Re: operator new not forced to throw std::bad_alloc?

From:
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Daniel_Kr=FCgler?= <daniel.kruegler@googlemail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++.moderated
Date:
Tue, 13 May 2008 21:06:59 CST
Message-ID:
<c1c9b610-63cd-47f1-8ea8-ffd2d3483493@2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com>
On 13 Mai, 19:57, numerical.simulat...@web.de wrote:

During some debug session of an MFC application (VS2005) I found out
that std::allocator<double>::allocate calls operator new which throws
a
CMemoryException.

I expected operator new to throw std::bad_alloc, so that exception
went
uncaught. This is odd.

void* __cdecl operator new(size_t nSize)
{
...
  // That's platform specific code here:
  if (_afxNewHandler == NULL || (*_afxNewHandler)(nSize) == 0)

}

Q: Did I misunderstand Stroustrup?


I don't know. What did he say to you? ;-)

Q: Is an STL allowed to throw things which do not inherit from
std::exception?
Q: No standard under my pillow: What's the wording about what operator
new may throw?


Both the current valid standard N14882:2003 as well as the
recent draft N2588, require a std::bad_alloc, [lib.new.delete.single]/
3:

"Required behavior: Return a non-null pointer to suitably aligned
storage (3.7.3), or else throw a bad_alloc exception. This
requirement
is binding on a replacement version of this function."

On the other hand, [basic.stc.dynamic.allocation]/3 says:

"[..] If an allocation function declared with an empty exception-
specification (15.4), throw(), fails to allocate storage, it shall
return a null pointer. Any other allocation function that fails to
allocate storage shall only indicate failure by throwing an
exception of class std::bad_alloc (18.4.2.1) or a class derived
from std::bad_alloc."

The recent draft has refined the last part to say:

"[..] by throwing an exception of a type that would match a
handler (15.3) of type std::bad_alloc (18.5.2.1)"

So, if CMemoryException corresponds (as an alias) or derives
publicly from std::bad_alloc, this would be fine. Alas, this
is not the case, because the inheritance chain is:

CMemoryException <- CSimpleException <- CException [<- CObject]

(The last one exists only under specific settings)

So, if we ignore a special compiler magic for the moment
(which might exist, so you must test this!), this
implementation probably does not match the specification
of the standard.

Greetings from Bremen,

Daniel Kr?gler

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