c++ visualizing memory of variable - c++

I would like to see the structure of the memory, allocated to two different variables.
The attention behind this, is to understand how the memory is structured in order of storing different datatypes.
How is it done in C++?
//how to show, whats in memory in &var1 &var2 ?
short var1 = 2;
string var2 = "bla";

If you are using Eclipse, you can use the Memory View in the debug perspective.
Either that, or simply create a pointer to your variables and inspect the contents of those:
short var1 = 2;
string var2 = "bla";
char* pVar1 = (char*)&var1; //point to memory storing var1
char* pVar2 = (char*)&var2; //point to memory storing var2

If you're using MSVS, you can open the Memory tab and write the address you wish to inspect.
You must be in debug - Debug -> Windows -> Memory.

I usually use something like the following:
template< typename T >
class Dump
{
public:
explicit Dump( T const& obj ) ;
void print( std::ostream& dest ) const ;
friend std::ostream& operator<<( std::ostream& dest, Dump const& source )
{
source.print( dest );
return source;
}
private:
unsigned char const*myObj ;
} ;
template< typename T >
inline Dump< T >
dump(
T const& obj )
{
return Dump< T >( obj ) ;
}
template< typename T >
Dump< T >::Dump(
T const& obj )
: myObj( reinterpret_cast< unsigned char const* >( &obj ) )
{
}
template< typename T >
void
Dump< T >::print(
std::ostream& dest ) const
{
IOSave saver( dest ) ;
dest.fill( '0' ) ;
dest.setf( std::ios::hex, std::ios::basefield ) ;
char const* baseStr = "" ;
if ( (dest.flags() & std::ios::showbase) != 0 ) {
baseStr = "0x" ;
dest.unsetf( std::ios::showbase ) ;
}
unsigned char const* const
end = myObj + sizeof( T ) ;
for ( unsigned char const* p = myObj ; p != end ; ++ p ) {
if ( p != myObj ) {
dest << ' ' ;
}
dest << baseStr << std::setw( 2 ) << (unsigned int)( *p ) ;
}
}
IOSave is a simple class which saves the formatting state (flags,
fill and precision) in the constructor, and restores them in the
destructor.

Related

Enum convert to string using compile time constants

I'm trying to associate compile time strings to enum values.
Here is my first attempt at the problem:
EnumValue will do the compile time assocation between a string and an enum
template<typename EnumType, int EnumIntValue, const char* EnumStrValue>
class EnumValue
{
public:
static const char* toString()
{
return EnumStrValue;
}
static const int toInt()
{
return EnumIntValue;
}
static EnumType get()
{
return static_cast<EnumType>(EnumIntValue);
}
};
EnumValueHolder will hold the actual values for both string and enum.
I dislike my current design as it still needs to hold a pointer to string. I would prefer a compile time association for this but fail to come up with a more elegant solution
template<typename EnumType>
class EnumValueHolder
{
public:
EnumValueHolder()
{}
EnumValueHolder(const EnumType& value, const char* str)
: value(value), str(str)
{}
bool operator==(const EnumValueHolder<EnumType>& rhs) { return value == rhs.value; }
bool operator==(const EnumType& rhs)const { return value == rhs; }
operator EnumType()const
{
return value;
}
const char* toString()const
{
return str;
}
const int toInt()const
{
return static_cast<int>(value);
}
private:
EnumType value;
char const* str;
};
Marcos to easily refer to enum types and enum value holder construction
#define ENUM_VALUE_TYPE(enumName, enumValue) \
EnumValue<enumName, (int)enumName::enumValue, str_##enumValue>
#define ENUM_VALUE_MAKE(enumName, enumValue) \
EnumValueHolder<enumName> { \
ENUM_VALUE_TYPE(enumName, enumValue)::get(), \
ENUM_VALUE_TYPE(enumName, enumValue)::toString() }
The following are my test cases and usage examples:
const char str_Apple[] = "Apple";
const char str_Orange[] = "Orange";
const char str_Pineapple[] = "Pineapple";
enum class EFruits
{
Apple,
Orange,
Pineapple
};
int main()
{
auto evApple = ENUM_VALUE_MAKE(EFruits, Apple);
std::cout << evApple.toString() << std::endl;
auto evOrange = ENUM_VALUE_MAKE(EFruits, Orange);
std::cout << evOrange.toString() << std::endl;
std::cout << "compare: " << (evApple == evOrange) << std::endl;
evApple = evOrange;
std::cout << evApple.toString() << std::endl;
auto myfruit = ENUM_VALUE_MAKE(EFruits, Pineapple);
std::cout << myfruit.toString() << std::endl;
switch (myfruit)
{
case EFruits::Apple:
std::cout << "Im an apple!" << std::endl;
break;
case EFruits::Orange:
std::cout << "Im an Orange!" << std::endl;
break;
case EFruits::Pineapple:
std::cout << "Im a Pineapple!" << std::endl;
break;
default:break;
}
}
One of the objectives is to remove the global string:
const char str_Apple[] = "Apple";
const char str_Orange[] = "Orange";
const char str_Pineapple[] = "Pineapple";
The other is to create a macro that assoicates an enum with a string
//Some crazy define that makes pairs of enum values and strings as
//compile time constants
#define DEFINE_ENUM_STRING(enumValue)\
enumValue, #enumValue
//Ideally, the macro would be used like this. This should be usable in any
//scope (global, namespace, class)
//with any access specifier (private, protected, public)
enum class EFruits
{
DEFINE_ENUM_STRING(Apple),
DEFINE_ENUM_STRING(Orange),
DEFINE_ENUM_STRING(Pineapple)
};
So there are 2 main questions:
1) Will this current design actually guarantee compile time constants for associating the enum to the string?
2) How can I define a macro to stringify an enum value and declare the value in a enum class using 1 line?
Edit: This should work and compile with msvs2017 on win64 platform using c++ 11.
Thanks.
I think it should work with MSVC2017. It uses C++14 in the constexpr functions but you can split them to single return statement constexprs to be C++11 compatible (however MSVC2017 supports C++14).
EnumConverter stores the char*, the enum and a string hash value for each enum entry. For each enum you must specialize EnumConverter::StrEnumContainer. The enum-string pairs could be generated with a similar macro you specified.
#include <tuple>
#include <array>
#include <stdexcept>
using namespace std;
enum ELogLevel {
Info,
Warn,
Debug,
Error,
Critical
};
static constexpr size_t constexprStringHash( char const* const str ) noexcept
{
return (
( *str != 0 ) ?
( static_cast< size_t >( *str ) + 33 * constexprStringHash( str + 1 ) ) :
5381
);
}
class EnumConverter final
{
public:
EnumConverter() = delete;
EnumConverter( const EnumConverter& ) = delete;
EnumConverter( EnumConverter&& ) = delete;
EnumConverter& operator =( const EnumConverter& ) = delete;
EnumConverter& operator =( EnumConverter&& ) = delete;
template< typename ENUM_T >
static constexpr const char* toStr( const ENUM_T value )
{
const auto& strEnumArray{ StrEnumContainer< ENUM_T >::StrEnumPairs };
const char* result{ nullptr };
for( size_t index{ 0 }; index < strEnumArray.size(); ++index ) {
if( std::get< 1 >( strEnumArray[ index ] ) == value ) {
result = std::get< 0 >( strEnumArray[ index ] );
break;
}
}
return ( ( result == nullptr ) ? throw std::logic_error{ "Enum toStrBase conversion failed" } : result );
}
template< typename ENUM_T >
static constexpr ENUM_T fromStr( const char* const str )
{
const auto& strEnumArray{ StrEnumContainer< ENUM_T >::StrEnumPairs };
const size_t hash{ constexprStringHash( str ) };
const ENUM_T* result{ nullptr };
for( size_t index{ 0 }; index < strEnumArray.size(); ++index ) {
if( std::get< 2 >( strEnumArray[ index ] ) == hash ) {
result = &( std::get< 1 >( strEnumArray[ index ] ) );
}
}
return ( ( result == nullptr ) ? throw std::logic_error{ "Enum toStrBase conversion failed" } : *result );
}
private:
template< typename ENUM_T, size_t LEN >
using ARRAY_T = std::array< std::tuple< const char* const, const ENUM_T, const size_t >, LEN >;
template< typename ENUM_T >
static constexpr std::tuple< const char* const, ENUM_T, size_t > getTuple( const char* const str, const ENUM_T type ) noexcept
{
return std::tuple< const char* const, ENUM_T, size_t >{ str, type, constexprStringHash( str ) };
}
template< typename ENUM_T >
struct StrEnumContainer
{
};
template< typename ENUM_T >
friend struct StrEnumContainer;
};
template<>
struct EnumConverter::StrEnumContainer< ELogLevel >
{
using ENUM_T = ELogLevel;
static constexpr EnumConverter::ARRAY_T< ENUM_T, 5 > StrEnumPairs{ {
{ getTuple( "Info", ENUM_T::Info ) },
{ getTuple( "Warn", ENUM_T::Warn ) },
{ getTuple( "Debug", ENUM_T::Debug ) },
{ getTuple( "Error", ENUM_T::Error ) },
{ getTuple( "Critical", ENUM_T::Critical ) },
} };
};
int main()
{
//static_assert( EnumConverter::fromStr< ELogLevel >( "Info" ) == EnumConverter::fromStr< ELogLevel >( EnumConverter::toStr( Error ) ), "Error" ); // Error
static_assert(
EnumConverter::toStr( Warn )[ 0 ] == 'W' &&
EnumConverter::toStr( Warn )[ 1 ] == 'a' &&
EnumConverter::toStr( Warn )[ 2 ] == 'r' &&
EnumConverter::toStr( Warn )[ 3 ] == 'n',
"Error"
);
static_assert( EnumConverter::fromStr< ELogLevel >( "Info" ) == EnumConverter::fromStr< ELogLevel >( EnumConverter::toStr( Info ) ), "Error" );
}

load a file of 1's and 0's into a char** line by line

I have a file, at the end of each line there is possibly a newline:
111\n
100\n
101
In C++ you can load the lines of a file into an array of byte strings like this:
auto lines_from( istream& is )
-> vector<string>
{
string line;
vector<string> result;
while( getline( is, line ) )
{
result.push_back( line );
}
return result;
}
auto main() -> int
{
vector<string> const lines = lines_from( cin );
// Use it.
}
Here string is std::string from the <string> header, getline is std::getline from the same header, and vector is std::vector from the <vector> header. I chose to use a descriptive name for the function, lines_from. However, it's commonly named readall.
Where you absolutely need a char**, presumably with an assumption of some given buffer size for each string, then you can use a vector of pointers, pointing to buffers that e.g. are managed by a class like this:
class C_strings
{
private:
vector<string> buffers_;
vector<char*> pointers_;
int bufsize_;
C_strings( C_strings const& ) = delete;
auto operator=( C_strings const& ) -> C_strings& = delete;
public:
auto pointer() -> char** { return pointers_.data(); }
auto bufsize() const -> int { return bufsize_; }
C_strings( vector<string> const& strings, int const bufsize )
: buffers_( strings )
, bufsize_( bufsize )
{
pointers_.reserve( buffers_.size() + 1 );
for( string& s : buffers_ )
{
s.reserve( bufsize );
if( s.empty() or s.back() != '\0' ) { s += '\0'; }
pointers_.push_back( &s[0] );
}
pointers_.push_back( nullptr );
}
C_strings( C_strings&& other )
: buffers_( move( other.buffers_ ) )
, pointers_( move( other.pointers_ ) )
{}
};
Then let's say you want to call a double-star function like this:
void doublestarfunc( char** const lines )
{
using std::cout;
for( char** pps = lines; *pps != nullptr; ++pps )
{
if( strlen( *pps ) < 40 ) { strcat( *pps, " < Oh la la!" ); }
cout << *pps << '\n';
}
cout << '\n';
}
It can be done very simply:
using namespace std; // cin, cout
int const columns = 80;
int const cstring_bufsize = columns + 1;
auto c_strings = C_strings( lines_from( cin ), cstring_bufsize );
doublestarfunc( c_strings.pointer() );
But is it a good idea? No, except when you have to relate to an existing C style API. For C++ code, better restructure it to use C++ std::string throughout.

Struct alignment/endianess check

I have this kind of C structure.
struct uart_buff
{
uart_buff(uint32_t reg_Addr, uint32_t uValue)
{
addr=reg_Addr;
data=uValue;
terminator=0xFF;
}
uint32_t addr;
uint32_t data;
uint8_t terminator;
};
I would to print each byte (9 if I'm right) of this struct (as an Hexadecimal value) in order to check if the syntax is correct. Is there a simple way to do such a thing?
Yes, you can access the struct through an unsigned char pointer,
struct uart_buff buf = ...;
unsigned char *p = (unsigned char *)&buf;
size_t i;
for(i = 0; i < sizeof buf; i++) {
printf("%02X ", p[i]);
}
I've got a template class that I usually use for this sort of
thing:
template<typename T>
class Dump
{
unsigned char const*myObj;
public:
explicit Dump( T const& obj )
: myObj( reinterpret_cast<unsigned char const*>( &obj ) )
{
}
friend std::ostream& operator<<( std::ostream& dest, Dump const& obj )
{
IOSave saver( dest ) ;
dest.fill( '0' ) ;
dest.setf( std::ios::hex, std::ios::basefield ) ;
char const* baseStr = "" ;
if ( (dest.flags() & std::ios::showbase) != 0 ) {
baseStr = "0x" ;
}
unsigned char const* const
end = obj.myObj + sizeof( T ) ;
for ( unsigned char const* p = myObj ; p != end ; ++ p ) {
if ( p != myObj ) {
dest << ' ' ;
}
dest << baseStr << std::setw( 2 ) << (unsigned int)( *p ) ;
}
}
} ;
template< typename T >
inline Dump< T >
dump(
T const& obj )
{
return Dump< T >( obj ) ;
}
(IOSave is just the usual class to save and restore the
formatting parameters when they're going to be modified.)
This allows dumping a hex image of pretty much anything, just by
writing:
std::cout << dump( myObj ) << std::endl;

odeint (c++) - downsample observations

Sorry if this is a simple question - but is there a "best practice" for downsampling the evolution of the state variables in odeint?
Below, I've copied a nice example for building an "observer" to log the state variables provided in this article (http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/268589/odeint-v2-Solving-ordinary-differential-equations)
struct streaming_observer
{
std::ostream &m_out;
streaming_observer( std::ostream &out ) : m_out( out ) {}
void operator()( const state_type &x , double t ) const
{
m_out << t;
for( size_t i=0 ; i < x.size() ; ++i )
m_out << "\t" << x[i];
m_out << "\n";
}
};
// ...
integrate_const( runge_kutta4< state_type >() , lorenz , x , 0.0 , 10.0 , dt , streaming_observer( std::cout ) );
How would you alter the observer to only log the state every 10 steps (for example). I'm wondering whether there is a more elegant solution than putting in an if-statement:
struct streaming_observer
{
std::ostream &m_out;
int count;
streaming_observer( std::ostream &out ) : m_out( out ) {count = 10;}
void operator()( const state_type &x , double t ) const
{
if( count == 10 ) {
count = 1;
m_out << t;
for( size_t i=0 ; i < x.size() ; ++i )
m_out << "\t" << x[i];
m_out << "\n";
}
else {
count++;
}
}
};
I had the same issue and solved it exactly like you did. However, you could also consider using a stepper with step-size control and then use integrate_const with a dt such that the observer is called at the required intervals. When you use a stepper with step-size control (even better: dense ouput like dopri5), integrate_const adjusts the step size according to your error tolerance, but then assures that the observer is called at times t0 + n*dt.
Actually I would do it exactly like you did. You can also write a small adapter for doing the striding:
template< typename Obs >
struct striding_observer {
size_t stride , count;
Observer obs;
striding_observer( size_t s , Obs o ) : stride(s) , count(1) , obs(o) { }
template< typename S , typename T >
void operator()( State const& s , Time const& t ) {
if( count == stride ) {
obs( s , t );
count = 1;
} else {
++count;
}
}
};
template< typename Obs >
striding_observer< Obs > make_striding_observer( size_t stride , Obs o ) {
return striding_observer< Obs >( stride , o );
}
Then the striding is optional and composable. You can then write the very first example as
integrate_const( runge_kutta4< state_type >() ,
lorenz , x , 0.0 , 10.0 , dt ,
make_striding_observer( 10 , streaming_observer( std::cout ) ) );

ofstream reset precision

I'm using c++ to manipulate txt files.
I need to write some numbers with a certain precision so I'm doing:
ofstrem file;
file.open(filename, ios::app);
file.precision(6);
file.setf(ios::fixed, ios::floafield);
//writing number on the file.....
now I need to write other stuff, so I need to reset precision.
how can I do it?
Retrieve the stream's original precision value first with precision(), store it, change it, do your insertions, then change it back to the stored value.
int main() {
std::stringstream ss;
ss << 1.12345 << " ";
std::streamsize p = ss.precision();
ss.precision(2);
ss << 1.12345 << " ";
ss.precision(p);
ss << 1.12345;
cout << ss.str(); // 1.12345 1.1 1.12345
}
Live demo.
There are two possible solutions. If you're handling a large block of
output which uses the same formatting parameters, you can use something
like this:
class IOSave
{
std::ios& myStream;
std::ios::fmtflags myFlags;
std::streamsize myPrecision;
char myFill;
public:
IOSave( std::ios& userStream )
: myStream( userStream )
, myFlags( userStream.flags() )
, myPrecision( userStream.precision() )
, myFill( userStream.fill() )
{
}
~IOSave()
{
myStream.flags( myFlags );
myStream.precision( myPrecision );
myStream.fill( myFill );
}
};
Just define an instance of it at the top of the block doing the output.
Most of the time, however, I'll be defining my own manipulator, which
derives from something like:
class StateSavingManipulator
{
mutable std::ios* myStream;
mutable std::ios::fmtflags mySavedFlags;
mutable int mySavedPrec;
mutable char mySavedFill;
virtual void setState( std::ios& stream ) const = 0 ;
protected:
StateSavingManipulator();
public:
virtual ~StateSavingManipulator();
void operator()( std::ios& stream ) const ;
};
inline std::ostream& operator<<(
std::ostream& out,
StateSavingManip const& manip)
{
manip( out ) ;
return out ;
}
inline std::istream&
operator>>(
std::istream& in,
StateSavingManip const& manip )
{
manip( in ) ;
return in ;
}
The implementation is a bit tricky, since you have to take into account
that if several manipulators are used in the same expression, the
compiler can construct them (and thus destruct them) in any order it
pleases. So:
namespace {
int getXAlloc() ;
int ourXAlloc = getXAlloc() + 1 ;
int getXAlloc()
{
if ( ourXAlloc == 0 ) {
ourXAlloc = std::ios::xalloc() + 1 ;
assert( ourXAlloc != 0 ) ;
}
return ourXAlloc - 1 ;
}
}
StateSavingManipulator::StateSavingManipulator()
: myStream( NULL )
{
}
StateSavingManipulator::~StateSavingManipulator()
{
if ( myStream != NULL ) {
myStream->flags( mySavedFlags ) ;
myStream->precision( mySavedPrec ) ;
myStream->fill( mySavedFill ) ;
myStream->pword( getXAlloc() ) = NULL ;
}
}
void StateSavingManipulator::operator()(
std::ios& stream ) const
{
void*& backptr = stream.pword( getXAlloc() ) ;
if ( backptr == NULL ) {
backptr = const_cast< StateSavingManip* >( this ) ;
myStream = &stream ;
mySavedFlags = stream.flags() ;
mySavedPrec = stream.precision() ;
mySavedFill = stream.fill() ;
}
setState( stream ) ;
}
The derived manipulator then does whatever it has to in its implementation of setState. Given this, you can write things like:
std::cout << FFmt( 6, 2 ) << someValue << std::endl;
without having to worry about saving and restoring the formatting state.
One solution:
std::streamsize oldPres = file.precision(2);
file.setf(ios::fixed, ios::floafield);
… code continues …
file.precision(oldPres);
file.unsetf(std::ios::fixed);