Why does writing to temporary stream fail? - c++

Consider the following code:
#include <sstream>
#include <iostream>
class Foo : public std::stringstream {
public:
~Foo() { std::cout << str(); }
};
int main()
{
Foo foo;
foo << "Test1" << std::endl;
Foo() << "Test2" << std::endl;
return 0;
}
When I execute this, it gives me:
004177FC
Test1
I do not understand why the second example gives me gibberish. The temporary should live until the entire expression is evaluated, so why does it not behave the same as the first example?

I tested it.
I can guess that operator<< cannot bind a temporary to a non-const reference, so any externally defined operator<< functions will not work on the Foo temporary, but any class member ones will so if ostream or ostringstream has any internal operator<< members they will work.
Therefore it may be that the overload to a pointer is a member function whilst the special one for const char * is externally declared.
The non-temporary can bind to the non-const reference for the more specialist overload.
If you really need this you can workaround with a wrapper
class Foo :
{
mutable std::ostringstream oss;
public:
~Foo()
{
std::cout << oss.str();
}
template<typename T>
std::ostream&
operator<<( const T& t ) const
{
return oss << t;
}
};
Tested and works. The first operator<< will return you the underlying stream.
I tried this too but it coredumped:
class Foo : std::ostringstream
{
Foo & nonconstref;
public:
Foo() : nonconstref( *this ) {}
~Foo()
{
std::cout << str();
}
template<typename T>
std::ostream&
operator<<( const T& t ) const
{
return nonconstref << t;
}
};
This also works:
class Foo : public std::ostringstream
{
public:
Foo() {}
~Foo()
{
std::cout << str();
}
Foo& ncref()
{
return *this;
}
};
int main()
{
Foo foo;
foo << "Test1" << std::endl;
Foo().ncref() << "Test2" << std::endl;
}

Related

Superclass for ostream and fstream

I'm trying to make my own logging class in C++ using a wrapper class in which i overloaded operator<< that sends it to the cout. Now I want to change it, so that when i create instance of that class, i can pass and argument that logs data in std::cout or some file i create. What is the exact type that is superclass of both fstream and ostream? I tried with std::ios&, std::basic_ios&, std::basic_ostream& and none of them seems to work (throwing me compilation error).
class myostream {
public:
static int getlogLevel() {
return loglevel;
}
static void setlogLevel(int i) {
loglevel = i;
}
myostream(std::basic_ios& cout, int level)
: _cout(cout), _level(level)
{}
template<class T>
std::ostream& operator<<(T t) {
if(_level >= loglevel) {
_cout << loglevelcolor[_level] << loglevelname[_level] << " " << t << COL_RESET << std::endl;
}
return _cout;
}
private:
static int loglevel;
std::basic_ostream& _cout;
int _level;
};
Use base class std::ostream which is typedef for basic_ostream<char>, reference: iostream hierarchy.
Works for me (std::cout, std::ofstream):
#include <iostream>
class myostream {
public:
myostream(std::ostream& out)
: _out(out) {}
template<class T>
std::ostream& operator<<(T t) {
_out << "test" << " " << t << '\n' << 42 << std::endl;
return _out;
}
private:
std::ostream& _out;
};
What is the exact type that is superclass of both fstream and ostream?
It is std::ostream, which is an alias to std::basic_ostream<char>. See the class diagram for std::fstream.
Example:
class myostream {
public:
myostream(int level) // Log into stdout.
: _cout(std::cout), _level(level)
{}
myostream(char const* filename, int level) // Log into a file.
: _file(filename), _cout(_file), _level(level)
{
if(!_file.is_open())
throw std::runtime_error("Failed to open " + std::string(filename));
}
// ...
private:
std::ofstream _file;
std::ostream& _cout;
int _level;
};

Why can't I call operator()?

I am trying to understand different topics in C++ by examples and I cannot get this example to work:
template<typename T>
class zero_init
{
T val;
public:
zero_init() : val(static_cast<T>(0)) { std::cout << "In constructor with no parameters\n"; }
operator T() const { std::cout << "In operator T()\n"; return val; }
};
int main()
{
const zero_init<int> x;
x(); //Error!
return 0;
}
I am obviously trying to call the operator() but it gives the error: "call of an object of a class type without appropriate operator()"
You accidentally implemented a type conversion operator and not operator(). Overload operator() like this instead (I removed the return value because you discard it in main anyway):
#include <iostream>
template<typename T>
class zero_init
{
T val;
public:
zero_init() : val(static_cast<T>(0)) { std::cout << "In constructor with no parameters\n"; }
void operator()() const { std::cout << "In operator()\n"; }
};
int main()
{
const zero_init<int> x;
x();
return 0;
}
If you actually need the return value, do it like this:
#include <iostream>
template<typename T>
class zero_init
{
T val;
public:
zero_init() : val(static_cast<T>(0)) { std::cout << "In constructor with no parameters\n"; }
T operator()() const { std::cout << "In operator()\n"; return val; }
};
int main()
{
const zero_init<int> x;
auto val = x();
return 0;
}

Automatic template type deduction confusing pointers and references

Whilst trying to debug some code, I created a class to dump the values of a complicated hierarchy of objects to a text file so that I can compare a case where it works against a case where it doesn't. I implemented the class like this (reduced to a bare example):
#include <iostream>
class someOtherClass
{
public:
someOtherClass()
: a(0)
, b(1.0f)
, c(2.0)
{}
int a;
float b;
double c;
};
class logger
{
public:
// Specific case for handling a complex object
logger& operator << ( const someOtherClass& rObject )
{
std::cout << rObject.a << std::endl;
std::cout << rObject.b << std::endl;
std::cout << rObject.c << std::endl;
return *this;
}
// [other class specific implementations]
// Template for handling pointers which might be null
template< typename _T >
logger& operator << ( const _T* pBar )
{
if ( pBar )
{
std::cout << "Pointer handled:" << std::endl;
return *this << *pBar;
}
else
std::cout << "null" << std::endl;
return *this;
}
// Template for handling simple types.
template< typename _T >
logger& operator << ( const _T& rBar )
{
std::cout << "Reference: " << rBar << std::endl;
return *this;
}
};
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
logger l;
someOtherClass soc;
someOtherClass* pSoc = &soc;
l << soc;
l << pSoc;
pSoc = nullptr;
l << pSoc;
return 0;
}
I was expecting to get the following output:
0
1
2
Pointer handled:
0
1
2
null
But what I actually get is:
0
1
2
Reference: 010AF7E4
Reference: 00000000
The automatic type deduction appears to be picking the reference implementation and setting the type to someOtherClass* rather than picking the pointer implementation. I'm using Visual Studio 2012.
In logger& operator << ( const _T& rBar ) type T can be a pointer type, so in order to work properly this template needs some restriction:
template< typename _T , typename = typename ::std::enable_if_t<!std::is_pointer<_T>::value> >
logger& operator << ( const _T& rBar )
{
std::cout << "Reference: " << rBar << std::endl;
return *this;
}
Online compiler
This is required because when templates are instantiated the const _T & pBar with _T = someOtherClass * variant will be proffered as conversion sequence required in this case will only include a reference binding which is considered an identity conversion while const _T* pBar variant with _T = someOtherClass will involve a copy-initialization.
Here are a few modifications and annotations which may help as this logging class grows and becomes more mature.
I have attempted to:
a) solve the initial problem of incorrect type deduction.
b) decouple the logger from the things being logged (otherwise your logger has to know about the entire application and all libraries).
c) provide a mechanism for easily allowing logging of any type, even if provided by a third-party library.
#include <iostream>
// I've put the logger and its helpers into a namespace. This will keep code tidy and help with
// ADL.
namespace logging
{
// define a general function which writes a value to a stream in "log format".
// you can specialise this for specific types in std:: if you wish here
template<class T>
void to_log(std::ostream& os, T const& value)
{
os << value;
}
// define a general function objects for writing a log-representation of tyoe T.
// There are 2 ways to customise this.
// a) provide a free function called to_log in the same namespace as your classes (preferred)
// b) specialise this class.
template<class T>
struct log_operation
{
void operator()(std::ostream& os, T const& value) const
{
to_log(os, value);
}
};
// specialise for any pointer
template<class T>
struct log_operation<T*>
{
void operator()(std::ostream& os, T* ptr) const
{
if (!ptr)
os << "null";
else
{
os << "->";
auto op = log_operation<std::decay_t<T>>();
op(os, *ptr);
}
}
};
// the logger is now written in terms of log_operation()
// it knows nothing of your application's types
class logger
{
public:
// Template for handling any type.
// not that this will also catch pointers.
// we will disambiguate in the log_operation
template< typename T >
logger& operator << ( const T& rBar )
{
auto op = log_operation<std::decay_t<T>>();
op(std::cout, rBar);
std::cout << std::endl;
return *this;
}
};
}
class someOtherClass
{
public:
someOtherClass()
: a(0)
, b(1.0f)
, c(2.0)
{}
int a;
float b;
double c;
};
// someOtherClass's maintainer provides a to_log function
void to_log(std::ostream& os, someOtherClass const& c)
{
os << "someOtherClass { " << c.a << ", " << c.b << ", " << c.c << " }";
}
namespace third_party
{
// the is in a 3rd party library. There is no to_log function and we can't write one which will be found with
// ADL...
struct classWhichKnowsNothingOfLogs {};
}
/// ..so we'll specialise in the logging namespace
namespace logging
{
template<>
struct log_operation<::third_party::classWhichKnowsNothingOfLogs>
{
void operator()(std::ostream& os, ::third_party::classWhichKnowsNothingOfLogs const& value) const
{
os << "classWhichKnowsNothingOfLogs {}";
}
};
}
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
logging::logger l;
someOtherClass soc;
someOtherClass* pSoc = &soc;
l << soc;
l << pSoc;
pSoc = nullptr;
l << pSoc;
l << third_party::classWhichKnowsNothingOfLogs();
return 0;
}
expected output:
someOtherClass { 0, 1, 2 }
->someOtherClass { 0, 1, 2 }
null
classWhichKnowsNothingOfLogs {}

How can I detect if the instance is const from a member function?

I would like to write a member function which detects if the instantiated object is const.
To give a simple example, we can consider the following class definition
class Foo{
public:
void constnessChecker(){
bool isConst;
// MORE CODE GOES HERE...
if (isConst) {
std::cout << "This instance is const! << std::endl;
} else {
std::cout << "This instance is not const! << std::endl;
}
}
};
and the following code
int main(){
Foo foo1;
Foo const foo2;
foo1.constnessChecker();
foo2.constnessChecker();
}
which should produce
This instance is not const!
This instance is const!
Is this possible?
Provide const and non-const overloads:
class Foo
{
public:
void constnessChecker(){
std::cout << "This instance is not const\n";
}
void constnessChecker() const {
std::cout << "This instance is const\n";
}
....
};
In the style of boost::is_const or std::is_const, you can also write up the following:
#include <iostream>
template <typename T>
struct is_const
{
static const bool value = false;
};
template <typename T>
struct is_const<const T*>
{
static const bool value = true;
};
struct S
{
void f() const
{
std::cout << is_const<decltype(this)>::value << std::endl;
}
void f()
{
std::cout << is_const<decltype(this)>::value << std::endl;
}
int m;
};
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
const S& cs = S(); // note that choosing a const-ref is merely to force the compiler to choos S::f() const!
cs.f (); // prints 1
S().f (); // prints 0
return 0;
}
I haven't looked at the implementation of std::is_const but for some reason it returns false where the above is_const returns true.
Note: Obviously you need support for decltype and thus the above will only work for C++11 compliant compilers.

Have a C++ Class act like a custom ostream, sstream

I have a C++ class MyObject and I want to be able to feed this data like I would to a osstream (but unlike a direct sstream, have the incoming data be formatted a special way). I can't seem to figure out how to overload a operator for MyObject to eat input given to it.
class MyObject {
public:
ostringstream s;
FEEDME
};
int main() {
MyObject obj;
obj.FEEDME << "Hello" << 12345;
// I want obj.s == ":Hello::12345:"
}
I want it so every item fed in be surrounded by : :
So in the given example, s = ":Hello::12345" should be the final outcome. What my question is, how can I tell the object that when ever a <<something, put : : around the something.
Is this possible?
try this:
class MyObject {
public:
template <class T>
MyObject &operator<<(const T &x) {
s << ':' << x << ':';
return *this;
}
std::string to_string() const { return s.str(); }
private:
std::ostringstream s;
};
MyObject obj;
obj << "Hello" << 12345;
std::cout << obj.to_string() << std::endl;
There are certain things you won't be able to shove into the stream, but it should work for all the basics.
You may find the answers for How do I create my own ostream/streambuf? helpful.
I would take a slightly different approach and create a formater object.
The formater object would then handle the inserting of format character when it is applied to a stream.
#include <iostream>
template<typename T>
class Format
{
public:
Format(T const& d):m_data(d) {}
private:
template<typename Y>
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& str,Format<Y> const& data);
T const& m_data;
};
template<typename T>
Format<T> make_Format(T const& data) {return Format<T>(data);}
template<typename T>
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& str,Format<T> const& data)
{
str << ":" << data.m_data << ":";
}
int main()
{
std::cout << make_Format("Hello") << make_Format(123);
}