Re: Bizarre vector insertion behavior - can someone please enlighten?

From:
"Victor Bazarov" <v.Abazarov@comAcast.net>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Wed, 7 Mar 2007 14:53:50 -0500
Message-ID:
<esn58e$smf$1@news.datemas.de>
ckfan.painter@gmail.com wrote:

I've run into a seemingly bizarre problem with insert() for
std::vector. (This was done on Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 express
version 8...maybe it is a compiler specific bug?)

Here's the code:

//===================

// vector tester 3.cpp : main project file.

#include "stdafx.h"


You might want to consider weeding MS-isms out before posting here.

#include<vector>

int main(array<System::String ^> ^args)


That's not Standard C++, sorry. For managed extensions, try MS
newsgroups.

{
   std::vector<int> vectorList;

   for (unsigned int i = 0; i < 45; ++i) // works if 45 is
replaced with smaller value.


What "works"? By extension, what "doesn't"?

       vectorList.push_back(i);

   unsigned int aBegin = 25;
   unsigned int aEnd = 35; // works if 35 is replaced with 34.

   vectorList.insert(vectorList.begin() + 35, // works if 35 is
replaced by 36, 37, 38 ...
// but not if 35 is replaced by 34, 33, 32...
       vectorList.begin() + aBegin, vectorList.begin() + aEnd);


Any insertion into the middle of the vector can invalidate _all_
of its iterators (the one returned by 'begin()' included). Your
program most likely has undefined behaviour.

You can avoid that if you reserve memory in the vector:

   vectorList.reserve(vectorList.size() + how_many_to_insert);

   return 0;
}

//========================

When this is run, an error occurs during the insertion about
incompatible vector iterators.


"incompatible"? I don't think this is a Standard term.

At first I thought, maybe this is happening because I'm trying to
insert into the range that I am copying...but, if the size of the
vector is just changed from 45 elements long to 44 elements long...the
program works! I think that is just bizarre.


It isn't. See above.

Does anybody understand what is going on here? It would be crazy to
write code that might fail whenever it encounters a vector.insert() so
I would like to understand the reason this code fails but when the 45
is replaced with 44, it works.


Do not insert the elements of a vector into itself without reserving
first.

V
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