How to write a type trait `is_container` or `is_vector`?

Question

Is it possible to write a type trait whose value is true for all common STL structures (e.g., vector, set, map, ...)?

To get s

Answer 1

If you also want to make it work for const std::vector, you can use the following:

namespace local {

template<typename T, typename _ = void>
struct isVector: std::false_type {
};

template<typename T>
struct isVector<T,
        typename std::enable_if<
                std::is_same<typename std::decay<T>::type, std::vector<typename std::decay<T>::type::value_type, typename std::decay<T>::type::allocator_type> >::value>::type> : std::true_type {
};

}

TEST(TypeTraitTest, testIsVector) {
    ASSERT_TRUE(local::isVector<std::vector<int>>::value);
    ASSERT_TRUE(local::isVector<const std::vector<int>>::value);

    ASSERT_FALSE(local::isVector<std::list<int>>::value);
    ASSERT_FALSE(local::isVector<int>::value);

    std::vector<uint8_t> output;
    std::vector<uint8_t> &output2 = output;
    EXPECT_TRUE(core::isVector<decltype(output)>::value);
    EXPECT_TRUE(core::isVector<decltype(output2)>::value);
}

Without the std::remove_cv call the second ASSERT_TRUE would fail. But of course this depends on your needs. The thing here is that according to the specs, std::is_same checks for const and volatile to also match.

Answer 2

You would say that it should be simpler than that...

template <typename T, typename _ = void>
struct is_vector { 
    static const bool value = false;
};
template <typename T>
struct is_vector< T,
                  typename enable_if<
                      is_same<T,
                              std::vector< typename T::value_type,
                                           typename T::allocator_type >
                             >::value
                  >::type
                >
{
    static const bool value = true;
};

... But I am not really sure of whether that is simpler or not.

In C++11 you can use type aliases (I think, untested):

template <typename T>
using is_vector = is_same<T, std::vector< typename T::value_type,
                                          typename T::allocator_type > >;

The problem with your approach is that the type U is non-deducible in the context where it is used.

Answer 3

While the other answers here that try to guess whether a class is a container or not might work for you, I would like to present you with the alternative of naming the type you want to return true for. You can use this to build arbitrary is_(something) traits types.

template<class T> struct is_container : public std::false_type {};

template<class T, class Alloc> 
struct is_container<std::vector<T, Alloc>> : public std::true_type {};

template<class K, class T, class Comp, class Alloc> 
struct is_container<std::map<K, T, Comp, Alloc>> : public std::true_type {};

And so on.

You will need to include <type_traits> and whatever classes you add to your rules.

Answer 4

In our project we still didn't manage to migrate to compiler supporting C++11, so for type_traits of container objects I had to wrote a simple boost style helper:

template<typename Cont> struct is_std_container: boost::false_type {};
template<typename T, typename A> 
struct is_std_container<std::vector<T,A> >: boost::true_type {};
template<typename T, typename A> 
struct is_std_container<std::list<T,A> >: boost::true_type {};
template<typename T, typename A> 
struct is_std_container<std::deque<T,A> >: boost::true_type {};
template<typename K, typename C, typename A> 
struct is_std_container<std::set<K,C,A> >: boost::true_type {};
template<typename K, typename T, typename C, typename A> 
struct is_std_container<std::map<K,T,C,A> >: boost::true_type {};

template<typename Cont> struct is_std_sequence: boost::false_type {};
template<typename T, typename A> 
struct is_std_sequence<std::vector<T,A> >: boost::true_type {};
template<typename T, typename A> 
struct is_std_sequence<std::list<T,A> >: boost::true_type {};
template<typename T, typename A> 
struct is_std_sequence<std::deque<T,A> >: boost::true_type {};