Re: decltype and const reference params

From:
Paul Bibbings <paul.bibbings@gmail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:53:32 +0100
Message-ID:
<87aatfxff7.fsf@gmail.com>
Noah Roberts <noneed@toemailme.com> writes:
<snip />

In article <87eiirxjw4.fsf@gmail.com>, paul.bibbings@gmail.com says...
... can I ask what compiler you are using?

VS 2010 RC

Having only just obtained the C++0x FCD I'm not that clued up on what
the correct interpretation of the return type of your op+ should be, not
having much reading time at the moment. Still, I would be very suprised
to see how:

   lh = const point<int>&
   rh = const point<double>&

could lead to:

   decltype(lh.x + rh.x) => const double

and not just double.

Have you checked yourself that what irritates you here is expected and
not simply incorrect? What error messages are you getting from your
compiler?


1>e:\dev_workspace\experimental\2010_feature_assessment\2010
_feature_assessment\main.cpp(148): error C2440: 'initializing' : cannot
convert from 'point<T>' to 'point<T>'
1> with
1> [
1> T=const double
1> ]
1> and
1> [
1> T=double
1> ]
1> No constructor could take the source type, or constructor
overload resolution was ambiguous

line 148 is "point<double> z = x + y;"


To pursue this further, since we have the case of two implementations
disagreeing on how your code should behave, I have now had a quick
browse through the C++0x FCD and found this example, which is not
a direct counterpart to your example as is, however:

   // ...
   struct A { double x; };
   const A* a = new A();
   // ...
   decltype(a->x) x3; // type is double
   decltype((a->x)) x4 = x3; // type is const double&

This example is repeated on the MSDN at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd537655(VS.100).aspx.

Here, A is not a template, so a first point of difference depends on
whether the above example would lead to the same types if we replaced:

   template<typename T>
   struct A { T x; };
   const A<double>* a = new A<double>();

A second difference, of course, is that this example uses a pointer to a
const A and not a reference. Accepting these differences, this example
indicates that the type of decltype(a->x) does not take on the
cv-qualification if it's enclosing type, so to speak. That is, *a is
const A, but that doesn't make decltype(a->x) into const double. I
might therefore expect a similar handling of decltype(lh.x + rh.x) in
your code (see OP) for:

  template< typename T1, typename T2 >
  auto operator + (point<T1> const& lh, point<T2> const& rh)
    -> point< decltype(lh.x + rh.x);

I am of course, as ever, open to be shown the flaws in my thinking.

What's more puzzling to me, however, is why Comeau rejects your code
altogether with:

  Comeau C/C++ 4.3.10.1 (Oct 6 2008 11:28:09) for
  ONLINE_EVALUATION_BETA2
  Copyright 1988-2008 Comeau Computing. All rights reserved.
  MODE:strict errors C++ C++0x_extensions

  "ComeauTest.c", line 11: error: "auto" is not allowed here
    auto operator + (point<T1> const& lh, point<T2> const& rh)
    ^

  "ComeauTest.c", line 12: error: expected a ";" (perhaps on the
  previous statement)
       -> point< decltype(lh.x + rh.x) >
       ^

  At end of source: warning: parsing restarts here after previous syntax
  error

  2 errors detected in the compilation of "ComeauTest.c".

Regards

Paul Bibbings

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