Function pointer pointing to a function that takes a function pointer - c++

How do I declare a function pointer that points to a function taking the same function pointer as the argument?
I've tried the following without success:
typedef void (*fnptr)(void (*)());
void func(fnptr)
{
/* ... */
}
void func2(fnptr)
{
/* ... */
}
void main()
{
fnptr fn = &func;
func2(fn);
}
Is this possible?

I very much doubt it, but you can get the needed recursion by introducing a struct.
struct Rec;
typedef void (*RecFun)(const Rec&);
struct Rec {
RecFun fun;
};
Example of use:
#include <iostream>
void nothing(const Rec& rec) {}
Rec recNothing = { nothing };
void f(const Rec& rec)
{
std::cout << "f\n";
rec.fun(recNothing);
}
Rec recF = { f };
void g(const Rec& rec)
{
std::cout << "g\n";
rec.fun(recNothing);
}
Rec recG = { g };
int main()
{
recF.fun(recG);
}
Update: As per the suggestions of Chris, Vitus, and Johannes, here are some convenient implicit conversions (as in Herb Sutter's GotW #57):
struct Rec;
typedef void (*RecFun)(const Rec&);
struct Rec {
RecFun fun;
Rec(RecFun fun) : fun(fun) {}
operator RecFun() const { return fun; }
};

Alas, it cannot be done. It would be nice if you could use typename to forward declare a typedef; something like:
typename fnptr;
typedef (*fnptr)(fnptr);
but that does not work, because typename is restricted to a few specific template uses

The easiest way is to just typedef both. A function pointer is a parameter just like any other type:
typedef (* InnerFunctionPtr)(void);
typedef (* OuterFunctionPtr)(InnerFunctionPtr);
Edit: Folks have pointed out you mean both to be the same type. In that case, it's not possible, as the type would be recursive. It's impossible to create a complete type specification (the type of the function's parameter is never completely specified, ergo...)

it is possible in this way:
typedef void (*fnptr)(void (*)());
fnptr fn1,fn2;
void func(fn1)
{
/* ... */
}
void func2(fn2)
{
/* ... */
}
void main()
{
fnptr fn = &func;
func2(fn);
}

You can also defeat the type system by pretending that the function takes some other function pointer type, and then casting it when you pass something to the function and inside the function to get the original type back.
Not recommended obviously, but just putting it out there.
typedef void (*fnptr)(void (*)());
void func(void (*x)())
{
fnptr f = (fnptr)x;
/* ... */
}
void func2(void (*x)())
{
fnptr f = (fnptr)x;
/* ... */
}
void main()
{
fnptr fn = &func;
func2((void (*)())fn);
}

Related

Extracting a parameter from a function passed as parameter

I have a following function:
void Class1::MainThreadFunction(const __int64 param) {
if(GetCurrentThreadId() != System::MainThreadID) {
RunInMainThread(MainThreadFunction, param);
return;
}
//...
}
void Class2::RunInMainThread(void(__closure* FuncToCall)(const __int64 ParToExtract),
const __int64 fP1) {
struct {
__int64 P1;
void(__closure* F)(const __int64);
void __fastcall FTC() { F(P1); }
} Args = {fP1, FuncToCall};
TThread::Synchronize(NULL, &Args.FTC);
}
So what I am attempting to do is to extract the first parameter in FuncToCall which is named ParToExtract above to be used for initializing the Args structure. In other words the P1 in the struct should receive the const __int64 from the passed function which is named as ParToExtract.
The above works but I currently as a workaround pass the parameter as fP1 which I use to initialize P1 but there surely must be a better way to do this.
Additional bonus would be to have the variable number of function parameters in RunInMainThread (but I have for the moment to avoid C++11 <functional>).
Please no lambda-based (or C++11 features) - this is another thing I cannot yet use for the moment.
What you already have is the correct (and only) way to approach this situation in C++Builder's "classic" (pre-C++11) compilers.
In order to support a variable number of parameters, you will have to use multiple overloads, there is no other option (without delving into low-level inline assembly to setup call stacks manually, but even then it may not work correctly across thread boundaries), eg:
void Class1::MainThreadFunction()
{
if (GetCurrentThreadId() != System::MainThreadID)
{
RunInMainThread(MainThreadFunction);
return;
}
//...
}
void Class1::MainThreadFunction(const __int64 param)
{
if(GetCurrentThreadId() != System::MainThreadID)
{
RunInMainThread(MainThreadFunction, param);
return;
}
//...
}
// and so on as needed ...
template<typename FuncType>
void Class2::RunInMainThread(FuncType FuncToCall)
{
struct {
FuncType F;
void __fastcall FTC() { F(); }
} Args = {FuncToCall};
TThread::Synchronize(NULL, &Args.FTC);
}
template<typename FuncType, typename ParamType>
void Class2::RunInMainThread(FuncType FuncToCall, const ParamType param)
{
struct {
const ParamType &P;
FuncType F;
void __fastcall FTC() { F(P); }
} Args = {param, FuncToCall};
TThread::Synchronize(NULL, &Args.FTC);
}
template<typename FuncType, typename ParamType1, typename ParamType2>
void Class2::RunInMainThread(FuncType FuncToCall, const ParamType1 param1, const ParamType2 param2)
{
struct {
const ParamType1 &P1;
const ParamType2 &P2;
FuncType F;
void __fastcall FTC() { F(P1, P2); }
} Args = {param1, param2, FuncToCall};
TThread::Synchronize(NULL, &Args.FTC);
}
// and so on as needed...
If you look through various RTL header files, such as sysvari.h and utilcls.h, using overloads is how Borland itself approaches the issue of variable number of parameters in several of its own APIs, sometimes upwards of 30+ parameters, which is more than enough to handle most user code.
The signature for the method called by TThread::Synchronize() must match the TThreadMethod type:
void __fastcall (__closure *TThreadMethod)(void);
So you can't pass parameters through it directly. Instead of going through a proxy function, use a lambda:
void MainThreadFunction(int64_t param) {
if(GetCurrentThreadId() != System::MainThreadID)
TThread::Synchronize(nullptr, [&param]{ MainThreadFunction(param); } );
//...
}
In order to have a variable number of parameters, you could make it a function template:
template< class... Args >
void MainThreadFunction(Args&&... args) {
if(GetCurrentThreadId() != System::MainThreadID)
TThread::Synchronize(nullptr, [&args...] {
MainThreadFunction(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
);
//...
}
When using a classic (pre C++11) compiler, you'd usually use a class private variable to carry the information.

Callback using lambda with closures

I'm trying to implement a callback which passes control from an Interrupt Service Routine to a member function on a c++ class. I thought lambdas and closures would be a convenient means of doing this, but I'm having trouble implementing it. Below is a simplified version of my code.
The issue I'm stuck on is how to store the "function pointer" to the "lambda".
class Gpio
{
public:
typedef void (*ExtiHandler)();
private:
ExtiHandler handler;
public:
void enable_irq(ExtiHandler handler_in)
{
// enable interrupt
// ...
// save handler so callback can be issued later
handler = handler_in;
}
};
class Button
{
private:
Gpio& pin;
public:
Button(Gpio& pin_in) : pin(pin_in)
{
};
void button_pressed()
{
// do something
}
void init()
{
pin.enable_irq([this]() { this->button_pressed(); });
}
};
Compiling fails with the following error message;
no matching function for call to 'Gpio::enable_irq(Button::init()::<lambda()>)'candidate: void Gpio::enable_irq(Gpio::ExtiHandler) no known conversion for argument 1 from 'Button::init()::<lambda()>' to 'Gpio::ExtiHandler {aka void (*)()}' Build failed
How can I modify this code to resolve the compile error?
The problem is, that enable_irq function expects a typed function pointer of type void (*ExtiHandler)() not a lambda function.
That means, here
pin.enable_irq([this]() { this->button_pressed(); });
you are trying to store a lambda function(with capturing the instance) to a typed function pointer. You could have converted the lambda to a function pointer(easily) if it would have been a capture-less lambda.
See [expr.prim.lambda.closure] (sec 7)
The closure type for a non-generic lambda-expression with no
lambda-capture whose constraints (if any) are satisfied has a
conversion function to pointer to function with C++ language linkage
having the same parameter and return types as the closure type's
function call operator.
Since lambdas are not just ordinary functions and capturing it need to preserve a state,
you can not find any simple or conventional solution to make them assign to function pointers.
Solution - 1
The simplest solution is to use std::function instead, by paying some type erasure overhead. That means, in your code, just need to change the
typedef void(*ExtiHandler)();
to
typedef std::function<void()> ExtiHandler;
// or
// using ExtiHandler = std::function<void()>;
Solution - 2
Can this be accomplished without using the STL?
Yes. After making a small research on this topic, I came up with a type traits solution to store the lambdas with closure to the equivalent typed function pointer.
#include <iostream>
template<typename Lambda> struct convert_lambda : convert_lambda<decltype(&Lambda::operator())> {};
template<typename Lambda, typename ReType, typename... Args>
struct convert_lambda<ReType(Lambda::*)(Args...) const>
{
using funPtr = ReType(*)(Args...);
static funPtr make_function_ptr(const Lambda& t)
{
static const Lambda& lmda = t;
return [](Args... args) { return lmda(args...); };
}
};
template<typename Lambda> using convert_lambda_t = typename convert_lambda<Lambda>::funPtr;
template<typename Lambda> constexpr convert_lambda_t<Lambda> make_function_ptr(const Lambda& t)
{
return convert_lambda<Lambda>::make_function_ptr(t);
}
Usage: SEE LIVE EXAMPLE
You can now simply continue with your Gpio and Button classes, without
changing anything.:
pin.enable_irq(make_function_ptr([this]() { this->button_pressed(); }));
// or
// pin.enable_irq(make_function_ptr([&]() { this->button_pressed();}));
Or with arguments. For example
int aa = 4;
auto lmda = [&aa](const int a, const float f) { std::cout << a * aa * f << std::endl; };
void(*fPtrTest)(const int, const float) = make_function_ptr(lmda);
fPtrTest(1, 2.0f);
Drawbacks: The solution - 2:
is not capable of recognizing the optional sequence of specifiers.(i.e, mutable, constexpr)
is not capable of forwarding parameter pack to the traits. i.e,
the following is not possible:
return [](Args&&... args) { return lmda(std::forward<Args>(args)...); };
Closure object can be assigned to function pointer only if capture list of lambda is empty, in your case this condition is not met - [this].
You can use std::function as wrapper to store your closures:
#include <functional>
class Gpio
{
public:
using ExtiHandler = std::function<void()>;
private:
std::function<void()> handler;
public:
void enable_irq(const ExtiHandler& handler_in)
{
handler = handler_in;
}
};
If you don't have std library then you could implement the type erasure yourself.
Something like this ...
#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
struct function
{
struct base
{
virtual void call() = 0;
virtual base* clone() = 0;
};
template <typename Fn>
struct impl : base
{
Fn fn_;
impl(Fn&& fn) : fn_(std::forward<Fn>(fn)){}
impl(Fn& fn) : fn_(fn){}
virtual void call()
{
fn_();
}
virtual base* clone() { return new impl<Fn>(fn_); }
};
base* holder_;
function() : holder_(nullptr)
{};
template <typename Fn>
function(Fn&& fn) : holder_(nullptr)
{
holder_ = new impl<Fn>(std::forward<Fn>(fn));
}
function( function&& other)
{
holder_ = other.holder_;
other.holder_ = nullptr;
}
function(const function& other)
{
holder_ = other.holder_->clone();
}
~function()
{
if (holder_) delete holder_;
}
function& operator=(function&& other)
{
if (holder_) delete holder_;
holder_ = other.holder_;
other.holder_ = nullptr;
return *this;
}
function& operator=(const function& other)
{
if (holder_) delete holder_;
holder_ = other.holder_->clone();
return *this;
}
void operator()()
{
holder_->call();
}
};
class Gpio
{
public:
using ExtiHandler = function;
//private:
ExtiHandler handler;
//public:
void enable_irq(ExtiHandler handler_in)
{
// enable interrupt
// ...
// save handler so callback can be issued later
handler = handler_in;
}
};
class Button
{
private:
Gpio& pin;
public:
Button(Gpio& pin_in) : pin(pin_in)
{
};
void button_pressed()
{
std::cout << "Button pressed" << std::endl;
}
void init()
{
pin.enable_irq([this]() { this->button_pressed(); });
}
};
int main() {
Gpio some_pin;
Button b(some_pin);
b.init();
some_pin.handler();
return 0;
}
Demo

Type cast std::placeholder

I'm trying to use std::bind and typecast the function arguments to use with a typedef function. However, I can't typecast the std::placeholder. Any ideas to implement what I'm trying to do? For varied reasons, I need to be able to have the typedef function have a uint16_t argument, and also have the init function accept a member function that takes a uint8_t argument). The code (edited for simplicity) that I'm using:
typedef void (write_func_t) (uint16_t, uint8_t);
class MyClass {
public:
MyClass();
template < typename T >
void init(void (T::*write_func)(uint8_t, uint8_t), T *instance) {
using namespace std::placeholders;
_write_func = std::bind(write_func, instance, (uint16_t)_1, _2);
this->init();
}
private:
write_func_t *_write_func;
};
Wouldn't this be cleaner (and much simpler using lambdas and std::function<>)?
class MyClass {
using WriteFunc = std::function<void(int16_t, int8_t)>;
public:
void init(WriteFunc&& func) {
write_func_ = std::move(func);
}
private:
WriteFunc write_func_;
};
Then call in some other type..
class Foo {
// e.g
void SomeWriteFunction(int8_t x, int8_t y) {
}
void bar() {
// The lambda wraps the real write function and the type conversion
mc_inst.init([this](int16_t x, int8_t y) {
this->SomeWriteFunction(x, y);
});
}
};

C++ member function pointer with different arguments - or is this bad anyway?

Even though I fear that you will tell me that this topic was covered several time, I dare to ask it, since I was not able to generate a solution. Probably I was just looking for the wrong thing...
Assume that I have a function which receives a "mode" from some external function. Depending on the mode, the function will call different member functions of the same object. This works well for me with member function without any argument, but I did not find out how to extend it to members with arguments. In the real world application, the arguments are not int/float but a more complex classes and the call is nested inside different loops, so I would need to put switch statements several times which I consider ugly.
Question A: Is it possible to easily add support for member functions with arguments based on the existing design? If yes, how does one do that? If possible without external libraries...
Question B: Is this a completely wrong/bad approach? How would I do it better?
Thanks a lot for your help and explanations.
Chris
header excerpt:
typedef void (Object::*memberFunction)();
class Object
{
void memberFnNoArg();
void memberFnWithIntArg(int arg);
void memberFnWithFloatArg(float arg);
}
cpp excerpt:
void function()
{
int mode = getModeFromSomewhere();
int intArg = 33;
float floatArg = 66.6;
switch(mode)
{
case 1:
process(&Object::memberFnNoArg);
break;
case 2:
process(&Object::memberFnWithIntArg, ???); // how can I pass arg?
break;
case 3:
process(&Object::memberFnWithFlaotArg, ???); // how can I pass arg?
break;
default:
// do nothing;
}
}
void process(Object::memberFunction func)
{
Object object;
// loops, called several times, ...
(object.*func)(); // how do I handle different arguments?
}
Wrapping the algorithm in a functor is the right approach, and std::function is a nice functor provided by the Standard library.
But using boost::bind or even std::bind, as suggested by Tomek, is really ugly IMO, and rapidly gets out of control when binding multiple arguments.
If you have a recent compiler you can use a lambda instead, which makes Tomek's example look like:
std::function<void(Object*)> f =
[](Object* const that){ that->memberFnNoArg(); };
int int_value = 22;
std::function<void(Object*)> f2 =
[int_value](Object* const that){ that->memberFnIntArg(int_value); };
Object o;
f(&o);
f2(&o);
There are a few characters to set up the lambda, but the member access syntax is extremely natural and it's obvious how you make changes.
Of course, you can make the parameter a reference to the object if you really want, but I prefer pointers here.
Have a look at std::function and std::bind, they seem to fit perfectly what you need.
EDIT:
std::function<void(Object &)> f = &Object::memberFnNoArg;
std::function<void(Object &)> f2 = std::bind(&Object::memberFnWithIntArg, _1, 22);
Object o;
f(o);
f2(o);
should work out of a box as far as I remember.
Is this what you need?
You could use a varadic template function:
template <typename... Args>
void process(void (Object::*func)(Args...),Args... args)
{
Object object;
// loops, called several times, ...
(object.*func)(args...);
}
Here is a full example:
#include <iostream>
struct Object
{
void memberFnNoArg()
{
std::cout << "Object::memberFnNoArg()\n";
}
void memberFnWithIntArg(int arg)
{
std::cout << "Object::memberFnWithIntArg(" << arg << ")\n";
}
void memberFnWithFloatArg(float arg)
{
std::cout << "Object::memberFnWithFloatArg(" << arg << ")\n";
}
};
template <typename... Args>
void process(void (Object::*func)(Args...),Args... args)
{
Object object;
// loops, called several times, ...
(object.*func)(args...);
}
int main()
{
process(&Object::memberFnNoArg);
process(&Object::memberFnWithIntArg,5);
process(&Object::memberFnWithFloatArg,2.7F);
return 0;
}
One way I see around this would be to use a variable arguments (pretty much like printf, sprintf does it). (Or maybe with stdc libraries, passing a list of different types.)
The reason is, that the argument list is part of the function pointer type, so you'd essentially need a process function with variable arguments and then the memberFunction probably needs to be one of that type too.
Below is a plain (non member) sample of how to pick up variable arguments (member functions would essentially work the same). See stdarg.h.
typedef void (*var_function)(int typearg, ...);
void print_arg(int typearg, ...)
{
va_list ap;
int i;
va_start(ap, typearg);
if (typearg==1) { // int
int i= va_arg(ap, int);
printf("%d ", i);
}
else
if (typearg==2) { // float
float f= va_arg(ap, float);
printf("%f ", f);
}
else
if (typearg==3) { // char *
char *s= va_arg(ap, char *);
printf("%s ", s);
}
....
va_end(ap);
}
// calling function with different types
int main()
{
print_arg(1, 999);
print_arg(2, 3.1415926);
print_arg(3, "Hello");
....
process(print_arg, 3, "via pointer);
Sounds like packaged_task. Also check out Tomek's suggestion.
Though IRL I'd go ahead asking lots of questions on why you need it in the first place. Possibly your work could be better covered using std::future or other higher level facility,
Can't each function (memberFn**) be a member of argument classes ?
class BaseArg
{
virtual void Fn() = 0;
};
class IntArg : public BaseArg
{
void Fn();
};
class FloatArg : public BaseArg
{
void Fn();
};
void function()
{
int mode = getModeFromSomewhere();
BaseArg* pArg;
if ( mode ... ){
pArg = new IntArg( 33 );
}
else {
pArg = new FloatArg( 66.6 );
}
pArg->Fn(); // Call the right function without a switch
// and without knowing the arguments
}
Same as other answers, but to show for member methods:
#include <iostream>
class Object
{
public:
void memberFnNoArg()
{
std::cout << "Object::memberFnNoArg()\n";
}
void memberFnWithIntArg(int arg)
{
std::cout << "Object::memberFnWithIntArg(" << arg << ")\n";
}
void memberFnWithFloatArg(float arg)
{
std::cout << "Object::memberFnWithFloatArg(" << arg << ")\n";
}
bool memberFnWithBoolReturn(int)
{
return true;
}
template <typename... Args>
void process(void (Object::*func)(Args...),Args... args);
// overload process
template <typename... Args>
bool process(bool (Object::*func)(Args...),Args... args);
};
template <typename... Args>
void process( void (Object::*func)(Args...),class Object* obj,Args... args)
{
(obj->*func)(args...);
}
template <typename... Args>
bool process( bool (Object::*func)(Args...),class Object* obj,Args... args)
{
return ((obj->*func)(args...)) ;
}
int main()
{
Object object;
process(&Object::memberFnNoArg,&object);
process(&Object::memberFnWithIntArg,&object,5);
process(&Object::memberFnWithFloatArg,&object,2.7F);
// overloaded process
printf("%d\n",process(&Object::memberFnWithBoolReturn,&object,1));
return 0;
}

Dynamically define a function return type

I have a Message class that is able to pack its payload to binary and unpack it back. Like:
PayloadA p;
msg->Unpack(&p);
where PayloadA is a class.
The problem is that I have a bunch of payloads, so I need giant if or switch statement:
if (msg->PayloadType() == kPayloadTypeA)
{
PayloadA p;
msg->Unpack(&p); // void Unpack(IPayload *);
// do something with payload ...
}
else if ...
I want to write a helper function that unpacks payloads. But what would be the type of this function? Something like:
PayloadType UnpackPayload(IMessage *msg) { ... }
where PayloadType is a typedef of a proper payload class. I know it is impossible but I looking for solutions like this. Any ideas?
Thanks.
I would split one level higher to avoid the problem entirely:
#include <map>
#include <functional>
...
std::map<int, std::function<void()> _actions;
...
// In some init section
_actions[kPayloadA] = [](IMessage* msg) {
PayloadA p;
msg->Unpack(&p);
// do something with payload ...
};
// repeat for all payloads
...
// decoding function
DecodeMsg(IMessage* msg) {
_actions[id](msg);
}
To further reduce the code size, try to make Unpack a function template (possible easily only if it's not virtual, if it is you can try to add one level of indirection so that it isn't ;):
class Message {
template <class Payload>
Payload Unpack() { ... }
};
auto p = msg->Unpack<PayloadA>();
// do something with payload ...
EDIT
Now let's see how we can avoid writing the long list of _actions[kPayloadN]. This is highly non trivial.
First you need a helper to run code during the static initialization (i.e. before main):
template <class T>
class Registrable
{
struct Registrar
{
Registrar()
{
T::Init();
}
};
static Registrar R;
template <Registrar& r>
struct Force{ };
static Force<R> F; // Required to force all compilers to instantiate R
// it won't be done without this
};
template <class T>
typename Registrable<T>::Registrar Registrable<T>::R;
Now we need to define our actual registration logic:
typedef map<int, function<void()> PayloadActionsT;
inline PayloadActionsT& GetActions() // you may move this to a CPP
{
static PayloadActionsT all;
return all;
}
Then we factor in the parsing code:
template <class Payload>
struct BasePayload : Registrable<BasePayload>
{
static void Init()
{
GetActions()[Payload::Id] = [](IMessage* msg) {
auto p = msg->Unpack<Payload>();
p.Action();
}
}
};
Then we define all the payloads one by one
struct PayloadA : BasePayload<PayloadA>
{
static const int Id = /* something unique */;
void Action()
{ /* what to do with this payload */ }
}
Finally we parse the incoming messages:
void DecodeMessage(IMessage* msg)
{
static const auto& actions = GetActions();
actions[msg->GetPayloadType]();
}
How about a Factory Method that creates a payload according to the type, combined with a payload constructor for each payload type, taking a message as a parameter?
There's no avoiding the switch (or some similar construct), but at least it's straightforward and the construction code is separate from the switch.
Example:
class PayloadA : public Payload
{
public:
PayloadA(const &Message m) {...} // unpacks from m
};
class PayloadB : public Payload
{
public:
PayloadB(const &Message m) {...} // as above
};
Payload * UnpackFromMessage(const Message &m)
{
switch (m.PayloadType) :
case TypeA : return new PayloadA(m);
case TypeB : return new PayloadB(m);
... etc...
}
I seen this solved with unions. The first member of the union is the type of packet contained.
Examples here: What is a union?
An important question is how the payloads differ, and how they are the same. A system whereby you produce objects of a type determined by the payload, then interact with them via a virtual interface that is common to all types of payload, is reasonable in some cases.
Another option assuming you have a finite and fixed list of types of payload, returning a boost::variant is relatively easy. Then to process it, call apply_visitor with a functor that accepts every type in the variant.
If you only want to handle one type of payload differently, a "call and run the lambda if and only if the type matches T" function isn't that hard to write this way.
So you can get syntax like this:
struct State;
struct HandlePayload
{
typedef void return_type;
State* s;
HandlePayload(State* s_):s(s_) {}
void operator()( int const& payload ) const {
// handle int here
}
void operator()( std::shared_ptr<bob> const& payload ) const {
// handle bob ptrs here
}
template<typename T>
void operator()( T const& payload ) const {
// other types, maybe ignore them
}
}
which is cute and all, but you'll note it is quite indirect. However, you'll also note that you can write template code with a generic type T above to handle the payload, and use stuff like traits classes for some situations, or explicit specialization for others.
If you expect the payload to be one particular kind, and only want to do some special work in that case, writing a single-type handler on a boost::variant is easy.
template<typename T, typename Func>
struct Helper {
typedef bool return_type;
Func f;
Helper(Func f_):f(f_) {}
bool operator()(T const& t) {f(t); return true; }
template<typename U>
bool operator()(U const& u) { return false; }
};
template<typename T, typename Variant, typename Func>
bool ApplyFunc( Variant const& v, Func f )
{
return boost::apply_visitor( Helper<T, Func>(f), v );
}
which will call f on a variant v but only on the type T in the Variant, returning true iff the type is matched.
Using this, you can do stuff like:
boost::variant<int, double> v = 1.0;
boost::variant<int, double> v2 = int(1);
ApplyFunc<double>( v, [&](double d) { std::cout << "Double is " << d << "\n"; } );
ApplyFunc<double>( v2, [&](double d) { std::cout << "code is not run\n"; } );
ApplyFunc<int>( v2, [&](int i) { std::cout << "code is run\n"; } );
or some such variant.
One good solution is a common base class + all payloads inheriting from that class:
class PayLoadBase {
virtual char get_ch(int i) const=0;
virtual int num_chs() const=0;
};
And then the unpack would look like this:
class Unpacker {
public:
PayLoadBase &Unpack(IMessage *msg) {
switch(msg->PayLoadType()) {
case A: a = *msg; return a;
case B: b = *msg; return b;
...
}
}
private:
PayLoadA a;
PayLoadB b;
PayLoadC c;
};
You can make the function return a void *. A void pointer can be cast to any other type.