Generalized chaining of non-member functions in C++ - c++

Question

I don't know if this can even be achivieable, but given these set of functions\class:
float plus1(float x) { return x+1; }
float div2(float x) { return x/2.0f; }
template <typename T>
class chain {
public:
chain(const T& val = T()) : val_(val) {}
chain& operator<<( std::function<float (float)> func ) {
val_ = func(val_);
return *this;
}
operator T() const {
return val_;
}
T val_;
};
I can chain functions operating on floats like this:
float x = chain<float>(3.0f) << div2 << plus1 << div2 << plus1;
However, I'd like to generalize\extend this to being able to convert between types and have functions with arguments. Unfortunately I'm not smart enough to figure out how, or if, this can be done.
Too be more specific I'd like to be able to do something like this (Where operator<< is just an arbitary choice, and preferably I dont even have to write "chain" at the beginning);
Also, these are just dummy examples, I do not intend to use it for arithmetics.
std::string str = chain<float>(3.0) << mul(2.0f) << sqrt << to_string << to_upper;
or
vec3d v = chain<vec3i>(vec3i(1,1,1)) << normalize << to_vec3<double>;
Any ideas?

Answer 1

I think i see why you want to do it. It's similar to the iostream manipulators.
You will always need to start with chain(...) (i.e you will never be able to magically do something like int x = 1 << plus(2) << times(2)), but you can overload the operator int, operator float, ... to allow for the implicit conversions.
You will also need to go back and define each type (like mul) and then implement the operator<< which takes a mul or a const mul, but as a whole it's doable (but a PITA)

Answer 2

A general and extendable solution using boost::proto :
#include <iostream>
#include <boost/proto/proto.hpp>
namespace bp = boost::proto;
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// perform is a callable transform that take a function_ terminal and execute it
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
struct perform : bp::callable
{
template<class Sig> struct result;
template<class This, class Func, class In>
struct result<This(Func,In)>
: boost::result_of<typename boost::remove_reference<Func>::type(In)> {};
template<class Func, class In>
typename result<perform(Func &,In)>::type
operator()( Func& f, In& in ) const
{
return f(in);
}
};
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Grammar for chaining pipe of functions
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
struct pipeline_grammar
: bp::or_<
bp::when<
bp::bitwise_or<pipeline_grammar,pipeline_grammar>
, pipeline_grammar(
bp::_right
, pipeline_grammar(bp::_left,bp::_state)
)
>
, bp::when<
bp::terminal<bp::_>
, perform(bp::_value, bp::_state)
>
> {};
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Forward declaration of the pipeline domain
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
struct pipeline_domain;
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// A pipeline is the top level DS entity
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
template<class Expr>
struct pipeline : bp::extends<Expr,pipeline<Expr>, pipeline_domain>
{
typedef bp::extends<Expr, pipeline<Expr>, pipeline_domain> base_type;
pipeline(Expr const &expr = Expr()) : base_type(expr) {}
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// A pipeline is an unary callable object
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
template<class Input>
typename boost::result_of<pipeline_grammar(pipeline,Input)>::type
operator()(Input const& in) const
{
pipeline_grammar evaluator;
return evaluator(*this,in);
}
};
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// the pipeline_domain make pipeline expression macthes pipeline_grammar
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
struct pipeline_domain
: bp::domain<bp::generator<pipeline>,pipeline_grammar>
{};
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Takes a PFO instance and make it a pipeline terminal
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
template<class Func>
typename bp::result_of::
make_expr<bp::tag::terminal, pipeline_domain,Func>::type
task( Func const& f )
{
return bp::make_expr<bp::tag::terminal,pipeline_domain>( f );
}
//--------------------------- Examples --------------------
struct return_value
{
template<class Sig> struct result;
template<class This, class T>
struct result<This(T)> : bp::detail::uncvref<T>
{};
return_value(int i = 1) : factor(i) {}
template<class T>
T operator()(T const& in) const
{
return in*factor;
}
int factor;
};
struct say_hi
{
typedef void result_type;
template<class T>
void operator()(T const& in) const
{
std::cout << "Hi from value = " << in << "\n";
}
};
int main()
{
return_value r1,r2(5);
(task(r1) | task(r2) | task(say_hi())) (7); // SHould print 35
float k = 10,r;
r = (task(r2) | task(r2) | task(r2) | task(r2))(k);
std::cout << r << "\n"; // Should print 6250
}
The basic idea is to wrap function objects as proto terminals, build a small | based grammar and let the proto system deals with the composition.

Answer 3

In order to get conversions between types you would want to have everything return a proxy object, that could convert to any type. Something based on boost::variant, perhaps.
You could also rewrite your operator << as a template function to make it a bit more generic:
template <class UnaryFunction>
chain& operator<<(UnaryFunction func) { _val = func(_val); return *this;}
That would allow you to use any kind of function object as an argument.
To use functions with multiple arguments, you can use the bind function. This was in boost prior to C++11, however now it is in the standard and should be available on any C++11 compatible compiler.

Answer 4

Here is my solution for C++17.
#include <type_traits>
#include <utility>
template <class F>
struct waterfall
{
waterfall(F&& f)
: fn(std::forward<F>(f))
{}
template <class... Args>
decltype(auto) operator()(Args&&... args) const {
return fn(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
template <class T>
auto then(T&& t) const & {
return then_impl(fn, std::forward<T>(t));
}
template <class T>
auto then(T&& t) const && {
return then_impl(std::move(fn), std::forward<T>(t));
}
private:
F fn;
template <class In, class Out>
static auto then_impl(In&& in, Out&& out)
{
auto fn = [in = std::forward<In>(in), out = std::forward<Out>(out)](auto&&... args)
{
using InRet = std::invoke_result_t<In, decltype(args)...>;
if constexpr (std::is_invocable_v<Out, InRet>) {
return out(in(std::forward<decltype(args)>(args)...));
}
else {
in(std::forward<decltype(args)>(args)...);
return out();
}
};
return waterfall<decltype(fn)>(std::move(fn));
}
};
And use it like this
int main()
{
// Create a chain
waterfall chain([](const char* s) {
return 42;
})
.then([](auto x) {
// x = 42 here
return x + 1;
})
.then([] {
// Ignoring value from previous function.
// Send double to next one.
return 3.14;
})
.then([](double value) {
// etc...
return true;
});
// chain signature is now bool(const char*)
// Now call our functions in chain
bool ret = chain("test");
}