Re: Initialising std::vector from a sequence using std::istringstream

From:
"Igor Tandetnik" <itandetnik@mvps.org>
Newsgroups:
microsoft.public.vc.language
Date:
Sat, 19 Aug 2006 10:20:53 -0400
Message-ID:
<#S3Geq5wGHA.4876@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>
"Paul" <vhr@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message
news:2A4B1ECD-9C2B-4381-8941-311DF20200B7@microsoft.com

std::vector<std::string> v(std::istream_iterator<std::string>(lst),
std::istream_iterator<std::string>());
std::cout << "abc = " << *v.begin() << std::endl;

the compiler complains like this:

error C2228: left of '.begin' must have class/struct/union


Scott Meyers calls this C++'s "most vexing parse" (look it up on
Google). You have _not_ declared a variable named v of type
vector<string>. You have declared a function named v that returns
vector<string> and takes two parameters: one named lst of type
istream_iterator<string>, and an unnamed one of type "function with no
parameters returning istream_iterator<string>".

One workaround is to add an extra pair of parentheses:

vector<string> v(
    (istream_iterator<string>(lst)),
    istream_iterator<string>());

With these additional parens, the statement can no longer be parsed as a
function declaration and thus becomes a variable declaration with
initializer.
--
With best wishes,
    Igor Tandetnik

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