
}
Both these specialization are same and only differ on sameTypes boolean variable
This code currently errors out in call2 method while trying to using
std::get
auto ret = transform_back<std::get<I>(booltup)>(t); // error: I is not a compile time constant
How can you help?
1)What could be the work around to std::get issue here? Just cant figure out a way to fit in std::size_t as template arg here instead of function arg to make it work at compile time.
Other than this:
2)If you can suggest an alternative approach to implement from top level.
Args... params = CreateArgsInstanceFromTransformedArgs(targs);
That would be great. The path i took is not very convincing personally to me.
If I understand correctly, you might do something like:
template <typename> struct Tag{};
std::shared_ptr<SomeClass> transform_to(Tag<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>>, const SomeClass& s)
{
return std::make_shared<SomeClass>(s);
}
std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>> transform_to(Tag<std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>>>, const std::vector<SomeClass>& v)
{
std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>> res;
res.reserve(v.size());
for (const auto& s : v) {
res.emplace_back(std::make_shared<SomeClass>(s));
}
return res;
}
const SomeClass& transform_to(Tag<SomeClass>, const std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>& s)
{
return *s;
}
std::vector<SomeClass> transform_to(Tag<std::vector<SomeClass>>, const std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>>& v)
{
std::vector<SomeClass> res;
res.reserve(v.size());
for (const auto& s : v) {
res.emplace_back(*s);
}
return res;
}
template <typename T>
const T& transform_to(Tag<T>, const T& t) { return t; } // No transformations
And then
std::function<void (Args...)> func;
template <typename ... transformed_args>
void operator () (transformed_args... targs) const
{
func(transform_to(Tag<Args>(), targs)...);
}
Just explaining the use case here to add some context. Consider these three methods in C++ each represented with the function pointer SomeTemplateClass::func:
void foo(vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>) // 1
// Args... = vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>, Targs... = vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>
void foo(vector<SomeClass>) // 2
// Args... = vector<SomeClass>, Targs... = vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>
void foo(vector<SomeClass>, vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>) // 3
// Args... = vector<SomeClass>, vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>, Targs... = vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>, vector<shared_ptr<SomeClass>>
One instance each of SomeTemplateClass is exposed to Python via Pybind. I do these transformations so that when foo is called from Python, any arg vector<T>(in C++) is received as vector<shared_ptr<T>> in SomeTemplateClass functor. This helps in to get handle to previously created objects T that i need.
But as you can see from 3 cases for foo, foo(vector<shared_ptr<T>>) does not need to be transformed to and subsequently not need to be transformed back. The case of 'tranform_to'is easily handled with template specialization, but while transforming back, vector<shared_ptr<T>> cant be blindly converted back to vector<T>. So (transform(targs...)) needs an additional logic to transform a particular arg (or targ) only when targ[i]::type != arg[i]::type
Building on Jarod's answer, i rather need something like this where in transform_to method for vector<shared_ptr> is further divided in two possible templates
template<bool wasOriginallyTransformed>
enable_if<!wasOriginallyTransformed, std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>> transform_to(Tag<std::vector<SomeClass>>, const std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>>& v)
{
return v;
}
template<bool wasOriginallyTransformed>
enable_if<!wasOriginallyTransformed, std::vector<<SomeClass>
transform_to(Tag<std::vector<SomeClass>>, const std::vector<std::shared_ptr<SomeClass>>& v)
{
std::vector<SomeClass> res;
res.reserve(v.size());
for (const auto& s : v) {
res.emplace_back(*s);
}
return res;
}

Implement getting value by index for a custom variant class

My question may look obvious and even incorrect, so I'll describe my problem from the very beginning. As it often happens, I may be misunderstanding the concept itself, therefore trying to do something which should be done in a totally different way.
Subj
I've been challenged to write a simple custom version of std::variant. It's key features (when implementing one) are:
Works like a type-dafe union
Does not allocate extra memory dynamically
Is properly aligned, according to the contained types
There exist get<T> & get<index> functions (in my case), which can obatin variant's data by type & index (that's where trouble began)
Problem
To achieve all the copy & move semantics the stored type is required to be available, so that if it is not POD, it's constructors and other stuff would be called. Also seems that get<index>() relies upon the same ability to get that type. Would be fine... but it's obtained only in constructor, which means runtime.
Below is my small draft, it stores values and supports get<T>:
/* Here goes template magic, don't read much of it,
* should be working fine, just showing relevant part of it
************************************************************/
inline constexpr std::size_t variant_npos = -1;
template<typename _Tp, typename... _Types>
struct __index_of : std::integral_constant<size_t, 0> {};
template<typename _Tp, typename... _Types>
struct __index_of_v
{
static constexpr size_t value = __index_of<_Tp, _Types...>::value;
};
template<typename _Tp, typename _First, typename... _Rest>
struct __index_of<_Tp, _First, _Rest...> :
std::integral_constant<size_t, std::is_same<_Tp, _First>::value ? 0 : __index_of_v<_Tp, _Rest...>::value + 1> {};
template<typename _Tp, typename... _Types>
struct __variant_index_of // !! This can get an index of type in variant's pack. Works ok.
{
static constexpr size_t value = __index_of_v<_Tp, _Types...>::value == sizeof...(_Types) ? 0 : __index_of_v<_Tp, _Types...>::value;
};
//---------------------- Here goes the class --------------------------------
template<typename... Types>
class variant
{
const __type_index<Types...> __npos = static_cast<__type_index<Types...>>(variant_npos); // Never mind
public:
variant()
: _index(__npos) // "No type" index
{ }
variant(const variant<Types...>& other)
: _data(other._data)
{ }
variant(variant<Types...>&& other)
: _data(other._data)
{
other._index = variant_npos;
}
/* Constructors contain type check, because
* supporting implicit conversions is good, these
* checks don't influence the current question
************************************************/
template<class U, typename std::enable_if<__variant_index_of<std::decay_t<U>, Types...>::value != 0 >::type* = nullptr>
variant(U&& value)
: _index(__variant_index_of<U, Types...>::value)
{
new (getPtr()) U{std::move(value)};
}
template<class U, typename std::enable_if<__checker<0, U, Types...>::is_conv
&& __variant_index_of<std::decay_t<U>, Types...>::value == 0 >::type* = nullptr>
variant(U&& value)
: _index(__checker<0, U, Types...>::number_of_class)
{
using Datatype = typename __checker<0, U, Types...>::TargetClass;
new (getPtr()) Datatype{std::move(value)};
}
variant<Types...>& operator=(const variant<Types...>& other)
{
// TODO: should be improved, as well as move should be implemented
if (this != &other)
{
_data = other._data;
_index = other._index;
}
return *this;
}
std::size_t index() const
{ return _index; }
bool empty() const
{ return _index == __npos; }
private:
void* getPtr() const
{ return const_cast<void*>(static_cast<const void*>(std::addressof(_data))); }
void* getPtr()
{ return static_cast<void*>(std::addressof(_data)); }
private:
std::aligned_union_t<1, Types...> _data;
// Taken from GCC implementation, a sophisticated index type for alignment
// Assume it is an unsigned number
__type_index<Types...> _index;
static_assert(sizeof...(Types) > 0, "There must be at least one type alternative");
template<typename T, typename... OtherTypes>
friend T& get(variant<OtherTypes...>& v);
template<typename T, typename... OtherTypes>
friend const T& get(const variant<OtherTypes...>& v);
template<typename T, typename... OtherTypes>
friend T* get(variant<OtherTypes...>* v);
template<typename T, typename... OtherTypes>
friend const T* get(const variant<OtherTypes...>* v);
template<typename T, typename... OtherTypes>
friend T&& get(const variant<OtherTypes...>&& v);
};
//----------------- The latter 3 get functions are almost similar ------
template<typename T, typename... Types>
T& get(variant<Types...>& v)
{
return const_cast<T&>(get<T>(const_cast<const variant<Types...>&>(v)));
}
template<typename T, typename... Types>
const T& get(const variant<Types...>& v)
{
if ((v._index == variant_npos) || (v._index != __variant_index_of<T, Types...>::value))
throw bad_get("variant get error");
return *reinterpret_cast<T*>(v.getPtr());
}
The code is not "minimal", sorry for that, but if shows my effort. In short: index of type is stored in constructors, there's been also implemented a __variant_index_of thing, so that index of any given type can be searched in the variant's template parameters.
It looked like a nice idea then to implement something like:
template<size_t TypeIndex, typename... Types>
using variant_type_getter_t = typename variant_type_getter<TypeIndex, Types...>::type;
Can include it's possible implementation here, but it doesn't solve the problem: occured that _index is a runtime value, so that templates are of no use, lots of ‘this’ is not a constant expression errors at compile-time prove that.
Spending pretty lots of time reading the existing sources (like GCC's implementation) lead to a possibly wrong confidence that using classic type erasure (pImpl -> template child parameterized with the stored type) should not be applied here.
Question
So, as the title states: is it even possible to use some trick for implementing access to the type of a variadic template by it's runtime index?
Maybe some template redesign is required for that? Or even maybe the stack allocation of data had not been thought through properly?
Thanks in advance for any bright ideas =)
UPD: renamed the question to emphasize, that I basically know, what are templates, just cannot cook them =(

Function to get field value from template parameter instead of direct access to allow different names for same information

I'm designing a library for internal use.
A function can be
template<typename It>
void doStuff(It begin, It end)
{
// This is example code. The point is to show that I access the data of the iterator
doStuffInternal(it->a, it->b, it->c);
}
This function is a template because I want to accept all kind of iterators, but I have specific expectations on the type that this iterators produce.
At the moment my code assumes an object is passed with a structure like
struct A
{
int a;
std::string b;
BigObject c;
};
I know the calling code of this function will receive data from an external API, and the data will look something like
struct AlmostA
{
int a_;
std::string _b;
AlmostBigObject cc;
};
Now I can't pass this AlmostA to my function and I need to convert it to A (or something that behaves like A), even if all the information are in AlmostA, just with different names (and slightly different types).
What I'm thinking about doing is to create a function to access the fields
inline int getA(const &A a)
{
return a.a;
}
inline std::string& getB(const &A a)
{
return a.b;
}
and so on for every field I need to access, then rewrite my function to be
template<typename It>
void doStuff(It begin, It end)
{
doStuffInternal(getA(*it), getB(*it), getC(*it));
}
Then the calling code can define
inline int getA(const &AlmostA a)
{
return a.a_;
}
inline std::string& getB(const &AlmostA a)
{
return a._b;
}
and call my function with an iterator of AlmostA without any conversion.
What I hope to achieve with this is that the calling code can define how they provide the information, without being forced to have a structure with those specific fields.
I googled around and couldn't find any example of code doing this.
I'm relatively new to C++, so I'd like if this would work, what are the pitfalls of this approach, why is it not popular or not used (I know something kind of similar is done with std::swap, but that's a particular function) what are alternative solutions to present data with different interface in a unified way in the C++ world?
In what namespace does the getter function need to be implemented in order for the compiler to find them?
Your doStuffInternal(getA(*it), getB(*it), getC(*it)) seems solid to me - I would use a struct template with an explicit specialization for every type that you need to support.
template <typename T>
struct adapter;
template <>
struct adapter<A>
{
template <typename T>
decltype(auto) a(T&& x) { return forward_like<T>(x.a); }
template <typename T>
decltype(auto) b(T&& x) { return forward_like<T>(x.b); }
// ...
};
template <>
struct adapter<AlmostA>
{
template <typename T>
decltype(auto) a(T&& x) { return forward_like<T>(x.a_); }
template <typename T>
decltype(auto) b(T&& x) { return forward_like<T>(x._b); }
// ...
};
Using decltype(auto) as the return type and forward_like allows you to preserve the value category of x's members:
static_assert(std::is_same<decltype(adapter<A>::a(A{})), int&&>{});
A lvalue{};
static_assert(std::is_same<decltype(adapter<A>::a(lvalue)), int&>{});
const A const_lvalue{};
static_assert(std::is_same<decltype(adapter<A>::a(const_lvalue)), const int&>{});
wandbox example (of the value category propagation)
The final code will look something like this:
template<typename It>
void doStuff(It begin, It end)
{
adapter<std::decay_t<decltype(*it)>> adp;
doStuffInternal(adp.a(*it), adp.b(*it), adp.c(*it));
}
In C++11, you need to explicitly specify the return type using a trailing return type. Example:
template <typename T>
auto a(T&& x) -> decltype(forward_like<T>(x.a_))
{
return forward_like<T>(x.a_);
}

Deduction template argument C++

Please, consider the code below:
template<typename T>
bool function1(T some_var) { return true; }
template <typename T>
bool (*function2())(T) {
return function1<T>;
}
void function3( bool(*input_function)(char) ) {}
If I call
function3(function2<char>());
it is ok. But if I call
function3(function2());
compiler gives the error that it is not able to deduction the argument for template.
Could you, please, advise (give an idea) how to rewrite function1 and/or function2 (may be, fundamentally to rewrite using classes) to make it ok?
* Added *
I am trying to do something simple like lambda expressions in Boost.LambdaLib (may be, I am on a wrong way):
sort(some_vector.begin(), some_vector.end(), _1 < _2)
I did this:
template<typename T>
bool my_func_greater (const T& a, const T& b) {
return a > b;
}
template<typename T>
bool my_func_lesser (const T& a, const T& b) {
return b > a;
}
class my_comparing {
public:
int value;
my_comparing(int value) : value(value) {}
template <typename T>
bool (*operator<(const my_comparing& another) const)(const T&, const T&) {
if (this->value == 1 && another.value == 2) {
return my_func_greater<T>;
} else {
return my_func_greater<T>;
}
}
};
const my_comparing& m_1 = my_comparing(1);
const my_comparing& m_2 = my_comparing(2);
It works:
sort(a, a + 5, m_1.operator< <int>(m_2));
But I want that it doesn't require template argument as in LambdaLib.
Deduction from return type is not possible. So function2 can't be deduced from what return type you expect.
It is however possible to deduce cast operator. So you can replace function2 with a helper structure like: Unfortunately there is no standard syntax for declaring cast operator to function pointer without typedef and type deduction won't work through typedef. Following definition works in some compilers (works in G++ 4.5, does not work in VC++ 9):
struct function2 {
template <typename T>
(*operator bool())(T) {
return function1<T>;
}
};
(see also C++ Conversion operator for converting to function pointer).
The call should than still look the same.
Note: C++11 introduces alternative typedef syntax which can be templated. It would be like:
struct function2 {
template <typename T>
using ftype = bool(*)(T);
template <typename T>
operator ftype<T>() {
return function1<T>;
}
};
but I have neither G++ 4.7 nor VC++ 10 at hand, so I can't test whether it actually works.
Ad Added:
The trick in Boost.Lambda is that it does not return functions, but functors. And functors can be class templates. So you'd have:
template<typename T>
bool function1(T some_var) { return true; }
class function2 {
template <typename T>
bool operator()(T t) {
function1<T>;
}
};
template <typename F>
void function3( F input_function ) { ... input_function(something) ... }
Now you can write:
function3(function2);
and it's going to resolve the template inside function3. All STL takes functors as templates, so that's going to work with all STL.
However if don't want to have function3 as a template, there is still a way. Unlike function pointer, the std::function (C++11 only, use boost::function for older compilers) template can be constructed from any functor (which includes plain function pointers). So given the above, you can write:
void function3(std::function<bool ()(char)> input_function) { ... input_function(something) ... }
and now you can still call:
function3(function2());
The point is that std::function has a template constructor that internally generates a template wrapper and stores a pointer to it's method, which is than callable without further templates.
Compiler don't use context of expression to deduce its template parameters. For compiler, function3(function2()); looks as
auto tmp = function2();
function3(tmp);
And it don't know what function2 template parameter is.
After your edit, I think what you want to do can be done simpler. See the following type:
struct Cmp {
bool const reverse;
Cmp(bool reverse) : reverse(reverse) {}
template <typename T> bool operator()(T a, T b) {
return reverse != (a < b);
}
};
Now, in your operator< you return an untyped Cmp instance depending on the order of your arguments, i.e. m_2 < m_1 would return Cmp(true) and m_1 < m_2 would return Cmp(false).
Since there is a templated operator() in place, the compiler will deduce the right function inside sort, not at your call to sort.
I am not sure if this help you and I am not an expert on this. I have been watching this post since yesterday and I want to participate in this.
The template cannot deduce it's type because the compiler does not know what type you are expecting to return. Following is a simple example which is similar to your function2().
template<typename T>
T foo() {
T t;
return t;
};
call this function
foo(); // no type specified. T cannot be deduced.
Is it possible to move the template declaration to the class level as follows:
template<typename T>
bool my_func_greater (const T& a, const T& b) {
return a > b;
}
template<typename T>
bool my_func_lesser (const T& a, const T& b) {
return b > a;
}
template <typename T>
class my_comparing {
public:
int value;
my_comparing(int value) : value(value) {}
bool (*operator<(const my_comparing& another) const)(const T&, const T&) {
if (this->value == 1 && another.value == 2) {
return my_func_greater<T>;
} else {
return my_func_greater<T>;
}
}
};
and declare m_1 and m_2 as below:
const my_comparing<int>& m_1 = my_comparing<int>(1);
const my_comparing<int>& m_2 = my_comparing<int>(2);
Now you can compare as follows:
if( m_1 < m_2 )
cout << "m_1 is less than m_2" << endl;
else
cout << "m_1 is greater than m_2" << endl;
I know this is simple and everyone knows this. As nobody posted this, I want to give a try.

Polymorphic use of templates

Here, the context of polymorphic is expecting 'Derived' from 'Base&.
Given
class P { };
class Q : public P { };
auto operator + (const P& p, int x) -> DYNAMIC_DECLTYPE(P) {
DYNAMIC_DECLTYPE(P) p2(p);
p2.func(x);
return p2;
}
Is there a way to have DYNAMIC_DECLTYPE working? I want to use this form instead of
template <typename T> T operator + (const T& t, int x)
or have a potentially long list of
if (!strcmp(typeid(p).name(), typeid(derived()).name()) { ... }
because the latter cannot be used to restrict T to P or subclasses thereof (prove me wrong, if possible).
What you are trying to do is in every sense of the word a template pattern: You have an unbounded family of return types with matching function argument types. This should simply be a straight template.
If you want to restrict the permissible types, you should add some typetrait magic. Perhaps like this:
#include <type_traits>
template <typename T>
typename std::enable_if<std::is_base_of<P, T>::value, T>::type
operator+(T const & t, int x)
{
T s(t);
s.func(x);
return s;
}
(If func returns a reference, you can shortcut this to return T(t).func(x);.)