I found similar questions and answers like this one. However, as I tried out, this SFINAE tests only succeeded if the tested member is directly defined in the class being tested. For example the following, class B
, D1
print HAS
while the other two print NOT HAS
. Is there a way to determine that if a class has a member, whether it is defined by itself, or a base class, and the name of the base class is not known in this case. The motivation is that I want to write a generic function that will call a certain method if it exists (from base or not, the type of the parameter is generic, leave along the type of its possible base).
#include <iostream>
class HasFoo
{
public :
typedef char Small;
typedef struct {char; char;} Large;
template <typename C, void (C::*) ()> class SFINAE {};
template <typename C> static Small test (SFINAE<C, &C::foo> *)
{
std::cout << "HAS" << std::endl;
}
template <typename C> static Large test (...)
{
std::cout << "NOT HAS" << std::endl;
}
};
class B
{
public :
void foo () {}
};
class D1 : public B
{
public :
void foo () {} // overide
};
class D2 : public B
{
public :
using B::foo;
};
class D3 : public B {};
int main ()
{
HasFoo::test<B>(0);
HasFoo::test<D1>(0);
HasFoo::test<D2>(0);
HasFoo::test<D3>(0);
}
Unfortunately it wouldn't be possible at least in C++03 and I doubt in C++11 also.
Few important points:
- The proposed SFINAE works only if the method is
public
- Even if the SFINAE would have worked for base methods, the point (1)
applies; because for
private
and protected
inheritance the SFINAE
may end up useless
- Assuming you may want to deal only with
public
method/inheritance,
the code HasFoo::test<>
can be enhanced for taking multiple
parameters where a base class also can be passed;
std::is_base_of<>
can be used for further validation of the
base/derived relationship; then apply the same logic for base class
also
In C++03, this is unfortunately not possible, sorry.
In C++11, things get much easier thanks to the magic of decltype
. decltype
lets you write expressions to deduce the type of their result, so you can perfectly name a member of a base class. And if the method is template, then SFINAE applies to the decltype
expression.
#include <iostream>
template <typename T>
auto has_foo(T& t) -> decltype(t.foo(), bool()) { return true; }
bool has_foo(...) { return false; }
struct Base {
void foo() {}
};
struct Derived1: Base {
void foo() {}
};
struct Derived2: Base {
using Base::foo;
};
struct Derived3: Base {
};
int main() {
Base b; Derived1 d1; Derived2 d2; Derived3 d3;
std::cout << has_foo(b) << " "
<< has_foo(d1) << " "
<< has_foo(d2) << " "
<< has_foo(d3) << "\n";
}
Unfortunately ideone has a version of gcc that's too old for this and clang 3.0 is no better.
There is a way to determine if a class hierachy has a member of a given name. It uses SFINAE and introduces substituation failure in name lookup by creating an ambiguity. Additionally, there is a way to test if public members are callable; however, there is not a way to determine if a member is public with SFINAE.
Here is an example:
#include <iostream>
template < typename T >
struct has_foo
{
typedef char yes;
typedef char no[2];
// Type that has a member with the name that will be checked.
struct fallback { int foo; };
// Type that will inherit from both T and mixin to guarantee that mixed_type
// has the desired member. If T::foo exists, then &mixed_type::foo will be
// ambiguous. Otherwise, if T::foo does not exists, then &mixed_type::foo
// will successfully resolve to fallback::foo.
struct mixed_type: T, fallback {};
template < typename U, U > struct type_check {};
// If substituation does not fail, then &U::foo is not ambiguous, indicating
// that mixed_type only has one member named foo (i.e. fallback::foo).
template < typename U > static no& test( type_check< int (fallback::*),
&U::foo >* = 0 );
// Substituation failed, so &U::foo is ambiguous, indicating that mixed_type
// has multiple members named foo. Thus, T::foo exists.
template < typename U > static yes& test( ... );
static const bool value = sizeof( yes ) ==
sizeof( test< mixed_type >( NULL ) );
};
namespace detail {
class yes {};
class no{ yes m[2]; };
// sizeof will be used to determine what function is selected given an
// expression. An overloaded comma operator will be used to branch based
// on types at compile-time.
// With ( helper, anything-other-than-no, yes ) return yes.
// With ( helper, no, yes ) return no.
struct helper {};
// Return helper.
template < typename T > helper operator,( helper, const T& );
// Overloads.
yes operator,( helper, yes ); // For ( helper, yes ) return yes.
no operator,( helper, no ); // For ( helper, no ) return no.
no operator,( no, yes ); // For ( no, yes ) return no.
} // namespace detail
template < typename T >
struct can_call_foo
{
struct fallback { ::detail::no foo( ... ) const; };
// Type that will inherit from T and fallback, this guarantees
// that mixed_type has a foo method.
struct mixed_type: T, fallback
{
using T::foo;
using fallback::foo;
};
// U has a foo member.
template < typename U, bool = has_foo< U >::value >
struct impl
{
// Create the type sequence.
// - Start with helper to guarantee the custom comma operator is used.
// - This is evaluationg the expression, not executing, so cast null
// to a mixed_type pointer, then invoke foo. If T::foo is selected,
// then the comma operator returns helper. Otherwise, fooback::foo
// is selected, and the comma operator returns no.
// - Either helper or no was returned from the first comma operator
// evaluation. If ( helper, yes ) remains, then yes will be returned.
// Otherwise, ( no, yes ) remains; thus no will be returned.
static const bool value = sizeof( ::detail::yes ) ==
sizeof( ::detail::helper(),
((mixed_type*)0)->foo(),
::detail::yes() );
};
// U does not have a 'foo' member.
template < typename U >
struct impl< U, false >
{
static const bool value = false;
};
static const bool value = impl< T >::value;
};
// Types containing a foo member function.
struct B { void foo(); };
struct D1: B { bool foo(); }; // hide B::foo
struct D2: B { using B::foo; }; // no-op, as no hiding occured.
struct D3: B { };
// Type that do not have a member foo function.
struct F {};
// Type that has foo but it is not callable via T::foo().
struct G { int foo; };
struct G1 { bool foo( int ); };
int main ()
{
std::cout << "B: " << has_foo< B >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< B >::value << "\n"
<< "D1: " << has_foo< D1 >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< D1 >::value << "\n"
<< "D2: " << has_foo< D2 >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< D2 >::value << "\n"
<< "D3: " << has_foo< D3 >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< D3 >::value << "\n"
<< "F: " << has_foo< F >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< F >::value << "\n"
<< "G: " << has_foo< G >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< G >::value << "\n"
<< "G1: " << has_foo< G1 >::value << " - "
<< can_call_foo< G1 >::value << "\n"
<< std::endl;
return 0;
}
Which produces the following output:
B: 1 - 1
D1: 1 - 1
D2: 1 - 1
D3: 1 - 1
F: 0 - 0
G: 1 - 0
G1: 1 - 0
has_foo
only checks for the existence of a member named foo
. It does not verify that foo
is a callable member (a public member function or public member that is a functor).
can_call_foo
checks if T::foo()
is callable. If T::foo()
is not public, then a compiler error will occur. As far as I know, there is no way to prevent this via SFINAE. For a more complete and brilliant, but fairly complex solution, check here.