feedc0de/boost_conversion
1
0 Fork 0
forked from boostorg/conversion
Code Pull Requests Activity

Initial commit after public review (note change in library name per review)

Browse Source 
[SVN r8514]
This commit is contained in:
Beman Dawes committed 2001-01-06 16:25:08 +00:00
1 parent beb912a139
commit 7f2c4ed981
6 files changed
+1030
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

No files matched your search

cast.htm
+145
View File
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
<title>Header boost/cast.hpp Documentation</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<h1><img src="../../c++boost.gif" alt="c++boost.gif (8819 bytes)" align="center" width="277" height="86">Header
<a href="../../boost/cast.hpp">boost/cast.hpp</a></h1>
<h2><a name="Cast Functions">Cast Functions</a></h2>
<p>The <code>header <a href="../../boost/cast.hpp">boost/cast.hpp</a></code>
provides <a href="#Polymorphic_cast"><b>polymorphic_cast</b></a>, <a href="#Polymorphic_cast"><b>polymorphic_downcast</b></a>,
and <a href="#numeric_cast"><b>numeric_cast</b></a> function templates designed
to complement the C++ built-in casts.</p>
<p>The program&nbsp;<a href="cast_test.cpp">cast_test.cpp</a> can be used to
verify these function templates work as expected.</p>
<h3><a name="Polymorphic_cast">Polymorphic casts</a></h3>
<p>Pointers to polymorphic objects (objects of classes which define at least one
virtual function) are sometimes downcast or crosscast.&nbsp; Downcasting means
casting from a base class to a derived class.&nbsp; Crosscasting means casting
across an inheritance hierarchy diagram, such as from one base to the other in a
<b>Y</b> diagram hierarchy.</p>
<p>Such casts can be done with old-style casts, but this approach is never to be
recommended.&nbsp; Old-style casts are sorely lacking in type safety, suffer
poor readability, and are difficult to locate with search tools.</p>
<p>The C++ built-in <b>static_cast</b> can be used for efficiently downcasting
pointers to polymorphic objects, but provides no error detection for the case
where the pointer being cast actually points to the wrong derived class. The <b>polymorphic_downcast</b>
template retains the efficiency of <b>static_cast</b> for non-debug
compilations, but for debug compilations adds safety via an assert() that a <b>dynamic_cast</b>
succeeds.&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>
<p>The C++ built-in <b>dynamic_cast</b> can be used for downcasts and crosscasts
of pointers to polymorphic objects, but error notification in the form of a
returned value of 0 is inconvenient to test, or worse yet, easy to forget to
test.&nbsp; The <b>polymorphic_cast</b> template performs a <b>dynamic_cast</b>,
and throws an exception if the <b>dynamic_cast</b> returns 0.</p>
<p>A <b>polymorphic_downcast</b> is preferred when debug-mode tests will cover
100% of the object types possibly cast and when non-debug-mode efficiency is an
issue. If these two conditions are not present, <b>polymorphic_cast</b> is
preferred.&nbsp; It must also be used for crosscasts.&nbsp; It does an assert(
dynamic_cast&lt;Derived&gt;(x) == x ) where x is the base pointer, ensuring that
not only is a non-zero pointer returned, but also that it correct in the
presence of multiple inheritance.<b> Warning:</b>: Because <b>polymorphic_downcast</b>
uses assert(), it violates the one definition rule (ODR) if NDEBUG is inconsistently
defined across translation units.&nbsp; [See ISO Std 3.2]</p>
<p>The C++ built-in <b>dynamic_cast</b> must be used to cast references rather
than pointers.&nbsp; It is also the only cast that can be used to check whether
a given interface is supported; in that case a return of 0 isn't an error
condition.</p>
<h3>polymorphic_cast and polymorphic_downcast synopsis</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>namespace boost {
template &lt;class Derived, class Base&gt;
inline Derived polymorphic_cast(Base* x);
// Throws: std::bad_cast if ( dynamic_cast&lt;Derived&gt;(x) == 0 )
// Returns: dynamic_cast&lt;Derived&gt;(x)
template &lt;class Derived, class Base&gt;
inline Derived polymorphic_downcast(Base* x);
// Effects: assert( dynamic_cast&lt;Derived&gt;(x) == x );
// Returns: static_cast&lt;Derived&gt;(x)
}</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>polymorphic_downcast example</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>#include &lt;boost/cast.hpp&gt;
...
class Fruit { public: virtual ~Fruit(){}; ... };
class Banana : public Fruit { ... };
...
void f( Fruit * fruit ) {
// ... logic which leads us to believe it is a Banana
Banana * banana = boost::polymorphic_downcast&lt;Banana*&gt;(fruit);
...</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3><a name="numeric_cast">numeric_cast</a></h3>
<p>A <b>static_cast</b> or implicit conversion will not
detect failure to preserve range for numeric casts. The <b>numeric_cast</b> function
templates are similar to <b>static_cast</b> and certain (dubious)
implicit conversions in this respect, except that they detect loss of numeric
range. An exception is thrown when a runtime value-preservation check fails.</p>
<p>The requirements on the argument and result types are:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Both argument and result types are CopyConstructible [ISO Std 20.1.3].</li>
<li>Both argument and result types are Numeric, defined by <code>std::numeric_limits&lt;&gt;::is_specialized</code>
being true.</li>
<li>The argument can be converted to the result type using <b>static_cast</b>.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h3>numeric_cast synopsis</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>namespace boost {
class bad_numeric_cast : public std::bad_cast {...};
template&lt;typename Target, typename Source&gt;
inline Target numeric_cast(Source arg);
// Throws: bad_numeric_cast unless, in converting arg from Source to Target,
// there is no loss of negative range, and no underflow, and no
// overflow, as determined by std::numeric_limits
// Returns: static_cast&lt;Target&gt;(arg)
}</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>numeric_cast example</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>#include &lt;boost/cast.hpp&gt;
using namespace boost::cast;
void ariane(double vx)
{
...
unsigned short dx = numeric_cast&lt;unsigned short&gt;(vx);
...
}</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>numeric_cast rationale</h3>
<p>The form of the throws condition is specified so that != is not a required
operation.</p>
<h3>History</h3>
<p><b>polymorphic_cast</b> was suggested by Bjarne Stroustrup in &quot;The C++
Programming Language&quot;.<br>
<b>polymorphic_downcast</b> was contributed by <a href="../../people/dave_abrahams.htm">Dave
Abrahams</a>.<b><br>
numeric_cast</b> was contributed by <a href="../../people/kevlin_henney.htm">Kevlin
Henney</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>Revised&nbsp; <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan
-->06 January, 2001<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="38320"
--></p>
<p>© Copyright boost.org 1999. Permission to copy, use, modify, sell and
distribute this document is granted provided this copyright notice appears in
all copies. This document is provided &quot;as is&quot; without express or
implied warranty, and with no claim as to its suitability for any purpose.</p>
</body>
</html>