Check if a class has a member function of a given signature

Question

I\'m asking for a template trick to detect if a class has a specific member function of a given signature.

The problem is similar to the one cited here http://www.go

Answer 1

Came with the same kind of problem myself, and found the proposed solutions in here very interesting... but had the requirement for a solution that:

1. Detects inherited functions as well;
2. Is compatible with non C++11 ready compilers (so no decltype)

Found another thread proposing something like this, based on a BOOST discussion. Here is the generalisation of the proposed solution as two macros declaration for traits class, following the model of boost::has_* classes.

#include 
#include 

/// Has constant function
/** \param func_ret_type Function return type
    \param func_name Function name
    \param ... Variadic arguments are for the function parameters
*/
#define DECLARE_TRAITS_HAS_FUNC_C(func_ret_type, func_name, ...) \
    __DECLARE_TRAITS_HAS_FUNC(1, func_ret_type, func_name, ##__VA_ARGS__)

/// Has non-const function
/** \param func_ret_type Function return type
    \param func_name Function name
    \param ... Variadic arguments are for the function parameters
*/
#define DECLARE_TRAITS_HAS_FUNC(func_ret_type, func_name, ...) \
    __DECLARE_TRAITS_HAS_FUNC(0, func_ret_type, func_name, ##__VA_ARGS__)

// Traits content
#define __DECLARE_TRAITS_HAS_FUNC(func_const, func_ret_type, func_name, ...)  \
    template                                                                  \
    <   typename Type,                                                        \
        bool is_class = boost::is_class::value                          \
    >                                                                         \
    class has_func_ ## func_name;                                             \
    template                                                   \
    class has_func_ ## func_name                                  \
    {public:                                                                  \
        BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT( bool, value = false );                         \
        typedef boost::false_type type;                                       \
    };                                                                        \
    template                                                   \
    class has_func_ ## func_name                                   \
    {   struct yes { char _foo; };                                            \
        struct no { yes _foo[2]; };                                           \
        struct Fallback                                                       \
        {   func_ret_type func_name( __VA_ARGS__ )                            \
                UTILITY_OPTIONAL(func_const,const) {}                         \
        };                                                                    \
        struct Derived : public Type, public Fallback {};                     \
        template   class Helper{};                           \
        template                                                  \
        static no deduce(U*, Helper                                           \
            <   func_ret_type (Fallback::*)( __VA_ARGS__ )                    \
                    UTILITY_OPTIONAL(func_const,const),                       \
                &U::func_name                                                 \
            >* = 0                                                            \
        );                                                                    \
        static yes deduce(...);                                               \
    public:                                                                   \
        BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT(                                                \
            bool,                                                             \
            value = sizeof(yes)                                               \
                == sizeof( deduce( static_cast(0) ) )               \
        );                                                                    \
        typedef ::boost::integral_constant type;                  \
        BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT(bool, is_const = func_const);                   \
        typedef func_ret_type return_type;                                    \
        typedef ::boost::mpl::vector< __VA_ARGS__ > args_type;                \
    }

// Utility functions
#define UTILITY_OPTIONAL(condition, ...) UTILITY_INDIRECT_CALL( __UTILITY_OPTIONAL_ ## condition , ##__VA_ARGS__ )
#define UTILITY_INDIRECT_CALL(macro, ...) macro ( __VA_ARGS__ )
#define __UTILITY_OPTIONAL_0(...)
#define __UTILITY_OPTIONAL_1(...) __VA_ARGS__

These macros expand to a traits class with the following prototype:

template
class has_func_[func_name]
{
public:
    /// Function definition result value
    /** Tells if the tested function is defined for type T or not.
    */
    static const bool value = true | false;

    /// Function definition result type
    /** Type representing the value attribute usable in
        http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_53_0/libs/utility/enable_if.html
    */
    typedef boost::integral_constant type;

    /// Tested function constness indicator
    /** Indicates if the tested function is const or not.
        This value is not deduced, it is forced depending
        on the user call to one of the traits generators.
    */
    static const bool is_const = true | false;

    /// Tested function return type
    /** Indicates the return type of the tested function.
        This value is not deduced, it is forced depending
        on the user's arguments to the traits generators.
    */
    typedef func_ret_type return_type;

    /// Tested function arguments types
    /** Indicates the arguments types of the tested function.
        This value is not deduced, it is forced depending
        on the user's arguments to the traits generators.
    */
    typedef ::boost::mpl::vector< __VA_ARGS__ > args_type;
};

So what is the typical usage one can do out of this?

// We enclose the traits class into
// a namespace to avoid collisions
namespace ns_0 {
    // Next line will declare the traits class
    // to detect the member function void foo(int,int) const
    DECLARE_TRAITS_HAS_FUNC_C(void, foo, int, int);
}

// we can use BOOST to help in using the traits
#include 

// Here is a function that is active for types
// declaring the good member function
template inline
typename boost::enable_if< ns_0::has_func_foo >::type
foo_bar(const T &_this_, int a=0, int b=1)
{   _this_.foo(a,b);
}

// Here is a function that is active for types
// NOT declaring the good member function
template inline
typename boost::disable_if< ns_0::has_func_foo >::type
foo_bar(const T &_this_, int a=0, int b=1)
{   default_foo(_this_,a,b);
}

// Let us declare test types
struct empty
{
};
struct direct_foo
{
    void foo(int,int);
};
struct direct_const_foo
{
    void foo(int,int) const;
};
struct inherited_const_foo :
    public direct_const_foo
{
};

// Now anywhere in your code you can seamlessly use
// the foo_bar function on any object:
void test()
{
    int a;
    foo_bar(a); // calls default_foo

    empty b;
    foo_bar(b); // calls default_foo

    direct_foo c;
    foo_bar(c); // calls default_foo (member function is not const)

    direct_const_foo d;
    foo_bar(d); // calls d.foo (member function is const)

    inherited_const_foo e;
    foo_bar(e); // calls e.foo (inherited member function)
}