Re: <complex> : no match for 'operator*' // conversion operator double()

From:
"Alf P. Steinbach" <alfps@start.no>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Fri, 23 Jun 2006 12:41:35 +0200
Message-ID:
<4g1ur0F1kjcqhU1@individual.net>
* Arvid Requate:

I'd like to understand why the following code does not compile.

[snip]

//------------------------complex_double_conversion.cpp-------------------------
#include<complex>

class B {
  double v;
  public:
  operator double() const { return v; } // conversion operator
  B(double _v) : v(_v) {}
};

int main() {
  std::complex<double> z(0,1);
  B x(0.5);

  // next line works due to complex<_Tp>&
complex<_Tp>::operator*=(const _Tp&)
  // the conversion operator of class B is used
  z*=x;

  // the next line does not compile
  std::complex<double> y( z*x );

  // only with cast: z*((double) x)
  //
  // although in <complex> there is
  // template<typename _Tp>
  // inline complex<_Tp> operator*(const complex<_Tp>& __x, const
_Tp& __y)
  // { return complex<_Tp> (__x) *= __y; }
  //
  return 0;
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Template parameter matching does not consider user-defined conversions:
in general types must match exactly (sort of, there's a bit of looseness
in cv-qualification and reference types and so on).

Consider:

     template< typename T >
     struct Complex { Complex( T = 0, T = 0 ) {} };

     template< typename T >
     Complex<T> operator*( Complex<T> const&, Complex<T> const& )
     { return Complex<T>(); }

     class B
     {
         double v;
     public:
         B( double _v ) : v( _v ) {}
         operator Complex<double> () const { return v; }
     };

     int main()
     {
         Complex<double> z(0,1);
         B x(0.5);

         // The next line does not compile, not exact match:
         z*x;
     }

However, adding

     template< typename T >
     Complex<T> operator*( Complex<T> const& a, B const& b )
     { return a*Complex<T>(b); }

provides an exact match and the code compiles.

A bit more general, adding instead

     template< template<class> class C, typename T >
     C<T> operator*( C<T> const& a, B const& b )
     { return a*C<T>(b); }

also provides an exact match and the code compiles.

I tried this fix with your original code and it compiles with MSVC 7.1.
  However, you'll probably also have to support the opposite argument
order, and other operators such as '+'.

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