Re: Type deduction failure due to "invalid conversion" - where is it applicable?

From:
Greg Herlihy <greghe@pacbell.net>
Newsgroups:
comp.std.c++
Date:
Thu, 31 May 2007 14:24:35 CST
Message-ID:
<1180508676.076212.51170@q19g2000prn.googlegroups.com>
On 5/29/07 10:02 AM, in article
1180429650.255279.139890@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com,
"int19h@gmail.com" <int19h@gmail.com> wrote:

14.8.2 p.2 of the Standard gives a list of reasons why type deduction
can fail, and among those is one that says, "Attempting to perform an
invalid conversion in either a template argument expression, or an
expression used in the function declaration.". The question is, what
exactly does it apply to? In particular, I have the following example
in my mind:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

..

template <class B, class D>
char Foo(Dummy<sizeof((B*)(D*)0)> = 0)
{
  return char();
}

struct char_char { char dummy[2]; };
template <class B, class D>
char_char Foo()
{
  return char_char();
}

struct A { };
struct B : A { };
struct C : A { };
struct D : B, C { };

int main()
{
  Foo<A, D>();
}

In this example, the expression ((B*)(D*)0), which occurs in a
function declaration, and is dependent on the template arguments of
the said function declaration, results in an invalid conversion for
Foo<A, D> specialization, since the cast from D* to A* is ambiguous.
Now, according to the wording of the Standard, should this trigger a
type substitution failure?


No, because the conversion from D* to A* is not invalid. On the
contrary, there are two valid conversions from D* to A*. So the
problem with the sample program is simply that a (valid) conversion
has been specified ambiguously - and not that the conversion itself is
invalid (which would be the case if no D* to A* conversion existed at
all).

Greg

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