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creating hash (or list) of member functions

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  • Chris KawaC Chris Kawa

    @mzimmers In my example it's not a list of QObjects. It's a list of std::function objects.
    Clock::update() is a class member function, so to call it you need an instance of that class i.e. instance->update(). The way class member functions work is that they really are just regular functions that have a hidden implicit this parameter, so in effect it's like Clock::update(instance).
    std::bind, as the name suggests, creates a callable object that binds a functor with a parameter, so you can call it as if there was no parameter.
    The way to think about it is that std::bind(cs, client) creates a struct with the operator(), something like this:

    struct Something
    {
       Clock* client;
       void operator()() { client->update(); }
    }
    

    so it turns a class member function with hidden this parameter into something that can be called without parameters. Then I just store it in a std::function object that can hold any type of callables (functions, functors, lambdas etc.).
    In other words std::bind creates something that holds information about both object and a function pointer, so you don't need anything extra to call it.

    JonBJ Offline
    JonBJ Offline
    JonB
    wrote on last edited by JonB
    #17

    @Chris-Kawa said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

    The way class member functions work is that they really are just regular functions that have a hidden implicit this parameter, so in effect it's like Clock::update(instance).

    OMG! But where does C++ tell you this and that you can write code to use it? I had no idea this was "documented" or "supported". I assumed implementation was opaque/abstract.

    Chris KawaC 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • JonBJ JonB

      @Chris-Kawa said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

      The way class member functions work is that they really are just regular functions that have a hidden implicit this parameter, so in effect it's like Clock::update(instance).

      OMG! But where does C++ tell you this and that you can write code to use it? I had no idea this was "documented" or "supported". I assumed implementation was opaque/abstract.

      Chris KawaC Offline
      Chris KawaC Offline
      Chris Kawa
      Lifetime Qt Champion
      wrote on last edited by
      #18

      @JonB said:

      But where does C++ tell you this and that you can write code to use it?

      Well no, you can't currently write it like that. I meant it conceptually. That's just what the compiler does anyway (you can see it e.g. in the mangled function signatures when inspecting C++ library exports).

      Although the so called Uniform Call Syntax has been proposed multiple times over the years, including by Mr. C++ himself: N4474, so you might see it in some future standard version.

      JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • Chris KawaC Chris Kawa

        @JonB said:

        But where does C++ tell you this and that you can write code to use it?

        Well no, you can't currently write it like that. I meant it conceptually. That's just what the compiler does anyway (you can see it e.g. in the mangled function signatures when inspecting C++ library exports).

        Although the so called Uniform Call Syntax has been proposed multiple times over the years, including by Mr. C++ himself: N4474, so you might see it in some future standard version.

        JonBJ Offline
        JonBJ Offline
        JonB
        wrote on last edited by JonB
        #19

        @Chris-Kawa said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

        Well no, you can't currently write it like that. I meant it conceptually.

        Oh, right! For a while there I thought you were saying literally.

        I suppose I ought go look at what magic std::bind() actually does, then it would be clear. But I just know it's going to look complicated.... :(

        Chris KawaC 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • JonBJ JonB

          @Chris-Kawa said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

          Well no, you can't currently write it like that. I meant it conceptually.

          Oh, right! For a while there I thought you were saying literally.

          I suppose I ought go look at what magic std::bind() actually does, then it would be clear. But I just know it's going to look complicated.... :(

          Chris KawaC Offline
          Chris KawaC Offline
          Chris Kawa
          Lifetime Qt Champion
          wrote on last edited by
          #20

          @JonB said:

          But I just know it's going to look complicated.... :(

          It does look a bit complicated, but it has to deal with variable number of perfectly forwarded arguments and a lot of weird corner cases users come up with. Also it's the standard library, so it's mangled with all those underscore names and defensive programming style, but if you squint a little you'll see it basically returns a class with operator() like I mentioned.

          JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
          1
          • Chris KawaC Chris Kawa

            @JonB said:

            But I just know it's going to look complicated.... :(

            It does look a bit complicated, but it has to deal with variable number of perfectly forwarded arguments and a lot of weird corner cases users come up with. Also it's the standard library, so it's mangled with all those underscore names and defensive programming style, but if you squint a little you'll see it basically returns a class with operator() like I mentioned.

            JonBJ Offline
            JonBJ Offline
            JonB
            wrote on last edited by
            #21

            @Chris-Kawa
            Thanks. You gotta love hardcore C++, it's so... simple and clean.

            mzimmersM 1 Reply Last reply
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            • JonBJ JonB

              @Chris-Kawa
              Thanks. You gotta love hardcore C++, it's so... simple and clean.

              mzimmersM Offline
              mzimmersM Offline
              mzimmers
              wrote on last edited by
              #22

              @JonB said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

              @Chris-Kawa
              Thanks. You gotta love hardcore C++, it's so... simple and clean.

              Now, now...no sarcasm.

              But yeah...wouldn't you love to have today's compute resources available for solving the problems of 30 years ago?

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • JonBJ JonB

                @mzimmers said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

                but I wonder if you could give me an explanation for the use of the std::bind. The list is just a list of QObjects; how does this "attach" the callback function?

                All of this in place of the typedef void (*clientSlot)(), with C life used to be so simple :) We can't use that to call a C++ class member function on an instance. So...

                std::function<void()>
                

                I can be used to call a C++ class member method.

                registerClient(T* client, void(T::*cs)())
                

                Here's my client object (of a certain type), and here is the class member function.

                clients.push_back(std::bind(cs, client));
                

                Creates and pushes an object which, when invoked, will call cs(client). Which turns out to be the same as client->cs(). Which I am just about to question @Chris-Kawa on...!

                J.HilkJ Offline
                J.HilkJ Offline
                J.Hilk
                Moderators
                wrote on last edited by
                #23

                @JonB said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

                All of this in place of the typedef void (*clientSlot)(), with C life used to be so simple :) We can't use that to call a C++ class member function on an instance

                who says you can't ?

                #include <array>
                
                class SomeClass : public QObject
                {
                    Q_OBJECT
                    typedef void (SomeClass::*SomeClassFunction)();
                
                    std::array<SomeClassFunction,3> arrayOfSignalsPointers{&SomeClass::signal1,&SomeClass::signal2, &SomeClass::signal3};
                    std::array<SomeClassFunction, 3> arrayOfSlotsPointers{&SomeClass::slot1, &SomeClass::slot2, &SomeClass::slot3};
                
                public:
                    explicit SomeClass(QObject *parent = nullptr) : QObject(parent)
                    {
                        QObject::connect(this, &SomeClass::signal1, this, &SomeClass::slot1);
                        QObject::connect(this, &SomeClass::signal2, this, &SomeClass::slot2);
                        QObject::connect(this, &SomeClass::signal3, this, &SomeClass::slot3);
                
                        qDebug() << "Emit all signals";
                        for(auto entry : arrayOfSignalsPointers){
                            (this->*entry)();
                        }
                
                        qDebug() << "Call all slots directly";
                        for(auto entry : arrayOfSlotsPointers){
                            (this->*entry)();
                        }
                    }
                
                signals:
                    void signal1();
                    void signal2();
                    void signal3();
                
                public slots:
                    void slot1(){qDebug() <<  Q_FUNC_INFO;}
                    void slot2(){qDebug() <<  Q_FUNC_INFO;}
                    void slot3(){qDebug() <<  Q_FUNC_INFO;}
                };
                

                Be aware of the Qt Code of Conduct, when posting : https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct


                Q: What's that?
                A: It's blue light.
                Q: What does it do?
                A: It turns blue.

                JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • J.HilkJ J.Hilk

                  @JonB said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

                  All of this in place of the typedef void (*clientSlot)(), with C life used to be so simple :) We can't use that to call a C++ class member function on an instance

                  who says you can't ?

                  #include <array>
                  
                  class SomeClass : public QObject
                  {
                      Q_OBJECT
                      typedef void (SomeClass::*SomeClassFunction)();
                  
                      std::array<SomeClassFunction,3> arrayOfSignalsPointers{&SomeClass::signal1,&SomeClass::signal2, &SomeClass::signal3};
                      std::array<SomeClassFunction, 3> arrayOfSlotsPointers{&SomeClass::slot1, &SomeClass::slot2, &SomeClass::slot3};
                  
                  public:
                      explicit SomeClass(QObject *parent = nullptr) : QObject(parent)
                      {
                          QObject::connect(this, &SomeClass::signal1, this, &SomeClass::slot1);
                          QObject::connect(this, &SomeClass::signal2, this, &SomeClass::slot2);
                          QObject::connect(this, &SomeClass::signal3, this, &SomeClass::slot3);
                  
                          qDebug() << "Emit all signals";
                          for(auto entry : arrayOfSignalsPointers){
                              (this->*entry)();
                          }
                  
                          qDebug() << "Call all slots directly";
                          for(auto entry : arrayOfSlotsPointers){
                              (this->*entry)();
                          }
                      }
                  
                  signals:
                      void signal1();
                      void signal2();
                      void signal3();
                  
                  public slots:
                      void slot1(){qDebug() <<  Q_FUNC_INFO;}
                      void slot2(){qDebug() <<  Q_FUNC_INFO;}
                      void slot3(){qDebug() <<  Q_FUNC_INFO;}
                  };
                  
                  JonBJ Offline
                  JonBJ Offline
                  JonB
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #24

                  @J-Hilk said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

                  typedef void (SomeClass::*SomeClassFunction)();

                  I said that you cannot use typedef void (*clientSlot)();, as the OP wrote and one would in C, to call a C++ member function. And you can't: as you show you need ClassName::*function not just plain *function.

                  Having said that, I was nonetheless not aware that you can use that to get a member function's address and then call (instance->*memberFunctionPointer)(). Thank you for clarifying.

                  So.... all this std::function<> and particularly std::bind() looks like the usual C++ "why would you want to write something simple when you can wrap it up to be complicated"? ;-)

                  Chris KawaC 1 Reply Last reply
                  1
                  • JonBJ JonB

                    @J-Hilk said in creating hash (or list) of member functions:

                    typedef void (SomeClass::*SomeClassFunction)();

                    I said that you cannot use typedef void (*clientSlot)();, as the OP wrote and one would in C, to call a C++ member function. And you can't: as you show you need ClassName::*function not just plain *function.

                    Having said that, I was nonetheless not aware that you can use that to get a member function's address and then call (instance->*memberFunctionPointer)(). Thank you for clarifying.

                    So.... all this std::function<> and particularly std::bind() looks like the usual C++ "why would you want to write something simple when you can wrap it up to be complicated"? ;-)

                    Chris KawaC Offline
                    Chris KawaC Offline
                    Chris Kawa
                    Lifetime Qt Champion
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #25

                    @JonB said:

                    So.... all this std::function<> and particularly std::bind() looks like the usual C++ "why would you want to write something simple when you can wrap it up to be complicated"? ;-)

                    No, it's a way to be generic. To write typedef void (SomeClass::*SomeClassFunction)() you have to hardcode SomeClass i.e. know it up front. Notice that what @J-Hilk posted will work with one particular class only. I know he just shows how to call a member function from a pointer and that's fine, but it doesn't do much for the original problem.
                    std::function doesn't care. It just takes any functor you give it and std::bind creates a functor from anything callable you give it.

                    JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                    2
                    • Chris KawaC Chris Kawa

                      @JonB said:

                      So.... all this std::function<> and particularly std::bind() looks like the usual C++ "why would you want to write something simple when you can wrap it up to be complicated"? ;-)

                      No, it's a way to be generic. To write typedef void (SomeClass::*SomeClassFunction)() you have to hardcode SomeClass i.e. know it up front. Notice that what @J-Hilk posted will work with one particular class only. I know he just shows how to call a member function from a pointer and that's fine, but it doesn't do much for the original problem.
                      std::function doesn't care. It just takes any functor you give it and std::bind creates a functor from anything callable you give it.

                      JonBJ Offline
                      JonBJ Offline
                      JonB
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #26

                      @Chris-Kawa
                      Ah yes, I get it.

                      Modern C++ programming is hugely about templates. But, correct me if I am wrong, C++ did not start out with templates, did it?

                      J.HilkJ 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • JonBJ JonB

                        @Chris-Kawa
                        Ah yes, I get it.

                        Modern C++ programming is hugely about templates. But, correct me if I am wrong, C++ did not start out with templates, did it?

                        J.HilkJ Offline
                        J.HilkJ Offline
                        J.Hilk
                        Moderators
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #27

                        @JonB proposed in 1988, realised in 1990 so a decade after the "initial commit" :P


                        Be aware of the Qt Code of Conduct, when posting : https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct


                        Q: What's that?
                        A: It's blue light.
                        Q: What does it do?
                        A: It turns blue.

                        JonBJ Chris KawaC 2 Replies Last reply
                        2
                        • J.HilkJ J.Hilk

                          @JonB proposed in 1988, realised in 1990 so a decade after the "initial commit" :P

                          JonBJ Offline
                          JonBJ Offline
                          JonB
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          @J-Hilk Ah, thanks, that is much earlier than I realized, I thought more like 10 years later.

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • J.HilkJ J.Hilk

                            @JonB proposed in 1988, realised in 1990 so a decade after the "initial commit" :P

                            Chris KawaC Offline
                            Chris KawaC Offline
                            Chris Kawa
                            Lifetime Qt Champion
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            @J-Hilk Where "initial commit" at that time would probably be Stroustrup saving it to a big floppy and physically carrying it to the cubicle of his coworkers. Good old times :D

                            JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Chris KawaC Chris Kawa

                              @J-Hilk Where "initial commit" at that time would probably be Stroustrup saving it to a big floppy and physically carrying it to the cubicle of his coworkers. Good old times :D

                              JonBJ Offline
                              JonBJ Offline
                              JonB
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              @Chris-Kawa

                              We were beyond floppies by then. The first computer I used had 10.5 inch (I think, unless it was only 8 inch) floppies, https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/10247/Nord-ND305-355-Floppy-Disk/ :)

                              1 Reply Last reply
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