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Andrzej Krzemienski
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<a name="boost_optional.tutorial"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html" title="Tutorial">Tutorial</a>
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</h2></div></div></div>
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<div class="toc"><dl class="toc">
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<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.optional_return_values">Optional
|
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return values</a></span></dt>
|
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<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.optional_data_members">Optional
|
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data members</a></span></dt>
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<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.bypassing_unnecessary_default_construction">Bypassing
|
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unnecessary default construction</a></span></dt>
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<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.motivation">Motivation</a></span></dt>
|
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<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview">Design Overview</a></span></dt>
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</dl></div>
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<div class="section">
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<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
|
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<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.optional_return_values"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.optional_return_values" title="Optional return values">Optional
|
||||
return values</a>
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.motivation"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.motivation" title="Motivation">Motivation</a>
|
||||
</h3></div></div></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Let's write and use a converter function that converts an a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">string</span></code>
|
||||
to an <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code>. It is possible that
|
||||
for a given string (e.g. <code class="computeroutput"><span class="string">"cat"</span></code>)
|
||||
there exist no value of type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code>
|
||||
capable of representing the conversion result. We do not consider such situation
|
||||
an error. We expect that the converter can be used only to check if the conversion
|
||||
is possible. A natural signature for this function can be:
|
||||
Consider these functions which should return a value but which might not
|
||||
have a value to return:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">></span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">optionl</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">string</span><span class="special">&</span> <span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">);</span>
|
||||
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
(A) <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">double</span> <span class="identifier">sqrt</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">double</span> <span class="identifier">n</span> <span class="special">);</span></code>
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
(B) <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">char</span> <span class="identifier">get_async_input</span><span class="special">();</span></code>
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
(C) <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">point</span> <span class="identifier">polygon</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">get_any_point_effectively_inside</span><span class="special">();</span></code>
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
</ul></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
There are different approaches to the issue of not having a value to return.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
A typical approach is to consider the existence of a valid return value as
|
||||
a postcondition, so that if the function cannot compute the value to return,
|
||||
it has either undefined behavior (and can use assert in a debug build) or
|
||||
uses a runtime check and throws an exception if the postcondition is violated.
|
||||
This is a reasonable choice for example, for function (A), because the lack
|
||||
of a proper return value is directly related to an invalid parameter (out
|
||||
of domain argument), so it is appropriate to require the callee to supply
|
||||
only parameters in a valid domain for execution to continue normally.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
However, function (B), because of its asynchronous nature, does not fail
|
||||
just because it can't find a value to return; so it is incorrect to consider
|
||||
such a situation an error and assert or throw an exception. This function
|
||||
must return, and somehow, must tell the callee that it is not returning a
|
||||
meaningful value.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
A similar situation occurs with function (C): it is conceptually an error
|
||||
to ask a <span class="emphasis"><em>null-area</em></span> polygon to return a point inside
|
||||
itself, but in many applications, it is just impractical for performance
|
||||
reasons to treat this as an error (because detecting that the polygon has
|
||||
no area might be too expensive to be required to be tested previously), and
|
||||
either an arbitrary point (typically at infinity) is returned, or some efficient
|
||||
way to tell the callee that there is no such point is used.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
There are various mechanisms to let functions communicate that the returned
|
||||
value is not valid. One such mechanism, which is quite common since it has
|
||||
zero or negligible overhead, is to use a special value which is reserved
|
||||
to communicate this. Classical examples of such special values are <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">EOF</span></code>, <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">string</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">npos</span></code>,
|
||||
points at infinity, etc...
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
When those values exist, i.e. the return type can hold all meaningful values
|
||||
<span class="emphasis"><em>plus</em></span> the <span class="emphasis"><em>signal</em></span> value, this mechanism
|
||||
is quite appropriate and well known. Unfortunately, there are cases when
|
||||
such values do not exist. In these cases, the usual alternative is either
|
||||
to use a wider type, such as <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code>
|
||||
in place of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">char</span></code>; or a compound
|
||||
type, such as <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">pair</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="keyword">bool</span><span class="special">></span></code>.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Returning a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">pair</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="keyword">bool</span><span class="special">></span></code>, thus attaching a boolean flag to the
|
||||
result which indicates if the result is meaningful, has the advantage that
|
||||
can be turned into a consistent idiom since the first element of the pair
|
||||
can be whatever the function would conceptually return. For example, the
|
||||
last two functions could have the following interface:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">pair</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">char</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="keyword">bool</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">get_async_input</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">pair</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="keyword">bool</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">polygon</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">get_any_point_effectively_inside</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
All necessary functionality can be included with one header <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">></span></code>.
|
||||
The above function signature means that the function can either return a
|
||||
value of type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code> or a flag
|
||||
indicating that no value of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code>
|
||||
is available. This does not indicate an error. It is like one additional
|
||||
value of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code>. This is how we
|
||||
can use our function:
|
||||
These functions use a consistent interface for dealing with possibly nonexistent
|
||||
results:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">string</span><span class="special">&</span> <span class="identifier">text</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="comment">/*... */</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">optionl</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">oi</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">);</span> <span class="comment">// move-construct</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">if</span> <span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">oi</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="comment">// contextual conversion to bool</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">i</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="special">*</span><span class="identifier">oi</span><span class="special">;</span> <span class="comment">// operator*</span>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">pair</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">point</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="keyword">bool</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">p</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">poly</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">get_any_point_effectively_inside</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">if</span> <span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">p</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">second</span> <span class="special">)</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">flood_fill</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">p</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">first</span><span class="special">);</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
In order to test if <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span></code>
|
||||
contains a value, we use the contextual conversion to type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">bool</span></code>. Because of this we can combine the initialization
|
||||
of the optional object and the test into one instruction:
|
||||
However, not only is this quite a burden syntactically, it is also error
|
||||
prone since the user can easily use the function result (first element of
|
||||
the pair) without ever checking if it has a valid value.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">if</span> <span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">optionl</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">oi</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">))</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">i</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="special">*</span><span class="identifier">oi</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
We extract the contained value with <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">operator</span><span class="special">*</span></code> (and with <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">operator</span><span class="special">-></span></code> where it makes sense). An attempt to
|
||||
extract the contained value of an uninitialized optional object is an <span class="emphasis"><em>undefined
|
||||
behaviour</em></span> (UB). This implementation guards the call with <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">BOOST_ASSERT</span></code>. Therefore you should be sure
|
||||
that the contained value is there before extracting. For instance, the following
|
||||
code is reasonably UB-safe:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">i</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="special">*</span><span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="string">"100"</span><span class="special">);</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
This is because we know that string value <code class="computeroutput"><span class="string">"100"</span></code>
|
||||
converts to a valid value of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">int</span></code>.
|
||||
If you do not like this potential UB, you can use an alternative way of extracting
|
||||
the contained value:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">try</span> <span class="special">{</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">j</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">).</span><span class="identifier">value</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">}</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">catch</span> <span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">bad_optional_access</span><span class="special">&)</span> <span class="special">{</span>
|
||||
<span class="comment">// deal with it</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">}</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
This version throws an exception upon an attempt to access a non-existent
|
||||
contained value. If your way of dealing with the missing value is to use
|
||||
some default, like <code class="computeroutput"><span class="number">0</span></code>, there exists
|
||||
a yet another alternative:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">k</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">).</span><span class="identifier">value_or</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="number">0</span><span class="special">);</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
This uses the <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">atoi</span></code>-like approach
|
||||
to conversions: if <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">text</span></code> does
|
||||
not represent an integral number just return <code class="computeroutput"><span class="number">0</span></code>.
|
||||
Now, let's consider how function <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">convert</span></code>
|
||||
can be implemented.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">optionl</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">convert</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">string</span><span class="special">&</span> <span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">)</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">{</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">stringstream</span> <span class="identifier">s</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">text</span><span class="special">);</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">i</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">if</span> <span class="special">((</span><span class="identifier">s</span> <span class="special">>></span> <span class="identifier">i</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">&&</span> <span class="identifier">s</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">get</span><span class="special">()</span> <span class="special">==</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">char_traits</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">char</span><span class="special">>::</span><span class="identifier">eof</span><span class="special">())</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="identifier">i</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">else</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">none</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">}</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Observe the two return statements. <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">return</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">i</span></code> uses the converting constructor
|
||||
that can create <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
from <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>. Thus constructed
|
||||
optional object is initialized and its value is a copy of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">i</span></code>.
|
||||
The other return statement uses another converting constructor from a special
|
||||
tag <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">none</span></code>. It is used to indicate that we want
|
||||
to create an uninitialized optional object.
|
||||
Clearly, we need a better idiom.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div class="section">
|
||||
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.optional_data_members"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.optional_data_members" title="Optional data members">Optional
|
||||
data members</a>
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview" title="Design Overview">Design Overview</a>
|
||||
</h3></div></div></div>
|
||||
<div class="toc"><dl class="toc">
|
||||
<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_models">The
|
||||
models</a></span></dt>
|
||||
<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_semantics">The
|
||||
semantics</a></span></dt>
|
||||
<dt><span class="section"><a href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface">The
|
||||
Interface</a></span></dt>
|
||||
</dl></div>
|
||||
<div class="section">
|
||||
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title">
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_models"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_models" title="The models">The
|
||||
models</a>
|
||||
</h4></div></div></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Suppose we want to implement a <span class="emphasis"><em>lazy load</em></span> optimization.
|
||||
This is because we do not want to perform an expensive initialization of
|
||||
our <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">Resource</span></code> until (if at
|
||||
all) it is really used. We can do it this way:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">Widget</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">{</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">Resource</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">resource_</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
|
||||
<span class="keyword">public</span><span class="special">:</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">Widget</span><span class="special">()</span> <span class="special">{}</span>
|
||||
|
||||
<span class="identifier">Resource</span><span class="special">&</span> <span class="identifier">getResource</span><span class="special">()</span> <span class="comment">// not thread-safe</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">{</span>
|
||||
<span class="keyword">if</span> <span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">resource_</span> <span class="special">==</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">none</span><span class="special">)</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">resource_</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">emplace</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="string">"resource"</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="string">"arguments"</span><span class="special">);</span>
|
||||
|
||||
<span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="special">*</span><span class="identifier">resource_</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">}</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">};</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
In C++, we can <span class="emphasis"><em>declare</em></span> an object (a variable) of type
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>, and we can give this
|
||||
variable an <span class="emphasis"><em>initial value</em></span> (through an <span class="emphasis"><em>initializer</em></span>.
|
||||
(cf. 8.5)). When a declaration includes a non-empty initializer (an initial
|
||||
value is given), it is said that the object has been initialized. If the
|
||||
declaration uses an empty initializer (no initial value is given), and
|
||||
neither default nor value initialization applies, it is said that the object
|
||||
is <span class="bold"><strong>uninitialized</strong></span>. Its actual value exist
|
||||
but has an <span class="emphasis"><em>indeterminate initial value</em></span> (cf. 8.5/11).
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
intends to formalize the notion of initialization (or lack of it) allowing
|
||||
a program to test whether an object has been initialized and stating that
|
||||
access to the value of an uninitialized object is undefined behavior. That
|
||||
is, when a variable is declared as <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code> and no initial value is given, the
|
||||
variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>formally</em></span> uninitialized. A formally uninitialized
|
||||
optional object has conceptually no value at all and this situation can
|
||||
be tested at runtime. It is formally <span class="emphasis"><em>undefined behavior</em></span>
|
||||
to try to access the value of an uninitialized optional. An uninitialized
|
||||
optional can be assigned a value, in which case its initialization state
|
||||
changes to initialized. Furthermore, given the formal treatment of initialization
|
||||
states in optional objects, it is even possible to reset an optional to
|
||||
<span class="emphasis"><em>uninitialized</em></span>.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span></code>'s default constructor
|
||||
creates an uninitialized optional. No call to <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">Resource</span></code>'s
|
||||
default constructor is attempted. <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">Resource</span></code>
|
||||
doesn't have to be <a href="http://www.sgi.com/tech/stl/DefaultConstructible.html" target="_top">Default
|
||||
Constructible</a>. In function <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">getResource</span></code>
|
||||
we first check if <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">resource_</span></code>
|
||||
is initialized. This time we do not use the contextual conversion to <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">bool</span></code>, but a comparison with <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">none</span></code>. These two ways are equivalent. Function
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">emplace</span></code> initializes the optional
|
||||
in-place by perfect-forwarding the arguments to the constructor of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">Resource</span></code>. No copy- or move-construction
|
||||
is involved here. <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">Resource</span></code>
|
||||
doesn't even have to be <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">MoveConstructible</span></code>.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<div class="note"><table border="0" summary="Note">
|
||||
In C++ there is no formal notion of uninitialized objects, which means
|
||||
that objects always have an initial value even if indeterminate. As discussed
|
||||
on the previous section, this has a drawback because you need additional
|
||||
information to tell if an object has been effectively initialized. One
|
||||
of the typical ways in which this has been historically dealt with is via
|
||||
a special value: <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">EOF</span></code>,
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">npos</span></code>, -1, etc... This is
|
||||
equivalent to adding the special value to the set of possible values of
|
||||
a given type. This super set of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
plus some <span class="emphasis"><em>nil_t</em></span>—where <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">nil_t</span></code>
|
||||
is some stateless POD—can be modeled in modern languages as a <span class="bold"><strong>discriminated union</strong></span> of T and nil_t. Discriminated
|
||||
unions are often called <span class="emphasis"><em>variants</em></span>. A variant has a
|
||||
<span class="emphasis"><em>current type</em></span>, which in our case is either <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> or <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">nil_t</span></code>.
|
||||
Using the <a href="../../../../variant/index.html" target="_top">Boost.Variant</a>
|
||||
library, this model can be implemented in terms of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">variant</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="identifier">nil_t</span><span class="special">></span></code>. There is precedent for a discriminated
|
||||
union as a model for an optional value: the <a href="http://www.haskell.org/" target="_top">Haskell</a>
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Maybe</strong></span> built-in type constructor. Thus,
|
||||
a discriminated union <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">+</span><span class="identifier">nil_t</span></code>
|
||||
serves as a conceptual foundation.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
A <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">variant</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">,</span><span class="identifier">nil_t</span><span class="special">></span></code> follows naturally from the traditional
|
||||
idiom of extending the range of possible values adding an additional sentinel
|
||||
value with the special meaning of <span class="emphasis"><em>Nothing</em></span>. However,
|
||||
this additional <span class="emphasis"><em>Nothing</em></span> value is largely irrelevant
|
||||
for our purpose since our goal is to formalize the notion of uninitialized
|
||||
objects and, while a special extended value can be used to convey that
|
||||
meaning, it is not strictly necessary in order to do so.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
The observation made in the last paragraph about the irrelevant nature
|
||||
of the additional <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">nil_t</span></code>
|
||||
with respect to <span class="underline">purpose</span> of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
suggests an alternative model: a <span class="emphasis"><em>container</em></span> that either
|
||||
has a value of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> or nothing.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
As of this writing I don't know of any precedent for a variable-size fixed-capacity
|
||||
(of 1) stack-based container model for optional values, yet I believe this
|
||||
is the consequence of the lack of practical implementations of such a container
|
||||
rather than an inherent shortcoming of the container model.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
In any event, both the discriminated-union or the single-element container
|
||||
models serve as a conceptual ground for a class representing optional—i.e.
|
||||
possibly uninitialized—objects. For instance, these models show the
|
||||
<span class="emphasis"><em>exact</em></span> semantics required for a wrapper of optional
|
||||
values:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Discriminated-union:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>deep-copy</strong></span> semantics: copies of the
|
||||
variant implies copies of the value.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>deep-relational</strong></span> semantics: comparisons
|
||||
between variants matches both current types and values
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
If the variant's current type is <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>,
|
||||
it is modeling an <span class="emphasis"><em>initialized</em></span> optional.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
If the variant's current type is not <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>,
|
||||
it is modeling an <span class="emphasis"><em>uninitialized</em></span> optional.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
Testing if the variant's current type is <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
models testing if the optional is initialized
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
Trying to extract a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
from a variant when its current type is not <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>,
|
||||
models the undefined behavior of trying to access the value of an uninitialized
|
||||
optional
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
</ul></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Single-element container:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>deep-copy</strong></span> semantics: copies of the
|
||||
container implies copies of the value.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>deep-relational</strong></span> semantics: comparisons
|
||||
between containers compare container size and if match, contained value
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
If the container is not empty (contains an object of type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>), it is modeling an <span class="emphasis"><em>initialized</em></span>
|
||||
optional.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
If the container is empty, it is modeling an <span class="emphasis"><em>uninitialized</em></span>
|
||||
optional.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
Testing if the container is empty models testing if the optional is
|
||||
initialized
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
Trying to extract a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
from an empty container models the undefined behavior of trying to
|
||||
access the value of an uninitialized optional
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
</ul></div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div class="section">
|
||||
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title">
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_semantics"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_semantics" title="The semantics">The
|
||||
semantics</a>
|
||||
</h4></div></div></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Objects of type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code> are intended to be used in places where
|
||||
objects of type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> would
|
||||
but which might be uninitialized. Hence, <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>'s purpose is to formalize the additional
|
||||
possibly uninitialized state. From the perspective of this role, <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
can have the same operational semantics of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
plus the additional semantics corresponding to this special state. As such,
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
could be thought of as a <span class="emphasis"><em>supertype</em></span> of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>. Of course, we can't do that in C++,
|
||||
so we need to compose the desired semantics using a different mechanism.
|
||||
Doing it the other way around, that is, making <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code> a <span class="emphasis"><em>subtype</em></span> of
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> is not only conceptually
|
||||
wrong but also impractical: it is not allowed to derive from a non-class
|
||||
type, such as a built-in type.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
We can draw from the purpose of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code> the required basic semantics:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Default Construction:</strong></span> To introduce
|
||||
a formally uninitialized wrapped object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Direct Value Construction via copy:</strong></span>
|
||||
To introduce a formally initialized wrapped object whose value is obtained
|
||||
as a copy of some object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Deep Copy Construction:</strong></span> To obtain
|
||||
a new yet equivalent wrapped object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Direct Value Assignment (upon initialized):</strong></span>
|
||||
To assign a value to the wrapped object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Direct Value Assignment (upon uninitialized):</strong></span>
|
||||
To initialize the wrapped object with a value obtained as a copy of
|
||||
some object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Assignment (upon initialized):</strong></span> To
|
||||
assign to the wrapped object the value of another wrapped object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Assignment (upon uninitialized):</strong></span> To
|
||||
initialize the wrapped object with value of another wrapped object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Deep Relational Operations (when supported by
|
||||
the type T):</strong></span> To compare wrapped object values taking into
|
||||
account the presence of uninitialized states.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Value access:</strong></span> To unwrap the wrapped
|
||||
object.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Initialization state query:</strong></span> To determine
|
||||
if the object is formally initialized or not.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>Swap:</strong></span> To exchange wrapped objects.
|
||||
(with whatever exception safety guarantees are provided by <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>'s swap).
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
<li class="listitem">
|
||||
<span class="bold"><strong>De-initialization:</strong></span> To release the
|
||||
wrapped object (if any) and leave the wrapper in the uninitialized
|
||||
state.
|
||||
</li>
|
||||
</ul></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Additional operations are useful, such as converting constructors and converting
|
||||
assignments, in-place construction and assignment, and safe value access
|
||||
via a pointer to the wrapped object or null.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div class="section">
|
||||
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title">
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface" title="The Interface">The
|
||||
Interface</a>
|
||||
</h4></div></div></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Since the purpose of optional is to allow us to use objects with a formal
|
||||
uninitialized additional state, the interface could try to follow the interface
|
||||
of the underlying <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> type
|
||||
as much as possible. In order to choose the proper degree of adoption of
|
||||
the native <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> interface,
|
||||
the following must be noted: Even if all the operations supported by an
|
||||
instance of type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> are
|
||||
defined for the entire range of values for such a type, an <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
extends such a set of values with a new value for which most (otherwise
|
||||
valid) operations are not defined in terms of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Furthermore, since <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code> itself is merely a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
wrapper (modeling a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> supertype),
|
||||
any attempt to define such operations upon uninitialized optionals will
|
||||
be totally artificial w.r.t. <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
This library chooses an interface which follows from <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>'s
|
||||
interface only for those operations which are well defined (w.r.t the type
|
||||
<code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>) even if any of the operands
|
||||
are uninitialized. These operations include: construction, copy-construction,
|
||||
assignment, swap and relational operations.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
For the value access operations, which are undefined (w.r.t the type <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>) when the operand is uninitialized,
|
||||
a different interface is chosen (which will be explained next).
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Also, the presence of the possibly uninitialized state requires additional
|
||||
operations not provided by <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>
|
||||
itself which are supported by a special interface.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<h6>
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface.h0"></a>
|
||||
<span class="phrase"><a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface.lexically_hinted_value_access_in_the_presence_of_possibly_untitialized_optional_objects__the_operators___and___gt_"></a></span><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface.lexically_hinted_value_access_in_the_presence_of_possibly_untitialized_optional_objects__the_operators___and___gt_">Lexically-hinted
|
||||
Value Access in the presence of possibly untitialized optional objects:
|
||||
The operators * and -></a>
|
||||
</h6>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
A relevant feature of a pointer is that it can have a <span class="bold"><strong>null
|
||||
pointer value</strong></span>. This is a <span class="emphasis"><em>special</em></span> value
|
||||
which is used to indicate that the pointer is not referring to any object
|
||||
at all. In other words, null pointer values convey the notion of nonexistent
|
||||
objects.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
This meaning of the null pointer value allowed pointers to became a <span class="emphasis"><em>de
|
||||
facto</em></span> standard for handling optional objects because all you
|
||||
have to do to refer to a value which you don't really have is to use a
|
||||
null pointer value of the appropriate type. Pointers have been used for
|
||||
decades—from the days of C APIs to modern C++ libraries—to <span class="emphasis"><em>refer</em></span>
|
||||
to optional (that is, possibly nonexistent) objects; particularly as optional
|
||||
arguments to a function, but also quite often as optional data members.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
The possible presence of a null pointer value makes the operations that
|
||||
access the pointee's value possibly undefined, therefore, expressions which
|
||||
use dereference and access operators, such as: <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">(</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">*</span><span class="identifier">p</span>
|
||||
<span class="special">=</span> <span class="number">2</span> <span class="special">)</span></code> and <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">(</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">p</span><span class="special">-></span><span class="identifier">foo</span><span class="special">()</span> <span class="special">)</span></code>, implicitly convey the notion of optionality,
|
||||
and this information is tied to the <span class="emphasis"><em>syntax</em></span> of the
|
||||
expressions. That is, the presence of operators <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">*</span></code>
|
||||
and <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">-></span></code> tell by themselves
|
||||
—without any additional context— that the expression will be undefined
|
||||
unless the implied pointee actually exist.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Such a <span class="emphasis"><em>de facto</em></span> idiom for referring to optional objects
|
||||
can be formalized in the form of a concept: the <a href="../../../../utility/OptionalPointee.html" target="_top">OptionalPointee</a>
|
||||
concept. This concept captures the syntactic usage of operators <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">*</span></code>, <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">-></span></code>
|
||||
and contextual conversion to <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">bool</span></code>
|
||||
to convey the notion of optionality.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
However, pointers are good to <span class="underline">refer</span>
|
||||
to optional objects, but not particularly good to handle the optional objects
|
||||
in all other respects, such as initializing or moving/copying them. The
|
||||
problem resides in the shallow-copy of pointer semantics: if you need to
|
||||
effectively move or copy the object, pointers alone are not enough. The
|
||||
problem is that copies of pointers do not imply copies of pointees. For
|
||||
example, as was discussed in the motivation, pointers alone cannot be used
|
||||
to return optional objects from a function because the object must move
|
||||
outside from the function and into the caller's context.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
A solution to the shallow-copy problem that is often used is to resort
|
||||
to dynamic allocation and use a smart pointer to automatically handle the
|
||||
details of this. For example, if a function is to optionally return an
|
||||
object <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">X</span></code>, it can use <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">shared_ptr</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">X</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
as the return value. However, this requires dynamic allocation of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">X</span></code>. If <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">X</span></code>
|
||||
is a built-in or small POD, this technique is very poor in terms of required
|
||||
resources. Optional objects are essentially values so it is very convenient
|
||||
to be able to use automatic storage and deep-copy semantics to manipulate
|
||||
optional values just as we do with ordinary values. Pointers do not have
|
||||
this semantics, so are inappropriate for the initialization and transport
|
||||
of optional values, yet are quite convenient for handling the access to
|
||||
the possible undefined value because of the idiomatic aid present in the
|
||||
<a href="../../../../utility/OptionalPointee.html" target="_top">OptionalPointee</a>
|
||||
concept incarnated by pointers.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<h6>
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface.h1"></a>
|
||||
<span class="phrase"><a name="boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface.optional_lt_t_gt__as_a_model_of_optionalpointee"></a></span><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.design_overview.the_interface.optional_lt_t_gt__as_a_model_of_optionalpointee">Optional<T>
|
||||
as a model of OptionalPointee</a>
|
||||
</h6>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
For value access operations <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><></span></code> uses operators <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">*</span></code>
|
||||
and <code class="computeroutput"><span class="special">-></span></code> to lexically warn
|
||||
about the possibly uninitialized state appealing to the familiar pointer
|
||||
semantics w.r.t. to null pointers.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<div class="warning"><table border="0" summary="Warning">
|
||||
<tr>
|
||||
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Note]" src="../../../../../doc/src/images/note.png"></td>
|
||||
<th align="left">Note</th>
|
||||
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Warning]" src="../../../../../doc/src/images/warning.png"></td>
|
||||
<th align="left">Warning</th>
|
||||
</tr>
|
||||
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
|
||||
Function <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">emplace</span></code> is only
|
||||
available on compilers that support rvalue references and variadic templates.
|
||||
If your compiler does not support these features and you still need to
|
||||
avoid any move-constructions, use <a class="link" href="in_place_factories.html" title="In-Place Factories">In-Place
|
||||
Factories</a>.
|
||||
</p></td></tr>
|
||||
However, it is particularly important to note that <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><></span></code> objects are not pointers. <span class="underline"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><></span></code> is not, and does not model, a
|
||||
pointer</span>.
|
||||
</p></td></tr>
|
||||
</table></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
For instance, <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><></span></code> does not have shallow-copy so does
|
||||
not alias: two different optionals never refer to the <span class="emphasis"><em>same</em></span>
|
||||
value unless <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> itself is
|
||||
a reference (but may have <span class="emphasis"><em>equivalent</em></span> values). The
|
||||
difference between an <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code> and a pointer must be kept in mind,
|
||||
particularly because the semantics of relational operators are different:
|
||||
since <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
is a value-wrapper, relational operators are deep: they compare optional
|
||||
values; but relational operators for pointers are shallow: they do not
|
||||
compare pointee values. As a result, you might be able to replace <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>
|
||||
by <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">*</span></code>
|
||||
on some situations but not always. Specifically, on generic code written
|
||||
for both, you cannot use relational operators directly, and must use the
|
||||
template functions <a href="../../../../utility/OptionalPointee.html#equal" target="_top"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">equal_pointees</span><span class="special">()</span></code></a>
|
||||
and <a href="../../../../utility/OptionalPointee.html#less" target="_top"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">less_pointees</span><span class="special">()</span></code></a>
|
||||
instead.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div class="section">
|
||||
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
|
||||
<a name="boost_optional.tutorial.bypassing_unnecessary_default_construction"></a><a class="link" href="tutorial.html#boost_optional.tutorial.bypassing_unnecessary_default_construction" title="Bypassing unnecessary default construction">Bypassing
|
||||
unnecessary default construction</a>
|
||||
</h3></div></div></div>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Suppose we have class <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">Date</span></code>,
|
||||
which does not have a default constructor: there is no good candidate for
|
||||
a default date. We have a function that returns two dates in form of a <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">tuple</span></code>:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">tuple</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">Date</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">Date</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">getPeriod</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
In other place we want to use the result of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">getPeriod</span></code>,
|
||||
but want the two dates to be named: <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">begin</span></code>
|
||||
and <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">end</span></code>. We want to implement
|
||||
something like 'multiple return values':
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">Date</span> <span class="identifier">begin</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">end</span><span class="special">;</span> <span class="comment">// Error: no default ctor!</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">tie</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">begin</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">end</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">getPeriod</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
The second line works already, this is the capability of Boost.Tuple library,
|
||||
but the first line won't work. We could set some initial invented dates,
|
||||
but it is confusing and may be an unacceptable cost, given that these values
|
||||
will be overwritten in the next line anyway. This is where <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span></code> can help:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">Date</span><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">begin</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">end</span><span class="special">;</span>
|
||||
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">tie</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">begin</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">end</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">getPeriod</span><span class="special">();</span>
|
||||
</pre>
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
It works because inside <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">tie</span></code> a
|
||||
move-assignment from <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code> is
|
||||
invoked on <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">optional</span><span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">T</span><span class="special">></span></code>,
|
||||
which internally calls a move-constructor of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">T</span></code>.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<table xmlns:rev="http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~gregod/boost/tools/doc/revision" width="100%"><tr>
|
||||
@ -233,7 +517,7 @@
|
||||
</tr></table>
|
||||
<hr>
|
||||
<div class="spirit-nav">
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
</html>
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user