How do I expand a tuple into variadic template fun

Question

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?

Answer 1

I find this to be the most elegant solution (and it is optimally forwarded):

#include <cstddef>
#include <tuple>
#include <type_traits>
#include <utility>

template<size_t N>
struct Apply {
    template<typename F, typename T, typename... A>
    static inline auto apply(F && f, T && t, A &&... a)
        -> decltype(Apply<N-1>::apply(
            ::std::forward<F>(f), ::std::forward<T>(t),
            ::std::get<N-1>(::std::forward<T>(t)), ::std::forward<A>(a)...
        ))
    {
        return Apply<N-1>::apply(::std::forward<F>(f), ::std::forward<T>(t),
            ::std::get<N-1>(::std::forward<T>(t)), ::std::forward<A>(a)...
        );
    }
};

template<>
struct Apply<0> {
    template<typename F, typename T, typename... A>
    static inline auto apply(F && f, T &&, A &&... a)
        -> decltype(::std::forward<F>(f)(::std::forward<A>(a)...))
    {
        return ::std::forward<F>(f)(::std::forward<A>(a)...);
    }
};

template<typename F, typename T>
inline auto apply(F && f, T && t)
    -> decltype(Apply< ::std::tuple_size<
        typename ::std::decay<T>::type
    >::value>::apply(::std::forward<F>(f), ::std::forward<T>(t)))
{
    return Apply< ::std::tuple_size<
        typename ::std::decay<T>::type
    >::value>::apply(::std::forward<F>(f), ::std::forward<T>(t));
}

Example usage:

void foo(int i, bool b);

std::tuple<int, bool> t = make_tuple(20, false);

void m()
{
    apply(&foo, t);
}

Unfortunately GCC (4.6 at least) fails to compile this with "sorry, unimplemented: mangling overload" (which simply means that the compiler doesn't yet fully implement the C++11 spec), and since it uses variadic templates, it wont work in MSVC, so it is more or less useless. However, once there is a compiler that supports the spec, it will be the best approach IMHO. (Note: it isn't that hard to modify this so that you can work around the deficiencies in GCC, or to implement it with Boost Preprocessor, but it ruins the elegance, so this is the version I am posting.)

GCC 4.7 now supports this code just fine.

Edit: Added forward around actual function call to support rvalue reference form *this in case you are using clang (or if anybody else actually gets around to adding it).

Edit: Added missing forward around the function object in the non-member apply function's body. Thanks to pheedbaq for pointing out that it was missing.

Edit: And here is the C++14 version just since it is so much nicer (doesn't actually compile yet):

#include <cstddef>
#include <tuple>
#include <type_traits>
#include <utility>

template<size_t N>
struct Apply {
    template<typename F, typename T, typename... A>
    static inline auto apply(F && f, T && t, A &&... a) {
        return Apply<N-1>::apply(::std::forward<F>(f), ::std::forward<T>(t),
            ::std::get<N-1>(::std::forward<T>(t)), ::std::forward<A>(a)...
        );
    }
};

template<>
struct Apply<0> {
    template<typename F, typename T, typename... A>
    static inline auto apply(F && f, T &&, A &&... a) {
        return ::std::forward<F>(f)(::std::forward<A>(a)...);
    }
};

template<typename F, typename T>
inline auto apply(F && f, T && t) {
    return Apply< ::std::tuple_size< ::std::decay_t<T>
      >::value>::apply(::std::forward<F>(f), ::std::forward<T>(t));
}

Here is a version for member functions (not tested very much!):

using std::forward; // You can change this if you like unreadable code or care hugely about namespace pollution.

template<size_t N>
struct ApplyMember
{
    template<typename C, typename F, typename T, typename... A>
    static inline auto apply(C&& c, F&& f, T&& t, A&&... a) ->
        decltype(ApplyMember<N-1>::apply(forward<C>(c), forward<F>(f), forward<T>(t), std::get<N-1>(forward<T>(t)), forward<A>(a)...))
    {
        return ApplyMember<N-1>::apply(forward<C>(c), forward<F>(f), forward<T>(t), std::get<N-1>(forward<T>(t)), forward<A>(a)...);
    }
};

template<>
struct ApplyMember<0>
{
    template<typename C, typename F, typename T, typename... A>
    static inline auto apply(C&& c, F&& f, T&&, A&&... a) ->
        decltype((forward<C>(c)->*forward<F>(f))(forward<A>(a)...))
    {
        return (forward<C>(c)->*forward<F>(f))(forward<A>(a)...);
    }
};

// C is the class, F is the member function, T is the tuple.
template<typename C, typename F, typename T>
inline auto apply(C&& c, F&& f, T&& t) ->
    decltype(ApplyMember<std::tuple_size<typename std::decay<T>::type>::value>::apply(forward<C>(c), forward<F>(f), forward<T>(t)))
{
    return ApplyMember<std::tuple_size<typename std::decay<T>::type>::value>::apply(forward<C>(c), forward<F>(f), forward<T>(t));
}

// Example:

class MyClass
{
public:
    void foo(int i, bool b);
};

MyClass mc;

std::tuple<int, bool> t = make_tuple(20, false);

void m()
{
    apply(&mc, &MyClass::foo, t);
}

Answer 2

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/.

Answer 3

template<typename F, typename Tuple, std::size_t ... I>
auto apply_impl(F&& f, Tuple&& t, std::index_sequence<I...>) {
    return std::forward<F>(f)(std::get<I>(std::forward<Tuple>(t))...);
}
template<typename F, typename Tuple>
auto apply(F&& f, Tuple&& t) {
    using Indices = std::make_index_sequence<std::tuple_size<std::decay_t<Tuple>>::value>;
    return apply_impl(std::forward<F>(f), std::forward<Tuple>(t), Indices());
}

This is adapted from the C++14 draft using index_sequence. I might propose to have apply in a future standard (TS).

Answer 4

1) if you have a readymade parameter_pack structure as function argument, you can just use std::tie like this:

template <class... Args>
void tie_func(std::tuple<Args...> t, Args&... args)
{
 std::tie<Args...>(args...) = t;
}

int main()
{
 std::tuple<int, double, std::string> t(2, 3.3, "abc");

 int i;
 double d;
 std::string s;

 tie_func(t, i, d, s);

 std::cout << i << " " << d << " " << s << std::endl;
}

2) if you don't have a readymade parampack arg, you'll have to unwind the tuple like this

#include <tuple>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>



template<int N>
struct apply_wrap {
    template<typename R, typename... TupleArgs, typename... UnpackedArgs>
    static R applyTuple( std::function<R(TupleArgs...)>& f, const std::tuple<TupleArgs...>& t, UnpackedArgs... args )
    {
        return apply_wrap<N-1>::applyTuple( f, t, std::get<N-1>( t ), args... );
    }
};


template<>
struct apply_wrap<0>
{
    template<typename R, typename... TupleArgs, typename... UnpackedArgs>
    static R applyTuple( std::function<R(TupleArgs...)>& f, const std::tuple<TupleArgs...>&, UnpackedArgs... args )
    {
        return f( args... );
    }
};



template<typename R, typename... TupleArgs>
R applyTuple( std::function<R(TupleArgs...)>& f, std::tuple<TupleArgs...> const& t )
{
    return apply_wrap<sizeof...(TupleArgs)>::applyTuple( f, t );
}



int fac(int n)
{
    int r=1;
    for(int i=2; i<=n; ++i)
        r *= i;
    return r;
}



int main()
{
    auto t = std::make_tuple(5);
    auto f = std::function<decltype(fac)>(&fac);
    cout << applyTuple(f, t);
}

Answer 5

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...

Answer 6

Extending on @David's solution, you can write a recursive template that

1. Doesn't use the (overly-verbose, imo) integer_sequence semantics
2. Doesn't use an extra temporary template parameter int N to count recursive iterations
3. (Optional for static/global functors) uses the functor as a template parameter for compile-time optimizaion

E.g.:

template <class F, F func>
struct static_functor {
    template <class... T, class... Args_tmp>
    static inline auto apply(const std::tuple<T...>& t, Args_tmp... args)
            -> decltype(func(std::declval<T>()...)) {
        return static_functor<F,func>::apply(t, args...,
                std::get<sizeof...(Args_tmp)>(t));
    }
    template <class... T>
    static inline auto apply(const std::tuple<T...>& t, T... args)
            -> decltype(func(args...)) {
        return func(args...);
    }
};

static_functor<decltype(&myFunc), &myFunc>::apply(my_tuple);

Alternatively if your functor is not defined at compile-time (e.g., a non-constexpr functor instance, or a lambda expression), you can use it as a function parameter instead of a class template parameter, and in fact remove the containing class entirely:

template <class F, class... T, class... Args_tmp>
inline auto apply_functor(F&& func, const std::tuple<T...>& t,
        Args_tmp... args) -> decltype(func(std::declval<T>()...)) {
    return apply_functor(func, t, args..., std::get<sizeof...(Args_tmp)>(t));
}
template <class F, class... T>
inline auto apply_functor(F&& func, const std::tuple<T...>& t,
        T... args) -> decltype(func(args...)) {
    return func(args...);
}

apply_functor(&myFunc, my_tuple);

For pointer-to-member-function callables, you can adjust either of the above code pieces similarly as in @David's answer.

Explanation

In reference to the second piece of code, there are two template functions: the first one takes the functor func, the tuple t with types T..., and a parameter pack args of types Args_tmp.... When called, it recursively adds the objects from t to the parameter pack one at a time, from beginning (0) to end, and calls the function again with the new incremented parameter pack.

The second function's signature is almost identical to the first, except that it uses type T... for the parameter pack args. Thus, once args in the first function is completely filled with the values from t, it's type will be T... (in psuedo-code, typeid(T...) == typeid(Args_tmp...)), and thus the compiler will instead call the second overloaded function, which in turn calls func(args...).

The code in the static functor example works identically, with the functor instead used as a class template argument.