How do I expand a tuple into variadic template function's arguments?
Consider the case of a templated function with variadic template arguments:
template<typename Tret, typename... T> Tret func(const T&... t);
Now, I have a tuple t of values. How do I call func() using the tuple values as arguments?
I've read about the bind() function object, with call() function, and also the apply() function in different some now-obsolete documents. The GNU GCC 4.4 implementation seems to have a call() function in the bind() class, but there is very little documentation on the subject.
Some people suggest hand-written recursive hacks, but the true value of variadic template arguments is to be able to use them in cases like above.
Does anyone have a solution to is, or hint on where to read about it?
In C++17 you can do this:
std::apply(the_function, the_tuple);
This already works in Clang++ 3.9, using std::experimental::apply.
Responding to the comment saying that this won't work if the_function is templated, the following is a work-around:
#include <tuple>
template <typename T, typename U> void my_func(T &&t, U &&u) {}
int main(int argc, char *argv[argc]) {
std::tuple<int, float> my_tuple;
std::apply([](auto &&... args) { my_func(args...); }, my_tuple);
return 0;
}
This work around is a simplified solution to the general problem of passing overload sets and function template where a function would be expected. The general solution (one that is taking care of perfect-forwarding, constexpr-ness, and noexcept-ness) is presented here: https://blog.tartanllama.xyz/passing-overload-sets/.
Here's my code if anyone is interested
Basically at compile time the compiler will recursively unroll all arguments in various inclusive function calls <N> -> calls <N-1> -> calls ... -> calls <0> which is the last one and the compiler will optimize away the various intermediate function calls to only keep the last one which is the equivalent of func(arg1, arg2, arg3, ...)
Provided are 2 versions, one for a function called on an object and the other for a static function.
#include <tr1/tuple>
/**
* Object Function Tuple Argument Unpacking
*
* This recursive template unpacks the tuple parameters into
* variadic template arguments until we reach the count of 0 where the function
* is called with the correct parameters
*
* @tparam N Number of tuple arguments to unroll
*
* @ingroup g_util_tuple
*/
template < uint N >
struct apply_obj_func
{
template < typename T, typename... ArgsF, typename... ArgsT, typename... Args >
static void applyTuple( T* pObj,
void (T::*f)( ArgsF... ),
const std::tr1::tuple<ArgsT...>& t,
Args... args )
{
apply_obj_func<N-1>::applyTuple( pObj, f, t, std::tr1::get<N-1>( t ), args... );
}
};
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* Object Function Tuple Argument Unpacking End Point
*
* This recursive template unpacks the tuple parameters into
* variadic template arguments until we reach the count of 0 where the function
* is called with the correct parameters
*
* @ingroup g_util_tuple
*/
template <>
struct apply_obj_func<0>
{
template < typename T, typename... ArgsF, typename... ArgsT, typename... Args >
static void applyTuple( T* pObj,
void (T::*f)( ArgsF... ),
const std::tr1::tuple<ArgsT...>& /* t */,
Args... args )
{
(pObj->*f)( args... );
}
};
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* Object Function Call Forwarding Using Tuple Pack Parameters
*/
// Actual apply function
template < typename T, typename... ArgsF, typename... ArgsT >
void applyTuple( T* pObj,
void (T::*f)( ArgsF... ),
std::tr1::tuple<ArgsT...> const& t )
{
apply_obj_func<sizeof...(ArgsT)>::applyTuple( pObj, f, t );
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* Static Function Tuple Argument Unpacking
*
* This recursive template unpacks the tuple parameters into
* variadic template arguments until we reach the count of 0 where the function
* is called with the correct parameters
*
* @tparam N Number of tuple arguments to unroll
*
* @ingroup g_util_tuple
*/
template < uint N >
struct apply_func
{
template < typename... ArgsF, typename... ArgsT, typename... Args >
static void applyTuple( void (*f)( ArgsF... ),
const std::tr1::tuple<ArgsT...>& t,
Args... args )
{
apply_func<N-1>::applyTuple( f, t, std::tr1::get<N-1>( t ), args... );
}
};
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* Static Function Tuple Argument Unpacking End Point
*
* This recursive template unpacks the tuple parameters into
* variadic template arguments until we reach the count of 0 where the function
* is called with the correct parameters
*
* @ingroup g_util_tuple
*/
template <>
struct apply_func<0>
{
template < typename... ArgsF, typename... ArgsT, typename... Args >
static void applyTuple( void (*f)( ArgsF... ),
const std::tr1::tuple<ArgsT...>& /* t */,
Args... args )
{
f( args... );
}
};
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* Static Function Call Forwarding Using Tuple Pack Parameters
*/
// Actual apply function
template < typename... ArgsF, typename... ArgsT >
void applyTuple( void (*f)(ArgsF...),
std::tr1::tuple<ArgsT...> const& t )
{
apply_func<sizeof...(ArgsT)>::applyTuple( f, t );
}
// ***************************************
// Usage
// ***************************************
template < typename T, typename... Args >
class Message : public IMessage
{
typedef void (T::*F)( Args... args );
public:
Message( const std::string& name,
T& obj,
F pFunc,
Args... args );
private:
virtual void doDispatch( );
T* pObj_;
F pFunc_;
std::tr1::tuple<Args...> args_;
};
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
template < typename T, typename... Args >
Message<T, Args...>::Message( const std::string& name,
T& obj,
F pFunc,
Args... args )
: IMessage( name ),
pObj_( &obj ),
pFunc_( pFunc ),
args_( std::forward<Args>(args)... )
{
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
template < typename T, typename... Args >
void Message<T, Args...>::doDispatch( )
{
try
{
applyTuple( pObj_, pFunc_, args_ );
}
catch ( std::exception& e )
{
}
}
In C++ there is many ways of expanding/unpacking tuple and apply those tuple elements to a variadic template function. Here is a small helper class which creates index array. It is used a lot in template metaprogramming:
// ------------- UTILITY---------------
template<int...> struct index_tuple{};
template<int I, typename IndexTuple, typename... Types>
struct make_indexes_impl;
template<int I, int... Indexes, typename T, typename ... Types>
struct make_indexes_impl<I, index_tuple<Indexes...>, T, Types...>
{
typedef typename make_indexes_impl<I + 1, index_tuple<Indexes..., I>, Types...>::type type;
};
template<int I, int... Indexes>
struct make_indexes_impl<I, index_tuple<Indexes...> >
{
typedef index_tuple<Indexes...> type;
};
template<typename ... Types>
struct make_indexes : make_indexes_impl<0, index_tuple<>, Types...>
{};
Now the code which does the job is not that big:
// ----------UNPACK TUPLE AND APPLY TO FUNCTION ---------
#include <tuple>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
template<class Ret, class... Args, int... Indexes >
Ret apply_helper( Ret (*pf)(Args...), index_tuple< Indexes... >, tuple<Args...>&& tup)
{
return pf( forward<Args>( get<Indexes>(tup))... );
}
template<class Ret, class ... Args>
Ret apply(Ret (*pf)(Args...), const tuple<Args...>& tup)
{
return apply_helper(pf, typename make_indexes<Args...>::type(), tuple<Args...>(tup));
}
template<class Ret, class ... Args>
Ret apply(Ret (*pf)(Args...), tuple<Args...>&& tup)
{
return apply_helper(pf, typename make_indexes<Args...>::type(), forward<tuple<Args...>>(tup));
}
Test is shown bellow:
// --------------------- TEST ------------------
void one(int i, double d)
{
std::cout << "function one(" << i << ", " << d << ");\n";
}
int two(int i)
{
std::cout << "function two(" << i << ");\n";
return i;
}
int main()
{
std::tuple<int, double> tup(23, 4.5);
apply(one, tup);
int d = apply(two, std::make_tuple(2));
return 0;
}
I'm not big expert in other languages, but I guess that if these languages do not have such functionality in their menu, there is no way to do that. At least with C++ you can, and I think it is not so much complicated...