C++/Boost template runtime polymorphism - c++

Not sure how to state subject clearly.
Suppose I have a bunch of functor classes which provide some method. Now I want to create a proxy class which will redirect the method call to one of the underlying functors.
eg:
template<class F>
class proxy_impl : proxy {
F f;
void method() { f.method(); }
};
template<>
class proxy_impl<void> {
virtual void method() = 0;
};
class proxy {
auto_ptr<proxy_impl<void> > *impl_;
template<class F>
proxy(F f) : impl_(new proxy_impl<F>(f)) {}
void method() {
impl->method();
}
};
What is this pattern called and does boost have implementation?
The reason for not having functors inherit directly is because functors can be something like a nameless lambda expression.
Ok, so it seems I need something like boost::any and boost::function functionality in one.

It looks like you're trying to re-invent object-based polymorphism... badly.
here'sow to do what you want
class interface { virtual void method()=0; }
class impl1 : public interface { void method(); }
class impl2 : public interface { void method(); }
...//example usage
interface i *;
if (cond) i = new impl1(); else i= new impl2();
i->method();//calls whichever implementing method was constructed.

Looks a lot like Boost.Function

As you suggest, this can be done with boost.any and boost.function. Specifically:
struct proxy {
template <typename T>
proxy(T t) : obj_(t) {
method = [&obj_] { boost::any_cast<T&>(obj_).method(); }
}
boost::function<void()> method;
private:
boost::any obj_;
};
If .method() is const, then you can do away with the boost::any, and just have the lambda capture the T object by value. In fact, in that case you could just do away with the proxy object and just use a bare boost::function.

I don't think I really understand.. It seems that all you want is to be able to chain functors together:
struct null_functor { void method() { }; };
template <typename F = null_functor>
struct functor1 {
F f;
void method() {
std::cout << "functor1 called!" << std::endl;
f.method();
};
};
template <typename F = null_functor>
struct functor2 {
F f;
void method() {
std::cout << "functor2 called!" << std::endl;
f.method();
};
};
int main() {
functor1 f1;
f1.method();
functor1< functor1 > f11;
f11.method();
functor2< functor1 > f21;
f21.method();
return 0;
};
If you need dynamic binding on top of that, just make one functor be a base class with a virtual method, and derive other functors from it. You could use Boost.Bind as well.

Related

C++ - Pushing variadic template class object into vector

class Base
{
public:
virtual void foo() = 0;
};
class A : public Base
{
public:
void foo() override { std::cout << "A\n"; }
};
class B : public Base
{
public:
void foo() override { std::cout << "B\n"; }
};
class Registry
{
public:
static Registry& instance()
{
static Registry s_instance;
return s_instance;
}
void register_foo(Base* foo)
{
m_vec.emplace_back(foo);
}
private:
std::vector<Base*> m_vec;
};
template<typename ... T>
class Foo : public T...
{
public:
Foo()
{
Registry::instance().register_foo(this);
}
void test() { (T::foo(), ...); }
};
int main()
{
auto f1 = std::make_unique<Foo<A, B>>();
auto f2 = std::make_unique<Foo<A>>();
f1->test();
f2->test();
}
As you can see I have a Base class, class A and class B.
A and B inherit from Base.
Class Foo is a template class, which is with a variadic template.
The idea is to be able to pass class A and class B into Foo.
Then this Foo is registered in the Registry class / pushed into a vector.
The problem is the following - as you can see I can have both Foo<A> and Foo<A, B>, or Foo<B, A>.
How can I have such a vector which can accept all possible types of Foo?
How about a simple common base class?
class FooBase {
public:
virtual ~FooBase() {}
virtual void test() = 0;
};
template<typename... T>
class Foo : public FooBase, public T...
{
public:
Foo() { }
void test() override { (T::foo(), ...); }
};
int main()
{
auto f1 = std::make_unique<Foo<A, B>>();
auto f2 = std::make_unique<Foo<A>>();
std::vector<std::unique_ptr<FooBase>> foos;
foos.push_back(std::move(f1));
foos.push_back(std::move(f2));
}
A std::vector holds one type of objects. You cannot put objects of different types into the same vector (and objects created from a template with different template arguments are different types).
One option (I'd not recommend it) is having a vector that holds instances of std::any) - works, but cumbersome and inefficient to work with. Another option is a vector of pointers to a common base class and taking advantage of polymorphism. A third option is simply having sepperate vectors for each type of object.

Replacing boost::function and boost::bind with Templates

I'm attempting to remove boost libraries from my code.
I don't have std::function, and i'm working with C++98, not c++11. I still need to store a vector of simple void Funcs() from different classes.
I'm using a simple template to get the Class and the instance of the function.
But i'd like to replace the need for boost::function and boost::bind.
class App
{
public:
App();
template<class T>
static void AddLoopFunc(void (T::*func)(), T* instance)
{
loop_funcs.push_back(boost::bind(func, instance));
}
static std::vector< boost::function<void()> > loop_funcs;
};
adding a function to the loop
App::AddLoopFunc(&MyClass::Loop, this);
Let's make some type-erasing adaptor for a member function of any class with a given signature.
struct dummy
{
void func() {};
};
typedef void (dummy::*dummyfunc)();
template <class Obj>
void adapt_ptr_mem_func_0(void* obj, dummyfunc func)
{
void (Obj::*realfunc)() = reinterpret_cast<void (Obj::*)()>(func);
Obj* realobj = reinterpret_cast<Obj*>(obj);
(realobj->*realfunc)();
}
You can call a pointer-to-member-function of any class with this. Not in a type safe manner but we will hide this behind a type-safe store front in a moment.
class callback
{
void (dummy::*func)();
void* obj;
void (*adaptor)(void*, void (dummy::*)());
public:
template <class Obj>
callback(Obj* obj, void (Obj::*func)(void)) :
obj(obj), func(reinterpret_cast<dummyfunc>(func)),
adaptor(adapt_ptr_mem_func_0<Obj>) {}
void operator()()
{
adaptor(obj, func);
}
};
The callback constructor accepts an object obj_ and a pointer-to-member-function func_, and makes a type-erased function object that, when called, calls (obj->*func)().
Testing:
struct Moo
{
int m;
Moo (int m) : m(m) {};
void doit() { std::cout << m << "\n"; }
};
int main()
{
Moo moo(42);
callback c(&moo, &Moo::doit);
c();
};
boost::function and boost::bind are available in C++98, no need to replace them.

Disable method override in template derived class

Would it be possible to disable the Foo() override in the derived class (by means of std::enable_if or some boost magic), in case T is not of a certain type, without having to write a template specialization for class Derived?
Bonus points: could the override be disabled if T does not define a certain method?
Here is my SSCCE:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
class Base
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo()
{
return "Base";
}
};
template <typename T>
class Derived : public Base
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo() override
{
return "Derived";
}
};
int main()
{
Derived<int> testInt;
std::cout << testInt.Foo() << std::endl;
Derived<float> testFloat;
std::cout << testFloat.Foo() << std::endl;//I would like this to print 'Base'
}
UPDATE:
Thank you for the wonderful solutions, but I wasn't able to adapt them to my real code. The following example should provide a better idea of what I'm trying to achieve:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
class Object
{
public:
void Test()
{
std::cout << "Test" << std::endl;
}
};
class EmptyObject
{
};
class Base
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo()
{
return "Base";
}
};
template <typename T>
class Derived : public Base
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo() override
{
m_object.Test();
return "Derived";
}
private:
T m_object;
};
int main()
{
Derived<Object> testObject;
std::cout << testObject.Foo() << std::endl;
Derived<EmptyObject> testEmpty;
std::cout << testEmpty.Foo() << std::endl;
}
I would do this by creating two functions that Derived::Foo can delegate to conditionally based on whether T = float. One would contain the real Derived::Foo implementation, while the other would call Base::Foo.
template <typename T>
class Derived : public Base
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo() override
{
return do_Foo(std::is_same<T, float>{});
}
private:
std::string do_Foo(std::false_type)
{
return "Derived";
}
std::string do_Foo(std::true_type)
{
return Base::Foo();
}
};
Live demo
It seems what you actually want to do is call the Derived<T>::Foo() implementation only if T defines a certain member function, otherwise Base::Foo() should be called. This can be done using expression SFINAE.
template <typename T>
class Derived : public Base
{
public:
std::string Foo() override
{
return do_Foo(true);
}
private:
template<typename U = T>
auto do_Foo(bool)
-> decltype(std::declval<U>().test(), void(), std::string())
{
return "Derived";
}
std::string do_Foo(int)
{
return Base::Foo();
}
};
Live demo
In the code above, if the type T does not define a member function named test(), the do_Foo(bool) member function template will not be viable. On the other hand, if T::test() does exist, then do_Foo(bool) will be selected because the boolean value being passed to do_Foo by Foo makes it a better match as compared to do_Foo(int).
A detailed explanation of what's going on within the decltype expression in the trailing return type can be found here.
Instead of template specialize the class, you may template specialize the method directly: (https://ideone.com/gYwt5r)
template<> std::string Derived<float>::Foo() { return Base::Foo(); }
And I only see template specialization of a class to disable future override depending of T by adding final to the virtual method.
If you need to restrict a certain type at compile time, you can use std::enable_if together with std::is_same :
typename std::enable_if<std::is_same<T, float>::value, std::string>::type
virtual Foo() override
{
return "Derived";
}
Or you can easily redirect the call to the Base method if the template type is not the type you are looking for, still with std::is_same :
virtual std::string Foo() override
{
return std::is_same<T, float>::value ? Base::Foo() : "Derived";
}
As for the Bonus, you can get the trait from this SO answer, adapted here with decltype, for a method bar() :
template <typename T>
class has_bar
{
typedef char one;
typedef long two;
template <typename C> static one test(decltype(&C::bar) ) ;
template <typename C> static two test(...);
public:
enum { value = sizeof(test<T>(0)) == sizeof(char) };
};
The limitation is that you can't put constraints on the arguments or return types.
virtual std::string Foo() override
{
return has_bar<T>::value ? "Derived" : Base::Foo() ;
}
Note:
You could also use has_bar together with enable_if as in my first example, to disable it a compile time.
You can add an intermediate class to your hierarchy:
class Base
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo()
{
return "Base";
}
};
template <typename T>
class Intermediate : public Base
{
// common operations with m_object
protected: // not private!
T m_object;
};
template <typename T, typename = bool>
class Derived : public Intermediate<T> {};
template <typename T>
class Derived<T, decltype(std::declval<T>().Test(), void(), true)>
: public Intermediate<T>
{
public:
virtual std::string Foo() override
{
this->m_object.Test(); // this-> is necessary here!
return "Derived";
}
};
The full example compiles successfully with both clang 3.4 and g++ 4.8.2.

c++ design: avoid iterating over types with an existing class hierarchy

Please consider the following (simplified) class hierarchy and processing functions:
struct msgBase
{
virtual int msgType() const=0;
};
struct msgType1:public msgBase
{
virtual int msgType() const{return 1;}
};
struct msgType2:public msgBase
{
virtual int msgType() const {return 2;}
};
void process(const msgType1& mt1)
{
// processing for message type 1
}
void process(const msgType2& mt2)
{
// processing for message type 2
}
void process(const msgBase& mbase)
{
switch(mbase.msgType())
{
case 1:
process(static_cast<const msgType1&>(mbase));
break;
case 2:
process(static_cast<const msgType2&>(mbase));
break;
}
}
In an integrated design, msgBase would be given a virtual "process" method, to avoid needing to iterate over the types.
If it's not possible or desirable to modify any of the classes, are there any alternatives to iterating over the types?
I've experimented with a decorator/factory pattern where a parallel hierarchy of classes encapsulates the given classes, and implements the necessary virtual functions, but this results in an awful lot of boilerplate, and the factory function still needs to iterate over the types!
I could replace the switch statement with a series of dyamic_casts, but that still leaves the same weaknesses.
As requested by Simon, here is what I mean by CRTP:
typedef <class Derived>
struct msgBase
{
virtual void process(){
// redirect the call to the derived class's process()
static_cast<Derived*>(this) -> process();
};
struct msgType1:public msgBase<msgType1>
{
void process(){
// process as per type-1
}
};
struct msgType2:public msgBase<msgType1>
{
void process(){
// process as per type-2
}
};
What's happening here? Consider this case:
msgBase* msg = new msgType1();
msg->process();
normally (without CRTP) this would only call msgBase::process(). But now, msgBase "knows" about msgType1 using the template, so it is redirected to msgType1::process at compile time.
Something like this could work:
These classes are used to do the casting automatically:
struct dispatcher_base {
virtual void process(const msgBase&) = 0;
};
template <class T>
struct dispatcher_impl : dispatcher_base {
void process(const msgBase& b) override {
::process(static_cast<const T&>(b));
}
};
We'll store them in a map:
auto g_table = std::map<int, std::unique_ptr<dispatcher_base>>{};
But now you have to initialize this table somewhere:
template <class T>
void register_msg() {
g_table[T{}.msgType()].reset(new dispatcher_impl<T>{});
}
...
register_msg<msgType1>();
register_msg<msgType2>();
You can add an assert to register_msg to make sure that msgTypes are unique.
Your process function will look like this:
void process(const msgBase& b) {
assert(g_table.find(b.msgType()) != g_table.end());
g_table[b.msgType()]->process(b);
}
You can replace assert with any other logic of course.
If you can't modify the classes then you can use decorators to get polymorphic type deduction.
struct DecorBase {
DecorBase(msgBase& b) : b_(b) {}
virtual ~DecorBase() {}
virtual void process() = 0;
msgBase& b_;
};
struct DecorType1 : public DecorBase {
DecorType1(msgType1& t1) : DecorBase(t1) {}
void process() override {
std::cout << "Processing Type 1" << std::endl;
}
};
struct DecorType2 : public DecorBase {
DecorType2(msgType2& t2) : DecorBase(t2) {}
void process() override {
std::cout << "Processing Type 2" << std::endl;
}
};
And use it like this:
msgType1 t1;
msgType2 t2;
DecorType1 dt1(t1); // Wrap objects in respective decorator.
DecorType2 dt2(t2);
DecorBase& base = dt2;
base.process(); // Uses polymorphism to call function in derived type.
This will require you to write a decorator for every derived type but at least you don't have to iterate over all types during the function call.

c++ container of inherited class types

I want to have a container (let's say an std::vector) that would hold various inherited types, and would instantiate them,.i.e. vector of classes --> vector of objects.
For instance:
class A{};
class B: public class A
{};
class C: public class A
{};
void main()
{
std::vector<of inherited A types> typesVec;
std::vector<A*> objectsVec;
typesVec.push_back(class B);
typesVec.push_back(class C);
for (int i = 0; i < typesVec.size(); i++)
{
A* pA = new typesVec.at(i);
objectsVec.push_back(pA);
}
}
Thanks in advance..
This isn't possible in C++ (at least not directly). I can see this happening in a language that has reflection, but C++ doesn't.
What you can do instead is create a factory or simply methods that create objects of the specified type.
Instead of having a vector of types, you'd have a vector of object generators (close enough, right?):
class A{};
class B: public class A
{};
class C: public class A
{};
struct AFactory
{
virtual A* create() { return new A; }
};
struct BFactory : AFactory
{
virtual A* create() { return new B; }
};
struct CFactory : AFactory
{
virtual A* create() { return new C; }
};
//...
typesVec.push_back(new BFactory);
typesVec.push_back(new CFactory);
for (int i = 0; i < typesVec.size(); i++)
{
A* pA = typesVec.at(i)->create();
objectsVec.push_back(pA);
}
There is a reusable approach with templates. This is a generic factory for derived types that comes with an install and a create method which lets you write code like this:
int main() {
TypeVector<Base> t;
t.install<Foo>("Foo");
t.install<Bar>("Bar");
t.create("Foo")->hello();
}
Note it's a sketch implementation. In the real world, you may provide another template parameter to specify the underlying container type (for few types, vector is probably more efficient than set).
The type-vector is this:
template <typename Base>
class Creator;
template <typename Base>
class TypeVector {
public:
template <typename Derived>
void install (std::string const &name) ;
std::shared_ptr<Base> create (std::string const &name) const;
private:
struct Meta {
Meta(std::shared_ptr<Creator<Base>> creator, std::string const &name)
: creator(creator), name(name) {}
std::shared_ptr<Creator<Base>> creator;
std::string name;
};
std::vector<Meta> creators_;
};
We somehow need a way to store the type in an allocatable manner. We do it like boost::shared_ptr, which combines an abstract base class and a template derived class:
template <typename Base>
class Creator {
public:
virtual ~Creator() {}
virtual std::shared_ptr<Base> create() const = 0;
};
template <typename Base, typename Derived>
class ConcreteCreator : public Creator<Base> {
public:
virtual std::shared_ptr<Base> create() const {
return std::shared_ptr<Base>{new Derived()};
}
};
The "concrete creator" is able to allocate an actual object, and return a pointer-to-base of it.
Finally, here are the implementations of TypeVector::install and TypeVector::create:
template <typename Base>
template <typename Derived>
void
TypeVector<Base>::install (std::string const &name)
{
creators_.emplace_back(
std::shared_ptr<Creator<Base>>(new ConcreteCreator<Base, Derived>()),
name);
}
template <typename Base>
std::shared_ptr<Base>
TypeVector<Base>::create (std::string const &name) const
{
for (auto m : creators_) {
if (name == m.name) return m.creator->create();
}
throw std::runtime_error("...");
}
and finally, here's a test:
#include <iostream>
struct Base {
virtual ~Base() {}
virtual void hello() const = 0;
};
struct Foo : Base {
virtual void hello() const { std::cout << "I am a Foo\n"; }
};
struct Bar : Base {
virtual void hello() const { std::cout << "I am a Bar\n"; }
};
int main() {
TypeVector<Base> t;
t.install<Foo>("Foo");
t.install<Bar>("Bar");
t.create("Foo")->hello();
}
You can go further and make any constructor callable for code like ...
...
Bar(Color, Age, int)
...
t.create("Foo", Color::Red, Age::TooOld, 42)
... but this requires an awesome grasp of variadic template argument lists, and how to fold them into a constructor call (can be done and has been done, but it would explode this answer).
Just a quick solution sketch:
The C++ standard does not provide direct calls to constructors. As such you can't have function pointers to constructors; you can, however, have a wrapper function "create", something like:
template<typename T>
T* create () {
return (new T();
}
Provide overloaded create definitions for one argument, two arguments, ... or try to use variadic templates; or, if you already know what types you need, you can create the create functions specifically. Then you can have a function pointer to the create function:
&create<TheType>
Mind that the signature of this function however depends on the type used. You can however create a struct that contains typdefs for the templated type, a typedef for the type pointer, and the create function as a functor operator().
Thus you can have two vectors, one for the function pointers to the create function, or, alternatively to the structs mentioned before, and one with the actual objects. In your case where you only have inherited types, you might be able to define functions A* createB() { return new B(); }, A* createC() { return new C(); }, ... for each inherited type B, C, ... and have a vector for pointers to these create functions and the second vector for the A pointers.
I might point you Andrei Alesandrescu´s book Modern C++ Design (or the Loki library he describes in the book) and the chapter about type lists. This would require you to do the typeVec.insert( type ) at compile time.