Haskell-like `const` in C++ - templates

So in the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with functional-programming type solutions to problems in C++11, and from time to time, I've been in a situation where I need a function that returns a constant value.
In Haskell, there is a function
const :: a -> b -> a
const x = \_ -> x
that returns a function that evaluates to const's original argument, no matter what argument is supplied to it. I would like to create something similar in C++11. Such constructions are useful for signifying special behavior in functions (a constant function of true sent to a filter would leave the data intact). Here's my first attempt:
template<class T>
std::function<T(...)> constF(T x) {
return ([x](...) { return x; });
}
This compiles on its own, but any attempt to use it results in incomplete-type errors. My second attempt was this:
template<class T, class... Args>
std::function<T(Args...)> constF(T x) {
return ([x](Args...) { return x; });
}
This comes closer, but doesn't allow me to supply any arguments, unless I explicitly state them.
auto trueFunc1 = constF(true);
auto trueFunc2 = constF<bool, int>(true);
cout << trueFunc1() << endl; //works
cout << trueFunc1(12) << endl; //doesn't compile
cout << trueFunc2(12) << endl; //works
Ideally, a correct construction would produce no difference between trueFunc1 and trueFunc2.
Is this even possible in C++?

Since C++11 doesn't have generic or variadic lambdas, I'd write a functor template class:
template <typename T>
// requires CopyConstructible<T>
class const_function {
T value;
public:
template <typename U, typename = typename std::enable_if<std::is_convertible<U,T>::value>::type>
const_function(U&& val) :
value(std::forward<U>(val)) {}
template <typename... Args>
T operator () (Args&&...) const {
return value;
}
};
and a nice type-deducing wrapper to make them:
template <typename T>
const_function<typename std::remove_reference<T>::type>
constF(T&& t) {
return {std::forward<T>(t)};
}
In C++1y, I think the simple equivalent is:
template <typename T>
auto constF(T&& t) {
return [t{std::forward<T>(t)}](auto&&...){return t;};
}

Related

C++: template to check if expression compiles

When writing template specialization with SFINAE you often come to the point where you need to write a whole new specialization because of one small not-existing member or function. I would like to pack this selection into a small statement like orElse<T a,T b>.
small example:
template<typename T> int get(T& v){
return orElse<v.get(),0>();
}
is this possible?
The intent of orElse<v.get(),0>() is clear enough, but if such a thing could exist,
it would have to be be one of:
Invocation Lineup
orElse(v,&V::get,0)
orElse<V,&V::get>(v,0)
orElse<V,&V::get,0>(v)
where v is of type V, and the function template thus instantiated
would be respectively:
Function Template Lineup
template<typename T>
int orElse(T & obj, int(T::pmf*)(), int deflt);
template<typename T, int(T::*)()>
int orElse(T & obj, int deflt);
template<typename T, int(T::*)(), int Default>
int orElse(T & obj);
As you appreciate, no such a thing can exist with the effect that you want.
For any anyone who doesn't get that,
the reason is simply this: None of the function invocations in the Invocation Lineup
will compile if there is no such member as V::get. There's no getting round
that, and the fact that the function invoked might be an instantiation of a
function template in the Function Template Lineup makes no difference whatever.
If V::get does not exist, then any code that mentions it will not compile.
However, you seem to have a practical goal that need not be approached
in just this hopeless way. It looks as if, for a given name foo and an given type R,
you want to be able to write just one function template:
template<typename T, typename ...Args>
R foo(T && obj, Args &&... args);
which will return the value of R(T::foo), called upon obj with arguments args...,
if such a member function exists, and otherwise return some default R.
If that's right, it can be achieved as per the following illustration:
#include <utility>
#include <type_traits>
namespace detail {
template<typename T>
T default_ctor()
{
return T();
}
// SFINAE `R(T::get)` exists
template<typename T, typename R, R(Default)(), typename ...Args>
auto get_or_default(
T && obj,
Args &&... args) ->
std::enable_if_t<
std::is_same<R,decltype(obj.get(std::forward<Args>(args)...))
>::value,R>
{
return obj.get(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
// SFINAE `R(T::get)` does not exist
template<typename T, typename R, R(Default)(), typename ...Args>
R get_or_default(...)
{
return Default();
}
} //namespace detail
// This is your universal `int get(T,Args...)`
template<typename T, typename ...Args>
int get(T && obj, Args &&... args)
{
return detail::get_or_default<T&,int,detail::default_ctor>
(obj,std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
// C++14, trivially adaptable for C++11
which can be tried out with:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
struct A
{
A(){};
int get() {
return 1;
}
int get(int i) const {
return i + i;
}
};
struct B
{
double get() {
return 2.2;
}
double get(double d) {
return d * d;
}
};
struct C{};
int main()
{
A const aconst;
A a;
B b;
C c;
cout << get(aconst) << endl; // expect 0
cout << get(a) << endl; // expect 1
cout << get(b) << endl; // expect 0
cout << get(c) << endl; // expect 0
cout << get(a,1) << endl; // expect 2
cout << get(b,2,2) << endl; // expect 0
cout << get(c,3) << endl; // expect 0
cout << get(A(),2) << endl; // expect 4
cout << get(B(),2,2) << endl; // expect 0
cout << get(C(),3) << endl; // expect 0
return 0;
}
There is "compound SFINAE" in play in the complicated return type:
std::enable_if_t<
std::is_same<R,decltype(obj.get(std::forward<Args>(args)...))
>::value,R>
If T::get does not exist then decltype(obj.get(std::forward<Args>(args)...)
does not compile. But if it does compile, and the return-type of T::get is
something other than R, then the std::enable_if_t type specifier does not
compile. Only if the member function exists and has the desired return type R
can the R(T::get) exists case be instantiated. Otherwise the
catch-all R(T::get) does not exist case is chosen.
Notice that get(aconst) returns 0 and not 1. That's as it should be,
because the non-const overload A::get() cannot be called on a const A.
You can use the same pattern for any other R foo(V & v,Args...) and
existent or non-existent R(V::foo)(Args...).
If R is not default-constructible, or if you want the default R that
is returned when R(V::foo) does not exist to be something different from
R(), then define a function detail::fallback (or whatever) that returns the
desired default R and specify it instead of detail::default_ctor
How nice it would be it you could further template-paramaterize the pattern
to accomodate any possible member function of T with any possible return
type R. But the additional template parameter you would need for that would
be R(T::*)(typename...),and its instantiating value would have to be
&V::get (or whatever), and then the pattern would
force you into the fatal snare of mentioning the thing whose existence is in doubt.
Yes, this is more or less possible. It is known as a "member detector". See this wikibooks link for how to accomplish this with macros. The actual implementation will depend on whether you are using pre- or post-C++11 and which compiler you are using.

Perfect-forward non-T arguments while converting T-s

(This question follows from this answer)
I am trying to adapt a trampoline function that is currently just passing through a variable number of arguments.
I would like to have it convert any argument PyObject* pyob to Object{pyob}, but forward all other arguments through.
So (void* self, int, PyObject*, float) -> (int, Object, float)
In that example, the first self argument is stripped away. This always happens. Out of the remaining arguments, one of them is of type PyObject*, and hence requires conversion to Object.
Here is the function:
template <typename T, T t>
struct trap;
template <typename R, typename... Args, R(Base::*t)(Args...)>
struct trap<R(Base::*)(Args...), t>
{
static R
call(void* s, Args... args)
{
std::cout << "trap:" << typeid(t).name() << std::endl;
try
{
return (get_base(s)->*t)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
catch (...)
{
std::cout << "CAUGHT" << std::endl;
return std::is_integral<R>::value ? static_cast<R>(-42) : static_cast<R>(-3.14);
}
}
};
It appears not to be forwarding arguments. I think it is making a copy of each argument. I've tried:
call(void* s, Args&&... args)
But that just generates compiler errors.
The complete test case is here
How can I fix the function to perfect-forward all arguments apart from those of type PyObject*, which it should convert?
It appears not to be forwarding arguments
You can't perfectly-forward arguments of a function which is not a template, or which is invoked through a pointer to a function, like you do. Perfect-forwarding involves a template argument deduction, which doesn't take place when you invoke a function through a pointer - that pointer points to a concrete instantiation of a function template.
The std::forward<Args>(args) expression is there to possibly utilize a move-constructor to copy-initialize the parameters of the target function from those arguments of call that are passed by value (or by a hard-coded rvalue reference), or let them be bound by an rvalue reference - you won't need any more those instances, you are free to move-from them, saving at least one copy operation. (It could be as simple as static_cast<Args&&>(args)..., because it's just a reference collapsing).
I would like to have it convert any argument PyObject* pyob to Object{pyob}, but forward all other arguments through. How can I fix the function to perfect-forward all arguments apart from those of type PyObject*, which it should convert?
#include <utility>
template <typename T, typename U>
T&& forward_convert(U&& u)
{
return std::forward<T>(std::forward<U>(u));
}
template <typename T>
Object forward_convert(PyObject* a)
{
return Object{a};
}
// ...
return (get_base(s)->*t)(forward_convert<Args>(args)...);
To replace any occurrence of Object with PyObject* while creating the signature of call function, and only then conditionally forward or convert the arguments, you should do what follows:
template <typename T>
struct replace { using type = T; };
template <>
struct replace<Object> { using type = PyObject*; };
// you may probably want some more cv-ref specializations:
//template <>
//struct replace<Object&> { using type = PyObject*; };
template <typename T, T t>
struct trap;
template <typename R, typename... Args, R(Base::*t)(Args...)>
struct trap<R(Base::*)(Args...), t>
{
static R
call(void* s, typename replace<Args>::type... args)
{
try
{
return (get_base(s)->*t)(forward_convert<typename replace<Args>::type>(args)...);
}
catch (...)
{
return std::is_integral<R>::value ? static_cast<R>(-42) : static_cast<R>(-3.14);
}
}
};
DEMO
You have to change call to (Note that I introduce Ts in addition to Args).
template <typename ... Ts>
static R
call(void* s, Ts&&... args)
{
std::cout << "trap:" << typeid(t).name() << std::endl;
try
{
return (get_base(s)->*t)(std::forward<Ts>(args)...);
}
catch (...)
{
std::cout << "CAUGHT" << std::endl;
return std::is_integral<R>::value ? static_cast<R>(-42) : static_cast<R>(-3.14);
}
}

how to avoid undefined execution order for the constructors when using std::make_tuple

How can I use std::make_tuple if the execution order of the constructors is important?
For example I guess the execution order of the constructor of class A and the constructor of class B is undefined for:
std::tuple<A, B> t(std::make_tuple(A(std::cin), B(std::cin)));
I came to that conclusion after reading a comment to the question
Translating a std::tuple into a template parameter pack
that says that this
template<typename... args>
std::tuple<args...> parse(std::istream &stream) {
return std::make_tuple(args(stream)...);
}
implementation has an undefined execution order of the constructors.
Update, providing some context:
To give some more background to what I am trying to do, here is a sketch:
I want to read in some serialized objects from stdin with the help of CodeSynthesis XSD binary parsing/serializing. Here is an example of how such parsing and serialization is done: example/cxx/tree/binary/xdr/driver.cxx
xml_schema::istream<XDR> ixdr (xdr);
std::auto_ptr<catalog> copy (new catalog (ixdr));
I want to be able to specify a list of the classes that the serialized objects have (e.g. catalog, catalog, someOtherSerializableClass for 3 serialized objects) and store that information as a typedef
template <typename... Args>
struct variadic_typedef {};
typedef variadic_typedef<catalog, catalog, someOtherSerializableClass> myTypes;
as suggested in Is it possible to “store” a template parameter pack without expanding it?
and find a way to get a std::tuple to work with after the parsing has finished. A sketch:
auto serializedObjects(binaryParse<myTypes>(std::cin));
where serializedObjects would have the type
std::tuple<catalog, catalog, someOtherSerializableClass>
The trivial solution is not to use std::make_tuple(...) in the first place but to construct a std::tuple<...> directly: The order in which constructors for the members are called is well defined:
template <typename>
std::istream& dummy(std::istream& in) {
return in;
}
template <typename... T>
std::tuple<T...> parse(std::istream& in) {
return std::tuple<T...>(dummy<T>(in)...);
}
The function template dummy<T>() is only used to have something to expand on. The order is imposed by construction order of the elements in the std::tuple<T...>:
template <typename... T>
template <typename... U>
std::tuple<T...>::tuple(U...&& arg)
: members_(std::forward<U>(arg)...) { // NOTE: pseudo code - the real code is
} // somewhat more complex
Following the discussion below and Xeo's comment it seems that a better alternative is to use
template <typename... T>
std::tuple<T...> parse(std::istream& in) {
return std::tuple<T...>{ T(in)... };
}
The use of brace initialization works because the order of evaluation of the arguments in a brace initializer list is the order in which they appear. The semantics of T{...} are described in 12.6.1 [class.explicit.init] paragraph 2 stating that it follows the rules of list initialization semantics (note: this has nothing to do with std::initializer_list which only works with homogenous types). The ordering constraint is in 8.5.4 [dcl.init.list] paragraph 4.
As the comment says, you could just use initializer-list:
return std::tuple<args...>{args(stream)...};
which will work for std::tuple and suchlikes (which supports initializer-list).
But I got another solution which is more generic, and can be useful where initializer-list cannot be used. So lets solve this without using initializer-list:
template<typename... args>
std::tuple<args...> parse(std::istream &stream) {
return std::make_tuple(args(stream)...);
}
Before I explain my solution, I would like to discuss the problem first. In fact, thinking about the problem step by step would also help us to come up with a solution eventually. So, to simply the discussion (and thinking-process), lets assume that args expands to 3 distinct types viz. X, Y, Z, i.e args = {X, Y, Z} and then we can think along these lines, reaching towards the solution step-by-step:
First and foremost, the constructors of X, Y, and Z can be executed in any order, because the order in which function arguments are evaluated is unspecified by the C++ Standard.
But we want X to construct first, then Y, and Z. Or at least we want to simulate that behavior, which means X must be constructed with data that is in the beginning of the input stream (say that data is xData) and Y must be constructed with data that comes immediately after xData, and so on.
As we know, X is not guaranteed to be constructed first, so we need to pretend. Basically, we will read the data from the stream as if it is in the beginning of the stream, even if Z is constructed first, that seems impossible. It is impossible as long as we read from the input stream, but we read data from some indexable data structure such as std::vector, then it is possible.
So my solution does this: it will populate a std::vector first, and then all arguments will read data from this vector.
My solution assumes that each line in the stream contains all the data needed to construct an object of any type.
Code:
//PARSE FUNCTION
template<typename... args>
std::tuple<args...> parse(std::istream &stream)
{
const int N = sizeof...(args);
return tuple_maker<args...>().make(stream, typename genseq<N>::type() );
}
And tuple_maker is defined as:
//FRAMEWORK - HELPER ETC
template<int ...>
struct seq {};
template<int M, int ...N>
struct genseq : genseq<M-1,M-1, N...> {};
template<int ...N>
struct genseq<0,N...>
{
typedef seq<N...> type;
};
template<typename...args>
struct tuple_maker
{
template<int ...N>
std::tuple<args...> make(std::istream & stream, const seq<N...> &)
{
return std::make_tuple(args(read_arg<N>(stream))...);
}
std::vector<std::string> m_params;
std::vector<std::unique_ptr<std::stringstream>> m_streams;
template<int Index>
std::stringstream & read_arg(std::istream & stream)
{
if ( m_params.empty() )
{
std::string line;
while ( std::getline(stream, line) ) //read all at once!
{
m_params.push_back(line);
}
}
auto pstream = new std::stringstream(m_params.at(Index));
m_streams.push_back(std::unique_ptr<std::stringstream>(pstream));
return *pstream;
}
};
TEST CODE
///TEST CODE
template<int N>
struct A
{
std::string data;
A(std::istream & stream)
{
stream >> data;
}
friend std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream & out, A<N> const & a)
{
return out << "A" << N << "::data = " << a.data ;
}
};
//three distinct classes!
typedef A<1> A1;
typedef A<2> A2;
typedef A<3> A3;
int main()
{
std::stringstream ss("A1\nA2\nA3\n");
auto tuple = parse<A1,A2,A3>(ss);
std::cout << std::get<0>(tuple) << std::endl;
std::cout << std::get<1>(tuple) << std::endl;
std::cout << std::get<2>(tuple) << std::endl;
}
Output:
A1::data = A1
A2::data = A2
A3::data = A3
which is expected. See demo at ideone yourself. :-)
Note that this solution avoids the order-of-reading-from-the-stream problem by reading all the lines in the first call to read_arg itself, and all the later calls just read from the std::vector, using the index.
Now you can put some printf in the constructor of the classes, just to see that the order of construction is not same as the order of template arguments to the parse function template, which is interesting. Also, the technique used here can be useful for places where list-initialization cannot be used.
There's nothing special about make_tuple here. Any function call in C++ allows its arguments to be called in an unspecified order (allowing the compiler freedom to optimize).
I really don't suggest having constructors that have side-effects such that the order is important (this will be a maintenance nightmare), but if you absolutely need this, you can always construct the objects explicitly to set the order you want:
A a(std::cin);
std::tuple<A, B> t(std::make_tuple(a, B(std::cin)));
This answer comes from a comment I made to the template pack question
Since make_tuple deduces the tuple type from the constructed components and function arguments have undefined evaluation ordder, the construction has to happen inside the machinery, which is what I proposed in the comment. In that case, there's no need to use make_tuple; you could construct the tuple directly from the tuple type. But that doesn't order construction either; what I do here is construct each component of the tuple, and then build a tuple of references to the components. The tuple of references can be easily converted to a tuple of the desired type, provided the components are easy to move or copy.
Here's the solution (from the lws link in the comment) slightly modified, and explained a bit. This version only handles tuples whose types are all different, but it's easier to understand; there's another version below which does it correctly. As with the original, the tuple components are all given the same constructor argument, but changing that simply requires adding a ... to the lines indicated with // Note: ...
#include <tuple>
#include <type_traits>
template<typename...T> struct ConstructTuple {
// For convenience, the resulting tuple type
using type = std::tuple<T...>;
// And the tuple of references type
using ref_type = std::tuple<T&...>;
// Wrap each component in a struct which will be used to construct the component
// and hold its value.
template<typename U> struct Wrapper {
U value;
template<typename Arg>
Wrapper(Arg&& arg)
: value(std::forward<Arg>(arg)) {
}
};
// The implementation class derives from all of the Wrappers.
// C++ guarantees that base classes are constructed in order, and
// Wrappers are listed in the specified order because parameter packs don't
// reorder.
struct Impl : Wrapper<T>... {
template<typename Arg> Impl(Arg&& arg) // Note ...Arg, ...arg
: Wrapper<T>(std::forward<Arg>(arg))... {}
};
template<typename Arg> ConstructTuple(Arg&& arg) // Note ...Arg, ...arg
: impl(std::forward<Arg>(arg)), // Note ...
value((static_cast<Wrapper<T>&>(impl)).value...) {
}
operator type() const { return value; }
ref_type operator()() const { return value; }
Impl impl;
ref_type value;
};
// Finally, a convenience alias in case we want to give `ConstructTuple`
// a tuple type instead of a list of types:
template<typename Tuple> struct ConstructFromTupleHelper;
template<typename...T> struct ConstructFromTupleHelper<std::tuple<T...>> {
using type = ConstructTuple<T...>;
};
template<typename Tuple>
using ConstructFromTuple = typename ConstructFromTupleHelper<Tuple>::type;
Let's take it for a spin
#include <iostream>
// Three classes with constructors
struct Hello { char n; Hello(decltype(n) n) : n(n) { std::cout << "Hello, "; }; };
struct World { double n; World(decltype(n) n) : n(n) { std::cout << "world"; }; };
struct Bang { int n; Bang(decltype(n) n) : n(n) { std::cout << "!\n"; }; };
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const Hello& g) { return out << g.n; }
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const World& g) { return out << g.n; }
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const Bang& g) { return out << g.n; }
using std::get;
using Greeting = std::tuple<Hello, World, Bang>;
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const Greeting &n) {
return out << get<0>(n) << ' ' << get<1>(n) << ' ' << get<2>(n);
}
int main() {
// Constructors run in order
Greeting greet = ConstructFromTuple<Greeting>(33.14159);
// Now show the result
std::cout << greet << std::endl;
return 0;
}
See it in action on liveworkspace. Verify that it constructs in the same order in both clang and gcc (libc++'s tuple implementation holds tuple components in the reverse order to stdlibc++, so it's a reasonable test, I guess.)
To make this work with tuples which might have more than one of the same component, it's necessary to modify Wrapper to be a unique struct for each component. The easiest way to do this is to add a second template parameter, which is a sequential index (both libc++ and libstdc++ do this in their tuple implementations; it's a standard technique). It would be handy to have the "indices" implementation kicking around to do this, but for exposition purposes, I've just done a quick-and-dirty recursion:
#include <tuple>
#include <type_traits>
template<typename T, int I> struct Item {
using type = T;
static const int value = I;
};
template<typename...TI> struct ConstructTupleI;
template<typename...T, int...I> struct ConstructTupleI<Item<T, I>...> {
using type = std::tuple<T...>;
using ref_type = std::tuple<T&...>;
// I is just to distinguish different wrappers from each other
template<typename U, int J> struct Wrapper {
U value;
template<typename Arg>
Wrapper(Arg&& arg)
: value(std::forward<Arg>(arg)) {
}
};
struct Impl : Wrapper<T, I>... {
template<typename Arg> Impl(Arg&& arg)
: Wrapper<T, I>(std::forward<Arg>(arg))... {}
};
template<typename Arg> ConstructTupleI(Arg&& arg)
: impl(std::forward<Arg>(arg)),
value((static_cast<Wrapper<T, I>&>(impl)).value...) {
}
operator type() const { return value; }
ref_type operator()() const { return value; }
Impl impl;
ref_type value;
};
template<typename...T> struct List{};
template<typename L, typename...T> struct WrapNum;
template<typename...TI> struct WrapNum<List<TI...>> {
using type = ConstructTupleI<TI...>;
};
template<typename...TI, typename T, typename...Rest>
struct WrapNum<List<TI...>, T, Rest...>
: WrapNum<List<TI..., Item<T, sizeof...(TI)>>, Rest...> {
};
// Use WrapNum to make ConstructTupleI from ConstructTuple
template<typename...T> using ConstructTuple = typename WrapNum<List<>, T...>::type;
// Finally, a convenience alias in case we want to give `ConstructTuple`
// a tuple type instead of a list of types:
template<typename Tuple> struct ConstructFromTupleHelper;
template<typename...T> struct ConstructFromTupleHelper<std::tuple<T...>> {
using type = ConstructTuple<T...>;
};
template<typename Tuple>
using ConstructFromTuple = typename ConstructFromTupleHelper<Tuple>::type;
With test here.
I believe the only way to manually unroll the definition. Something like the following might work. I welcome attempts to make it nicer though.
#include <iostream>
#include <tuple>
struct A { A(std::istream& is) {}};
struct B { B(std::istream& is) {}};
template <typename... Ts>
class Parser
{ };
template <typename T>
class Parser<T>
{
public:
static std::tuple<T> parse(std::istream& is) {return std::make_tuple(T(is)); }
};
template <typename T, typename... Ts>
class Parser<T, Ts...>
{
public:
static std::tuple<T,Ts...> parse(std::istream& is)
{
A t(is);
return std::tuple_cat(std::tuple<T>(std::move(t)),
Parser<Ts...>::parse(is));
}
};
int main()
{
Parser<A,B>::parse(std::cin);
return 1;
}

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.

How can I iterate over a packed variadic template argument list?

I'm trying to find a method to iterate over an a pack variadic template argument list.
Now as with all iterations, you need some sort of method of knowing how many arguments are in the packed list, and more importantly how to individually get data from a packed argument list.
The general idea is to iterate over the list, store all data of type int into a vector, store all data of type char* into a vector, and store all data of type float, into a vector. During this process there also needs to be a seperate vector that stores individual chars of what order the arguments went in. As an example, when you push_back(a_float), you're also doing a push_back('f') which is simply storing an individual char to know the order of the data. I could also use a std::string here and simply use +=. The vector was just used as an example.
Now the way the thing is designed is the function itself is constructed using a macro, despite the evil intentions, it's required, as this is an experiment. So it's literally impossible to use a recursive call, since the actual implementation that will house all this will be expanded at compile time; and you cannot recruse a macro.
Despite all possible attempts, I'm still stuck at figuring out how to actually do this. So instead I'm using a more convoluted method that involves constructing a type, and passing that type into the varadic template, expanding it inside a vector and then simply iterating that. However I do not want to have to call the function like:
foo(arg(1), arg(2.0f), arg("three");
So the real question is how can I do without such? To give you guys a better understanding of what the code is actually doing, I've pasted the optimistic approach that I'm currently using.
struct any {
void do_i(int e) { INT = e; }
void do_f(float e) { FLOAT = e; }
void do_s(char* e) { STRING = e; }
int INT;
float FLOAT;
char *STRING;
};
template<typename T> struct get { T operator()(const any& t) { return T(); } };
template<> struct get<int> { int operator()(const any& t) { return t.INT; } };
template<> struct get<float> { float operator()(const any& t) { return t.FLOAT; } };
template<> struct get<char*> { char* operator()(const any& t) { return t.STRING; } };
#define def(name) \
template<typename... T> \
auto name (T... argv) -> any { \
std::initializer_list<any> argin = { argv... }; \
std::vector<any> args = argin;
#define get(name,T) get<T>()(args[name])
#define end }
any arg(int a) { any arg; arg.INT = a; return arg; }
any arg(float f) { any arg; arg.FLOAT = f; return arg; }
any arg(char* s) { any arg; arg.STRING = s; return arg; }
I know this is nasty, however it's a pure experiment, and will not be used in production code. It's purely an idea. It could probably be done a better way. But an example of how you would use this system:
def(foo)
int data = get(0, int);
std::cout << data << std::endl;
end
looks a lot like python. it works too, but the only problem is how you call this function.
Heres a quick example:
foo(arg(1000));
I'm required to construct a new any type, which is highly aesthetic, but thats not to say those macros are not either. Aside the point, I just want to the option of doing:
foo(1000);
I know it can be done, I just need some sort of iteration method, or more importantly some std::get method for packed variadic template argument lists. Which I'm sure can be done.
Also to note, I'm well aware that this is not exactly type friendly, as I'm only supporting int,float,char* and thats okay with me. I'm not requiring anything else, and I'll add checks to use type_traits to validate that the arguments passed are indeed the correct ones to produce a compile time error if data is incorrect. This is purely not an issue. I also don't need support for anything other then these POD types.
It would be highly apprecaited if I could get some constructive help, opposed to arguments about my purely illogical and stupid use of macros and POD only types. I'm well aware of how fragile and broken the code is. This is merley an experiment, and I can later rectify issues with non-POD data, and make it more type-safe and useable.
Thanks for your undertstanding, and I'm looking forward to help.
If your inputs are all of the same type, see OMGtechy's great answer.
For mixed-types we can use fold expressions (introduced in c++17) with a callable (in this case, a lambda):
#include <iostream>
template <class ... Ts>
void Foo (Ts && ... inputs)
{
int i = 0;
([&]
{
// Do things in your "loop" lambda
++i;
std::cout << "input " << i << " = " << inputs << std::endl;
} (), ...);
}
int main ()
{
Foo(2, 3, 4u, (int64_t) 9, 'a', 2.3);
}
Live demo
(Thanks to glades for pointing out in the comments that I didn't need to explicitly pass inputs to the lambda. This made it a lot neater.)
If you need return/breaks in your loop, here are some workarounds:
Demo using try/throw. Note that throws can cause tremendous slow down of this function; so only use this option if speed isn't important, or the break/returns are genuinely exceptional.
Demo using variable/if switches.
These latter answers are honestly a code smell, but shows it's general-purpose.
If you want to wrap arguments to any, you can use the following setup. I also made the any class a bit more usable, although it isn't technically an any class.
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
struct any {
enum type {Int, Float, String};
any(int e) { m_data.INT = e; m_type = Int;}
any(float e) { m_data.FLOAT = e; m_type = Float;}
any(char* e) { m_data.STRING = e; m_type = String;}
type get_type() const { return m_type; }
int get_int() const { return m_data.INT; }
float get_float() const { return m_data.FLOAT; }
char* get_string() const { return m_data.STRING; }
private:
type m_type;
union {
int INT;
float FLOAT;
char *STRING;
} m_data;
};
template <class ...Args>
void foo_imp(const Args&... args)
{
std::vector<any> vec = {args...};
for (unsigned i = 0; i < vec.size(); ++i) {
switch (vec[i].get_type()) {
case any::Int: std::cout << vec[i].get_int() << '\n'; break;
case any::Float: std::cout << vec[i].get_float() << '\n'; break;
case any::String: std::cout << vec[i].get_string() << '\n'; break;
}
}
}
template <class ...Args>
void foo(Args... args)
{
foo_imp(any(args)...); //pass each arg to any constructor, and call foo_imp with resulting any objects
}
int main()
{
char s[] = "Hello";
foo(1, 3.4f, s);
}
It is however possible to write functions to access the nth argument in a variadic template function and to apply a function to each argument, which might be a better way of doing whatever you want to achieve.
Range based for loops are wonderful:
#include <iostream>
#include <any>
template <typename... Things>
void printVariadic(Things... things) {
for(const auto p : {things...}) {
std::cout << p.type().name() << std::endl;
}
}
int main() {
printVariadic(std::any(42), std::any('?'), std::any("C++"));
}
For me, this produces the output:
i
c
PKc
Here's an example without std::any, which might be easier to understand for those not familiar with std::type_info:
#include <iostream>
template <typename... Things>
void printVariadic(Things... things) {
for(const auto p : {things...}) {
std::cout << p << std::endl;
}
}
int main() {
printVariadic(1, 2, 3);
}
As you might expect, this produces:
1
2
3
You can create a container of it by initializing it with your parameter pack between {}. As long as the type of params... is homogeneous or at least convertable to the element type of your container, it will work. (tested with g++ 4.6.1)
#include <array>
template <class... Params>
void f(Params... params) {
std::array<int, sizeof...(params)> list = {params...};
}
This is not how one would typically use Variadic templates, not at all.
Iterations over a variadic pack is not possible, as per the language rules, so you need to turn toward recursion.
class Stock
{
public:
bool isInt(size_t i) { return _indexes.at(i).first == Int; }
int getInt(size_t i) { assert(isInt(i)); return _ints.at(_indexes.at(i).second); }
// push (a)
template <typename... Args>
void push(int i, Args... args) {
_indexes.push_back(std::make_pair(Int, _ints.size()));
_ints.push_back(i);
this->push(args...);
}
// push (b)
template <typename... Args>
void push(float f, Args... args) {
_indexes.push_back(std::make_pair(Float, _floats.size()));
_floats.push_back(f);
this->push(args...);
}
private:
// push (c)
void push() {}
enum Type { Int, Float; };
typedef size_t Index;
std::vector<std::pair<Type,Index>> _indexes;
std::vector<int> _ints;
std::vector<float> _floats;
};
Example (in action), suppose we have Stock stock;:
stock.push(1, 3.2f, 4, 5, 4.2f); is resolved to (a) as the first argument is an int
this->push(args...) is expanded to this->push(3.2f, 4, 5, 4.2f);, which is resolved to (b) as the first argument is a float
this->push(args...) is expanded to this->push(4, 5, 4.2f);, which is resolved to (a) as the first argument is an int
this->push(args...) is expanded to this->push(5, 4.2f);, which is resolved to (a) as the first argument is an int
this->push(args...) is expanded to this->push(4.2f);, which is resolved to (b) as the first argument is a float
this->push(args...) is expanded to this->push();, which is resolved to (c) as there is no argument, thus ending the recursion
Thus:
Adding another type to handle is as simple as adding another overload, changing the first type (for example, std::string const&)
If a completely different type is passed (say Foo), then no overload can be selected, resulting in a compile-time error.
One caveat: Automatic conversion means a double would select overload (b) and a short would select overload (a). If this is not desired, then SFINAE need be introduced which makes the method slightly more complicated (well, their signatures at least), example:
template <typename T, typename... Args>
typename std::enable_if<is_int<T>::value>::type push(T i, Args... args);
Where is_int would be something like:
template <typename T> struct is_int { static bool constexpr value = false; };
template <> struct is_int<int> { static bool constexpr value = true; };
Another alternative, though, would be to consider a variant type. For example:
typedef boost::variant<int, float, std::string> Variant;
It exists already, with all utilities, it can be stored in a vector, copied, etc... and seems really much like what you need, even though it does not use Variadic Templates.
There is no specific feature for it right now but there are some workarounds you can use.
Using initialization list
One workaround uses the fact, that subexpressions of initialization lists are evaluated in order. int a[] = {get1(), get2()} will execute get1 before executing get2. Maybe fold expressions will come handy for similar techniques in the future. To call do() on every argument, you can do something like this:
template <class... Args>
void doSomething(Args... args) {
int x[] = {args.do()...};
}
However, this will only work when do() is returning an int. You can use the comma operator to support operations which do not return a proper value.
template <class... Args>
void doSomething(Args... args) {
int x[] = {(args.do(), 0)...};
}
To do more complex things, you can put them in another function:
template <class Arg>
void process(Arg arg, int &someOtherData) {
// You can do something with arg here.
}
template <class... Args>
void doSomething(Args... args) {
int someOtherData;
int x[] = {(process(args, someOtherData), 0)...};
}
Note that with generic lambdas (C++14), you can define a function to do this boilerplate for you.
template <class F, class... Args>
void do_for(F f, Args... args) {
int x[] = {(f(args), 0)...};
}
template <class... Args>
void doSomething(Args... args) {
do_for([&](auto arg) {
// You can do something with arg here.
}, args...);
}
Using recursion
Another possibility is to use recursion. Here is a small example that defines a similar function do_for as above.
template <class F, class First, class... Rest>
void do_for(F f, First first, Rest... rest) {
f(first);
do_for(f, rest...);
}
template <class F>
void do_for(F f) {
// Parameter pack is empty.
}
template <class... Args>
void doSomething(Args... args) {
do_for([&](auto arg) {
// You can do something with arg here.
}, args...);
}
You can't iterate, but you can recurse over the list. Check the printf() example on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C++0x#Variadic_templates
You can use multiple variadic templates, this is a bit messy, but it works and is easy to understand.
You simply have a function with the variadic template like so:
template <typename ...ArgsType >
void function(ArgsType... Args){
helperFunction(Args...);
}
And a helper function like so:
void helperFunction() {}
template <typename T, typename ...ArgsType >
void helperFunction(T t, ArgsType... Args) {
//do what you want with t
function(Args...);
}
Now when you call "function" the "helperFunction" will be called and isolate the first passed parameter from the rest, this variable can b used to call another function (or something). Then "function" will be called again and again until there are no more variables left. Note you might have to declare helperClass before "function".
The final code will look like this:
void helperFunction();
template <typename T, typename ...ArgsType >
void helperFunction(T t, ArgsType... Args);
template <typename ...ArgsType >
void function(ArgsType... Args){
helperFunction(Args...);
}
void helperFunction() {}
template <typename T, typename ...ArgsType >
void helperFunction(T t, ArgsType... Args) {
//do what you want with t
function(Args...);
}
The code is not tested.
#include <iostream>
template <typename Fun>
void iteratePack(const Fun&) {}
template <typename Fun, typename Arg, typename ... Args>
void iteratePack(const Fun &fun, Arg &&arg, Args&& ... args)
{
fun(std::forward<Arg>(arg));
iteratePack(fun, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
template <typename ... Args>
void test(const Args& ... args)
{
iteratePack([&](auto &arg)
{
std::cout << arg << std::endl;
},
args...);
}
int main()
{
test(20, "hello", 40);
return 0;
}
Output:
20
hello
40