How do I call ::std::make_shared on a class with only protected or private constructors?

Question

I have this code that doesn\'t work, but I think the intent is clear:

testmakeshared.cpp

#include 

class A {
 public:
   stat         


        

Answer 1

There's a more hairy and interesting problem that happens when you have two strictly related classes A and B that work together.

Say A is the "master class" and B its "slave". If you want to restrict instantiation of B only to A, you'd make B's constructor private, and friend B to A like this

class B
{
public:
    // B your methods...

private:
    B();
    friend class A;
};

Unfortunately calling std::make_shared<B>() from a method of A will make the compiler complain about B::B() being private.

My solution to this is to create a public Pass dummy class (just like nullptr_t) inside B that has private constructor and is friend with A and make B's constructor public and add Pass to its arguments, like this.

class B
{
public:
  class Pass
  {
    Pass() {}
    friend class A;
  };

  B(Pass, int someArgument)
  {
  }
};

class A
{
public:
  A()
  {
    // This is valid
    auto ptr = std::make_shared<B>(B::Pass(), 42);
  }
};

class C
{
public:
  C()
  {
    // This is not
    auto ptr = std::make_shared<B>(B::Pass(), 42);
  }
};

Answer 2

How about this?

static std::shared_ptr<A> create()
{
    std::shared_ptr<A> pA(new A());
    return pA;
}

Answer 3

If you also want to enable a constuctor that takes arguments, this may help a bit.

#include <memory>
#include <utility>

template<typename S>
struct enable_make : public S
{
    template<typename... T>
    enable_make(T&&... t)
        : S(std::forward<T>(t)...)
    {
    }
};

class foo
{
public:
    static std::unique_ptr<foo> create(std::unique_ptr<int> u, char const* s)
    {
        return std::make_unique<enable_make<foo>>(std::move(u), s);
    }
protected:
    foo(std::unique_ptr<int> u, char const* s)
    {
    }
};

void test()
{
    auto fp = foo::create(std::make_unique<int>(3), "asdf");
}

Answer 4

You can use this:

class CVal
{
    friend std::shared_ptr<CVal>;
    friend std::_Ref_count<CVal>;
public:
    static shared_ptr<CVal> create()
    {
        shared_ptr<CVal> ret_sCVal(new CVal());
        return ret_sCVal;
    }

protected:
    CVal() {};
    ~CVal() {};
};

Answer 5

struct A {
public:
  template<typename ...Arg> std::shared_ptr<A> static create(Arg&&...arg) {
    struct EnableMakeShared : public A {
      EnableMakeShared(Arg&&...arg) :A(std::forward<Arg>(arg)...) {}
    };
    return std::make_shared<EnableMakeShared>(std::forward<Arg>(arg)...);
  }
  void dump() const {
    std::cout << a_ << std::endl;
  }
private:
  A(int a) : a_(a) {}
  A(int i, int j) : a_(i + j) {}
  A(std::string const& a) : a_(a.size()) {}
  int a_;
};

Answer 6

[Edit] I read through the thread noted above on a standardized std::shared_ptr_access<> proposal. Within there was a response noting a fix to std::allocate_shared<> and an example of its use. I've adapted it to a factory template below, and tested it under gcc C++11/14/17. It works with std::enable_shared_from_this<> as well, so would obviously be preferable to my original solution in this answer. Here it is...

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>

class Factory final {
public:
    template<typename T, typename... A>
    static std::shared_ptr<T> make_shared(A&&... args) {
        return std::allocate_shared<T>(Alloc<T>(), std::forward<A>(args)...);
    }
private:
    template<typename T>
    struct Alloc : std::allocator<T> {
        template<typename U, typename... A>
        void construct(U* ptr, A&&... args) {
            new(ptr) U(std::forward<A>(args)...);
        }
        template<typename U>
        void destroy(U* ptr) {
            ptr->~U();
        }
    };  
};

class X final : public std::enable_shared_from_this<X> {
    friend class Factory;
private:
    X()      { std::cout << "X() addr=" << this << "\n"; }
    X(int i) { std::cout << "X(int) addr=" << this << " i=" << i << "\n"; }
    ~X()     { std::cout << "~X()\n"; }
};

int main() {
    auto p1 = Factory::make_shared<X>(42);
    auto p2 = p1->shared_from_this();
    std::cout << "p1=" << p1 << "\n"
              << "p2=" << p2 << "\n"
              << "count=" << p1.use_count() << "\n";
}

---

[Orig] I found a solution using the shared pointer aliasing constructor. It allows both the ctor and dtor to be private, as well as use of the final specifier.

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>

class Factory final {
public:
    template<typename T, typename... A>
    static std::shared_ptr<T> make_shared(A&&... args) {
        auto ptr = std::make_shared<Type<T>>(std::forward<A>(args)...);
        return std::shared_ptr<T>(ptr, &ptr->type);
    }
private:
    template<typename T>
    struct Type final {
        template<typename... A>
        Type(A&&... args) : type(std::forward<A>(args)...) { std::cout << "Type(...) addr=" << this << "\n"; }
        ~Type() { std::cout << "~Type()\n"; }
        T type;
    };
};

class X final {
    friend struct Factory::Type<X>;  // factory access
private:
    X()      { std::cout << "X() addr=" << this << "\n"; }
    X(int i) { std::cout << "X(...) addr=" << this << " i=" << i << "\n"; }
    ~X()     { std::cout << "~X()\n"; }
};

int main() {
    auto ptr1 = Factory::make_shared<X>();
    auto ptr2 = Factory::make_shared<X>(42);
}

Note that the approach above doesn't play well with std::enable_shared_from_this<> because the initial std::shared_ptr<> is to the wrapper and not the type itself. We can address this with an equivalent class that is compatible with the factory...

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>

template<typename T>
class EnableShared {
    friend class Factory;  // factory access
public:
    std::shared_ptr<T> shared_from_this() { return weak.lock(); }
protected:
    EnableShared() = default;
    virtual ~EnableShared() = default;
    EnableShared<T>& operator=(const EnableShared<T>&) { return *this; }  // no slicing
private:
    std::weak_ptr<T> weak;
};

class Factory final {
public:
    template<typename T, typename... A>
    static std::shared_ptr<T> make_shared(A&&... args) {
        auto ptr = std::make_shared<Type<T>>(std::forward<A>(args)...);
        auto alt = std::shared_ptr<T>(ptr, &ptr->type);
        assign(std::is_base_of<EnableShared<T>, T>(), alt);
        return alt;
    }
private:
    template<typename T>
    struct Type final {
        template<typename... A>
        Type(A&&... args) : type(std::forward<A>(args)...) { std::cout << "Type(...) addr=" << this << "\n"; }
        ~Type() { std::cout << "~Type()\n"; }
        T type;
    };
    template<typename T>
    static void assign(std::true_type, const std::shared_ptr<T>& ptr) {
        ptr->weak = ptr;
    }
    template<typename T>
    static void assign(std::false_type, const std::shared_ptr<T>&) {}
};

class X final : public EnableShared<X> {
    friend struct Factory::Type<X>;  // factory access
private:
    X()      { std::cout << "X() addr=" << this << "\n"; }
    X(int i) { std::cout << "X(...) addr=" << this << " i=" << i << "\n"; }
    ~X()     { std::cout << "~X()\n"; }
};

int main() {
    auto ptr1 = Factory::make_shared<X>();
    auto ptr2 = ptr1->shared_from_this();
    std::cout << "ptr1=" << ptr1.get() << "\nptr2=" << ptr2.get() << "\n";
}

Lastly, somebody said clang complained about Factory::Type being private when used as a friend, so just make it public if that's the case. Exposing it does no harm.