Re: using array operators for lvalue and rvalue?

From:
Victor Bazarov <v.Abazarov@comAcast.net>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Wed, 21 May 2008 17:16:09 -0400
Message-ID:
<g123ep$4ag$1@news.datemas.de>
usao wrote:

On May 21, 1:36 pm, Erik Wikstr?m <Erik-wikst...@telia.com> wrote:

On 2008-05-21 22:07, usao wrote:

Does anyone have an example of how to create a class which describes
and array, such that I can use the subscript operator[] on both the
left and right side of an assignment statement? This is as close as I
can get, but I feel it's kludgey and slow...

Perhaps I do not quite understand what you are asking for but something
like this should work:

class Foo
{
  int i_;
public:
  int& operator[](int i) { return 1; } // Replace 1 with a real element

};

int main()
{
  Foo f;
  f[1] = 1;
  int i = f[1];

}

--
Erik Wikstr?m


So, this can be done without the helper class?


It can if you *don't care* to distinguish between the placement of the
indexing expression on the left of '=' from the right. Of course, since
the operator[] is defined here as non-const, you cannot use it on an
object that is const. Often two operator[] functions are defined, one
const and the other non-const, but used with a non-const object, the
indexing expression will call the non-const version (like in Erik's
program) and not the const version (as some expect).

If you need to distinguish (and call different operator[] functions)
between the use as lvalue and as rvalue:

     f[1] = 1;
     i = f[1];

then your original solution is essentially the answer. You can make it
a bit more straightforward if you return a proxy in both cases and make
the actual distinction (lvalue vs rvalue) in the assignment operator or
the conversion operator of the proxy, but it's essentially the same.

V
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