Lazy enable_if sleeping on the job? - c++

With the definition shown below, I can call qget<0>() or qget<1>() using G++ (4.7.2), but qget<2> or "higher" will fail with a no matching function error. Clang++ (3.2), meanwhile, fails with any of them. I've used lazy enable_if as a last resort; though I don't think I should need it. I know the code looks a bit odd, but can anyone see the source of the error? (Boost provides the enable_if classes.)
template <typename T> struct Tid { typedef T type; };
template <unsigned I>
typename enable_if_c<(I==0),double>::type
qget()
{ return 0.0; }
template <unsigned I>
typename lazy_enable_if_c<(I!=0), Tid<decltype(qget<I-1>())>>::type
qget()
{ return qget<I-1>(); }

When you declare a function or function template as e.g. ret foo(A, B, C); or indifferently as auto foo(A, B, C) -> ret;, then the foo that refers to the entity just declared is not in scope until after the so-called declarator. In your particular case, the return type (be it a late return type or not) is always part of the declarator.
This means that in your last declaration the name qget in the return type may refer to the previous declaration (the case for I==0) but may never refer to the current declaration. This is why qget<0> and qget<1> are found, but qget<2> is not: when attempting to form the return type of the latter, qget<1> is not found because the first declaration is SFINAE'd out, as intended and the second declaration is the current declaration and not in scope. The error results in SFINAE.
My usual solution when this happens (which I have to say is not that often) is to use a struct (as an implementation detail) because all member functions (and member function templates) are declared inside the definition of a class, from the opening brace on.
That being said, you'll still hit a snag because even though you are using lazy_enable_if_c you're still eagerly computing the type of qget<I - 1>() (as a parameter to lazy_enable_if_c) even when I is 0. Lazily evaluating the identity of said type won't save you.
Unfortunately I can't seem to get an example running using GCC 4.7.2, which insists in not terminating the recursion even when fixing the condition to I > 0 and using a lazy result (although normally I'd use 4.8), so I can't promise you my solution can be made to work.

Related

The template disambiguator for dependent names

This issue is based on section C++ reference : dependent name - The template disambiguator for dependent name.
I have understood when invoking the template member function in a template class, the keyword template is necessary to make the compiler know the following bracket is used for indicating template argument.just like the used example in this section.
template<typename T>
struct S {
template<typename U> void foo(){}
};
template<typename T>
void bar()
{
S<T> s;
s.foo<T>(); // error: < parsed as less than operator
s.template foo<T>(); // OK
}
However, in the consequent part it describes when a template name appears in a member access expression (after -> or after .), the disambiguator is unnecessary if there is a template with the same name found by ordinary lookup in the context of the expression..
Then it comes with the following code. Comparing with previous example it defines set function whose name exists in standard library as well. At the meanwhile, using std::set is set up to make set template visible in template function.
In this condition, even if keyword template is not provided it still works well.
#include <set>
using std::set; // makes 'set' visible to lookup from bar
template<typename T>
struct S {
template<typename U> void set(){}
};
template<typename T>
void bar()
{
S<T> s;
s.set<T>(); // not an error if ::set is visible:
// (and since C++11, this is well-formed)
s.template set<T>(); // works with and without ::set
}
Based on my understanding, I tried my own version
#include <iostream>
template <typename T>
struct S{
template <typename U> void func(){
std::cout << "In S::func\n";
}
};
// In order to make member template function is visible in function test,
// defining a global template function **func** whose name is same with one
// member template function in struct S.
template <typename M>
void func(){
std::cout << "from ordinary func\n";
}
template <typename M>
void test(){
S<M> s;
func<M>(); // test func template function is visible in test function
s.func<M>();
}
int main(){
test<int>();
}
The detail error message is listed as follows
[17:17:50][ryu#C++_test]$ g++ -g typename2.cpp
typename2.cpp:61:7: error: use 'template' keyword to treat 'func' as a dependent
template name
s.func<M>();
^
template
1 error generated.
Any advice is appreciated on how to make my own code works well without keyword template.
Short version
Don't rely on this. Use the template keyword as you're supposed to, don't try such an obscure hack only to avoid a few keystrokes. Your code should definitely not compile according to the standard, and the example you quoted from cppreference.com may soon become explicitly disallowed as well (I don't think it was valid in the first place). GCC and Clang yield different results for both these examples. Even if they compile today, they may fail tomorrow in the next compiler version.
Long version
Regarding the example from cppreference.com, let's first note that Clang 3.6.0 compiles the code, but GCC 5.1.0 rejects both s.set<T>() and s.template set<T>() with the error invalid use of 'class std::set<T>'. I don't think either of the two compilers does the right thing here according to the standard, but, intuitively, GCC's error message makes a lot of sense: what would be the meaning of s.set<T>() with set<T> being a class template specialization?
With your code, it's the other way around: Clang rejects it (the error message quoted in the question seems to be actually from Clang) and GCC compiles it.
The examples rely on paragraph [3.4.5p1] in the standard (emphasis mine in all quotes):
In a class member access expression (5.2.5), if the . or -> token is
immediately followed by an identifier followed by a <, the identifier
must be looked up to determine whether the < is the beginning of a
template argument list (14.2) or a less-than operator. The identifier
is first looked up in the class of the object expression. If the
identifier is not found, it is then looked up in the context of the
entire postfix-expression and shall name a class template.
The class template part is the reason for your code being rejected by Clang (your func is a function template). Function templates were removed from there as the resolution of defect 141, included in C++11. It's worth mentioning a comment in the defect report:
There do not seem to be any circumstances in which use of a non-member
template function would be well-formed as the id-expression of a class
member access expression.
I think this says something about the intent of this lookup rule: it's supposed to find constructs that are well formed; it's not intended to just make the parser happy about those <> with some temporary match that will later be replaced by something else with entirely different semantics.
Even with the special lookup rule above, I'm not sure the standard allows you to omit the template in such cases. Paragraph [14.2p4] says:
When the name of a member template specialization appears after . or
-> in a postfix-expression or after a nested-name-specifier in a qualified-id, and the object expression of the postfix-expression is
type-dependent or the nested-name-specifier in the qualified-id refers
to a dependent type, but the name is not a member of the current
instantiation (14.6.2.1), the member template name must be prefixed by
the keyword template. Otherwise the name is assumed to name a
non-template.
Both member templates set and func in the two examples satisfy the conditions in there, respectively. As you can see, there's no mention of an exception to this rule.
Or, to put it another way, if you want set to be resolved as the name for the member template, it has to have template in front of it. If it doesn't, it can be resolved as the namespace-scope set, but then the set name itself is no longer a name dependent on template parameters (set<T> is still dependent, but set itself is not). And then we get to [14.6p10], which says:
If a name does not depend on a template-parameter (as defined in
14.6.2), a declaration (or set of declarations) for that name shall be in scope at the point where the name appears in the template
definition; the name is bound to the declaration (or declarations)
found at that point and this binding is not affected by declarations
that are visible at the point of instantiation.
Once bound, it's carved in stone and the later switch to the member template is not valid, which makes the cppreference.com example incorrect.
Moreover, there's an open issue regarding the applicability of the lookup rule from [3.4.5p1] to such examples - issue 1835. Quoting a note in there:
One possibility might be to limit the lookup to the class of the
object expression when the object expression is dependent.
The issue is in drafting status, which means informal consensus has been reached in the working group. Exactly what that consensus was remains to be seen, but I'd say there's a good chance that something will change. Relying on such code doesn't seem like a good idea.
The quoted paragraphs have remained unchanged since C++11 up to the current working draft (N4431).

Compile time template instantiation check

Is it possible to check if a template type has been instantiated at compile time so that I can use this information in an enable_if specialization?
Let's say I have
template <typename T> struct known_type { };
Can I somehow define some is_known_type whose value is true if known_type is instantiated at compile time?
It's possible to do this if you leverage the fact that specific expressions may or may not be used in places where constexprs are expected, and that you can query to see what the state is for each candidate you have. Specifically in our case, the fact that constexprs with no definition cannot pass as constant expressions and noexcept is a guarantee of constant expressions. Hence, noexcept(...) returning true signals the presence of a properly defined constexpr.
Essentially, this treats constexprs as Yes/No switches, and introduces state at compile-time.
Note that this is pretty much a hack, you will need workarounds for specific compilers (see the articles ahead) and this specific friend-based implementation might be considered ill-formed by future revisions of the standard.
With that out of the way...
User Filip Roséen presents this concept in his article dedicated specifically to it.
His example implementation is, with quoted explanations:
constexpr int flag (int);
A constexpr function can be in either one of two states; either it is
usable in a constant-expression, or it isn't - if it lacks a
definition it automatically falls in the latter category - there is no
other state (unless we consider undefined behavior).
Normally, constexpr functions should be treated exactly as what they
are; functions, but we can also think of them as individual handles to
"variables" having a type similar to bool, where each "variable" can
have one of two values; usable or not-usable.
In our program it helps if you consider flag to be just that; a handle
(not a function). The reason is that we will never actually call flag
in an evaluated context, we are only interested in its current state.
template<class Tag>
struct writer {
friend constexpr int flag (Tag) {
return 0;
}
};
writer is a class template which, upon instantiation, will create a
definition for a function in its surrounding namespace (having the
signature int flag (Tag), where Tag is a template-parameter).
If we, once again, think of constexpr functions as handles to some
variable, we can treat an instantiation of writer as an
unconditional write of the value usable to the variable behind the
function in the friend-declaration.
template<bool B, class Tag = int>
struct dependent_writer : writer<Tag> { };
I would not be surprised if you think dependent_writer looks like a
rather pointless indirection; why not directly instantiate writer
where we want to use it, instead of going through dependent_writer?
Instantiation of writer must depend on something to prevent immediate instantiation, and;
dependent_writer is used in a context where a value of type bool can be used as dependency.
template<
bool B = noexcept (flag (0)),
int = sizeof (dependent_writer<B>)
>
constexpr int f () {
return B;
}
The above might look a little weird, but it's really quite simple;
will set B = true if flag(0) is a constant-expression, otherwise B = false, and;
implicitly instantiates dependent_writer (sizeof requires a completely-defined type).
The behavior can be expressed with the following pseudo-code:
IF [ `int flag (int)` has not yet been defined ]:
SET `B` = `false`
INSTANTIATE `dependent_writer<false>`
RETURN `false`
ELSE:
SET `B` = `true`
INSTANTIATE `dependent_writer<true>`
RETURN `true`
Finally, the proof of concept:
int main () {
constexpr int a = f ();
constexpr int b = f ();
static_assert (a != b, "fail");
}
I applied this to your particular problem. The idea is to use the constexpr Yes/No switches to indicate whether a type has been instantiated. So, you'll need a separate switch for every type you have.
template<typename T>
struct inst_check_wrapper
{
friend constexpr int inst_flag(inst_check_wrapper<T>);
};
inst_check_wrapper<T> essentially wraps a switch for whatever type you may give it. It's just a generic version of the original example.
template<typename T>
struct writer
{
friend constexpr int inst_flag(inst_check_wrapper<T>)
{
return 0;
}
};
The switch toggler is identical to the one in the original example. It comes up with the definition for the switch of some type that you use. To allow for easy checking, add a helper switch inspector:
template <typename T, bool B = noexcept(inst_flag(inst_check_wrapper<T>()))>
constexpr bool is_instantiated()
{
return B;
}
Finally, the type "registers" itself as initialized. In my case:
template <typename T>
struct MyStruct
{
template <typename T1 = T, int = sizeof(writer<MyStruct<T1>>)>
MyStruct()
{}
};
The switch is turned on as soon as that particular constructor is asked for. Sample:
int main ()
{
static_assert(!is_instantiated<MyStruct<int>>(), "failure");
MyStruct<int> a;
static_assert(is_instantiated<MyStruct<int>>(), "failure");
}
Live on Coliru.
No, a compile time check for not instantiated classes is not possible. However you might establish a (static) map of instantiated classes (in debug build), which you can check at run time.
However, analyzing the linked binary by comparing a list of expected instantiated classes with actually instantiated classes should be possible (but that is past compile time and past my knowledge).
There's is no way to do that. So I would say: No.

Why does this dependent name lookup find a global identifier instead of the method?

When the compiler tries to resolve i.template hi<T>(); it finds hi in the global namespace instead of the method hi on i (ideone). Why?
#include <cstdio>
// Define 'hi' and 'bye' in the global namespace; these should *not* be used
template<typename T> struct hi { };
template<typename T> struct bye { };
// Foo needs to be templated for Foo::Inner to be a dependent type (I think)
template<typename T>
struct Foo
{
struct Inner {
// This is a plain-old templated member function of Inner, yes?
template<typename U>
void hi() { std::printf("hi!\n"); }
// This is a plain-old member function of Inner
void bye() { std::printf("bye!\n"); }
};
void sayStuff()
{
Inner i;
i.template hi<T>(); // Fails to compile -- finds global hi instead of member
i.bye(); // Compiles fine, finds member
}
};
int main() {
Foo<int> f;
f.sayStuff();
return 0;
}
I'm using g++ 4.9.1/4.9.2 (-std=c++11). The exact error message:
prog.cpp: In member function 'void Foo<T>::sayStuff()':
prog.cpp:19:5: error: invalid use of 'struct hi<T>'
i.template hi<T>();
^
This code works fine with Clang and VS2013, but generates an error in g++ and EDG. But which compilers are right?
Is there any way to resolve this besides changing the name of the member? In my real code, the conflict arises when a type from the std namespace (that's been imported via using namespace std, say) has the same name as one of my member functions. Obviously I'd like my implementation code to be robust and not cause random name clashes in user code.
To the best of my knowledge here's what's going on.
DR228 says:
[Voted into WP at April 2003 meeting.]
Consider the following example:
template<class T>
struct X {
virtual void f();
};
template<class T>
struct Y {
void g(X<T> *p) {
p->template X<T>::f();
}
};
This is an error because X is not a member template; 14.2 [temp.names] paragraph 5 says:
If a name prefixed by the keyword template is not the name of a member template, the program is ill-formed.
In a way this makes perfect sense: X is found to be a template using ordinary lookup even though p has a dependent type. However, I think this makes the use of the template prefix even harder to teach.
Was this intentionally outlawed?
Proposed Resolution (4/02):
Elide the first use of the word "member" in 14.2 [temp.names] paragraph 5 so that its first sentence reads:
If a name prefixed by the keyword template is not the name of a template, the program is ill-formed.
However, in the most current publicly available draft of the C++ standard N4296 the following wording appears in §14.2.5:
A name prefixed by the keyword template shall be a template-id or the name shall refer to a class template. [Note: The keyword template may not be applied to non-template members of class templates. —end note] [Note: As is the case with the typename prefix, the template prefix is allowed in cases where it is not strictly necessary; i.e., when the nested-name-specifier or the expression on the left of the -> or . is not dependent on a template-parameter, or the use does not appear in the scope of a template. —end note]
[Example:
template <class T> struct A {
void f(int);
template <class U> void f(U);
};
template <class T> void f(T t) {
A<T> a;
a.template f<>(t); // OK: calls template
a.template f(t); // error: not a template-id
}
template <class T> struct B {
template <class T2> struct C { };
};
// OK: T::template C names a class template:
template <class T, template <class X> class TT = T::template C> struct D { };
D<B<int> > db;
—end example]
This wording sounded similar, but different enough to go digging. I found that in the N3126 draft the wording was changed to this version.
I was able to link this change back to this DR96:
The following is the wording from 14.2 [temp.names] paragraphs 4 and 5 that discusses the use of the "template" keyword following . or -> and in qualified names.
{snip}
The whole point of this feature is to say that the "template" keyword is needed to indicate that a "<" begins a template parameter list in certain contexts. The constraints in paragraph 5 leave open to debate certain cases.
First, I think it should be made more clear that the template name must be followed by a template argument list when the "template" keyword is used in these contexts. If we don't make this clear, we would have to add several semantic clarifications instead. For example, if you say "p->template f()", and "f" is an overload set containing both templates and nontemplates: a) is this valid? b) are the nontemplates in the overload set ignored? If the user is forced to write "p->template f<>()" it is clear that this is valid, and it is equally clear that nontemplates in the overload set are ignored. As this feature was added purely to provide syntactic guidance, I think it is important that it otherwise have no semantic implications.
Essentially, the very subtle change of DR228 was lost during a subsequent revision; however, because no similar restriction was placed the intent of DR228 probably still holds unless there's been another revision in the standard. This means that template lookup has to occur globally in this case, even though it's a dependent type.
Let's look at our name lookup rules §3.4.5.1:
In a class member access expression (5.2.5), if the . or -> token is immediately followed by an identifier followed by a <, the identifier must be looked up to determine whether the < is the beginning of a template argument list (14.2) or a less-than operator. The identifier is first looked up in the class of the object expression. If the identifier is not found, it is then looked up in the context of the entire postfix-expression and shall name a class template.
This seems to explicitly state that in baz.foo->template bar<T>(); We will first look in the class context, this includes standard template lookup. After that is done and if nothing is found, if the form of the expression is correct we jump to the context of the entire expression. In essence, it has been promoted and the lookup for that name must perform the same way if the line just read template bar<T>(); Really though we already knew this from DR228. I just wanted to double check and confirm. The real question is which template ought to get priority, the one in the global scope or the one in the class scope.
For that we now need to ask unqualified name lookup, because now bar is being considered in the same context as foo, so it's no longer following member lookup rules, it's following normal, unqualified template lookup rules, which, naturally, prefer the local version.
So in summation, it seems that Clang and MSVC exhibit correct behavior, and GCC and EDG do not in this instance.
My best guess as to why GCC has it wrong is choosing the wrong context to assign to the expression after the rule is triggered. Instead of placing the context at the same level as the postfix-expression it may be just placing it at in the global level on accident? Maybe it simply skips the first lookup step? (But this is merely speculation, I'd have to actually figure out where to look in the GCC source to say.) This would also explain why #Mikael Persson's solution of changing the lookup to a qualified one caused the compile to start again.
The linked bug report from the asker has people talking about why the global scope must be considered, and it ought to be, but it seems pretty straight forward that a local scope match must be given higher priority than the global one. It also seems like there's been a bit of activity there recently.

static member of class template error

I have a problem with this code snippet:
template <typename T>
struct S
{
static int a;
};
template <typename T>
decltype(S<T>::a) S<T>::a;
clang-3.4 says:
s.cpp:8:25: error: redefinition of 'a' with a different type: 'decltype(S<T>::a)' vs 'int'
decltype(S<T>::a) S<T>::a;
^
s.cpp:4:14: note: previous definition is here
static int a;
^
1 error generated.
But gcc-4.8.2 accepts. Which of the compilers is right? Should I avoid such code in the future?
Clang is demanding that the definition match the declaration at template definition time, whereas GCC and others defer matching until instantiation time (which never even happens for your example).
Clang accepts this:
#include <type_traits>
template <typename T>
struct S
{
static int a;
};
template <typename T>
typename std::enable_if< true, int >::type S<T>::a; // Resolves before instantiation
but rejects this small change:
template <typename T>
typename std::enable_if< std::is_same< T, T >::value, int >::type S<T>::a;
I cannot recall where the standard dictates when object declaration matching occurs, but I suspect that Clang is within its rights to reject the code. The intent of the standard, if I recall correctly, is that each declaration matches exactly one definition, and that mapping may be determined before instantiation time.
With the looser rule that GCC is apparently applying, you could have two member declarations and two definitions, but each definition may finalize either of the declarations depending on the template parameters.
The code which GCC and MSVC are accepting is ill-formed, no diagnosis required… pending finding the actual standardese buried somewhere in §3 [basic], §7 [dcl.dcl], §8 [dcl.decl], §14 [temp], or maybe somewhere else.
I still cannot find what rule matches object definitions to preceding declarations, but §14.4/2 dictates that decltype(…) cannot be the equivalent (I assume in the declarative sense) to int.
If an expression e involves a template parameter, decltype(e)
denotes a unique dependent type. Two such decltype-specifiers refer
to the same type only if their expressions are equivalent (14.5.6.1).
[Note: however, it may be aliased, e.g., by a typedef-name. — end
note ]
I'm pretty sure that equivalence, not mere aliasing, is necessary for the definition to match the declaration. §14.5.6.1 delves pretty deep into this territory, except it is specifically discussing function signatures.
I think Clang might be right in rejecting this. 14.2p2 says about decltype(e)
If an expression e involves a template parameter, decltype(e) denotes a unique dependent type.
In DR #2, the discussion trace says
My opinion (which I think matches several posted on the reflector recently) is that the out-of-class definition must match the declaration in the template.
...
In general, if you can match the declarations up using only information from the template, then the declaration is valid.
I think it still matches if one of them uses a typedef (as demonstrated in the DR), because S<T>::type is a member of the current instantiation and the type aliased can be looked up directly. But a decltype(e), as specified above, will always denote a unique type (during template parse time) except with respect to another decltype(e) that specifies an equivalent expression.
Why did I say might? Because of 14.6p8
No diagnostic shall be issued for a template for which a valid specialization can be generated.
One could read this as saying the type equivalence check is simply delayed till after instantiation. This, however, would contradict the discussion trace in the DR I think, because they say "if you can match the declarations up using only information from the template, then the declaration is valid" (and I assume the author of this statement meant to be exhaustive about the situations when the declaration is valid).
For me clang is broken here.
All combinations with decltype will fail. Without decltype it works.
template <typename T>
struct S
{
static int a;
using type = decltype( a );
typedef decltype( a ) type2;
};
template <typename T>
1) decltype(S<T>::a) S<T>::a;
2) int S<T>::a;
3) typename S<T>::type S<T>::a;
4) typename S<T>::type2 S<T>::a;
1 gcc works, clang fails
2 gcc + clang works
3 gcc works, clang fails
4 gcc works, clang fails
I did some more tries to work around the problem, but could not have any success.
There are some more discussions on that kind of problems:
C++ Static member initalization (template fun inside)
Edit:
I found that this topic is simply "not resolved" in the standard until now and clang did not implemented it:
Take a look at:
http://clang.llvm.org/cxx_dr_status.html ( point 205 )
I hope that I did not misunderstood the page. Feel free to correct my interpretation.

What is the meaning of auto main()->int?

I happened to come across the below code snippet in a video on C++11, where the author uses
auto main()->int
I didn't understand this. I tried to compile in g++ using -std=c++11 and it works.
Can somebody explain to me what is going on here? I tried to search using "auto main()->int" but didn't find any help.
C++11 introduced a notation for trailing return types: If a function declaration is introduced with auto, the return type will be specified after the parameters and a -> sequence. That is, all that does is to declare main() to return int.
The significance of trailing return types is primarily for function template where it is now possible to use parameters to the function together with decltype() to determine the return type. For example:
template <typename M, typename N>
auto multiply(M const& m, N const& n) -> decltype(m * n);
This declares the function multiply() to return the type produced by m * n. Putting the use of decltype() in front of multiply() would be invalid because m and n are not, yet, declared.
Although it is primarily useful for function template, the same notation can also be used for other function. With C++14 the trailing return type can even be omitted when the function is introduced with auto under some conditions.
This is a uniform function declaration syntax, trailing return type, introduced in C++11.
You can't use any other syntax for lamdas, and it's also very convenient for function templates where the result type depends on arguments.
If you want to select one single syntax (and I think that's a good idea), then you don't have any choice: the old syntax can't be used for lambdas.
Reason for doing that include:
Well, a single syntax.
Function name always at the same place visually, supports fast scanning of code.
Ditto for the result type, easy visual recognition (plus, you don't have to qualify it when it's a type defined in a member function's class).
Reasons against include some added verbosity, use of old compilers that don't understand this syntax, that anything new can feel scary and uncomfortable and just odd.
It is called trailing-return-type. It is particularly useful in generic codes using templates where the return type of depends on the expression involving some other template arguments. It is also used in lambda.
Here is an example:
template<typename T, typename U>
auto add(T t, U u) -> decltype(t+u)
{
return t + u;
}
Here the return type depends on the expression t+u. So whatever the type of the expression, is also the return-type of the function, which is indicated by decltype(t+u).