Type erasing type erasure with std::any

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This example uses C++14 and boost::any. In C++17 you can swap in std::any instead.

The syntax we end up with is:

const auto print =
  make_any_method<void(std::ostream&)>([](auto&& p, std::ostream& t){ t << p << "\n"; });

super_any<decltype(print)> a = 7;

(a->*print)(std::cout);

which is almost optimal.

This example is based off of work by [@dyp](http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/2ab8d7e41d24e616) and [@cpplearner](http://stackoverflow.com/a/38865269/1774667) as well as my own.


First we use a tag to pass around types:

template<class T>struct tag_t{constexpr tag_t(){};};
template<class T>constexpr tag_t<T> tag{};

This trait class gets the signature stored with an any_method:

This creates a function pointer type, and a factory for said function pointers, given an any_method:

template<class any_method>
using any_sig_from_method = typename any_method::signature;

template<class any_method, class Sig=any_sig_from_method<any_method>>
struct any_method_function;

template<class any_method, class R, class...Args>
struct any_method_function<any_method, R(Args...)>
{
  template<class T>
  using decorate = std::conditional_t< any_method::is_const, T const, T >;
  
  using any = decorate<boost::any>;
  
  using type = R(*)(any&, any_method const*, Args&&...);
  template<class T>
  type operator()( tag_t<T> )const{
    return +[](any& self, any_method const* method, Args&&...args) {
      return (*method)( boost::any_cast<decorate<T>&>(self), decltype(args)(args)... );
    };
  }
};

any_method_function::type is the type of a function pointer we will store alongside the instance. any_method_function::operator() takes a tag_t<T> and writes a custom instance of the any_method_function::type that assumes the any& is going to be a T.

We want to be able to type-erase more than one method at a time. So we bundle them up in a tuple, and write a helper wrapper to stick the tuple into static storage on a per-type basis and maintain a pointer to them.

template<class...any_methods>
using any_method_tuple = std::tuple< typename any_method_function<any_methods>::type... >;

template<class...any_methods, class T>
any_method_tuple<any_methods...> make_vtable( tag_t<T> ) {
  return std::make_tuple(
    any_method_function<any_methods>{}(tag<T>)...
  );
}

template<class...methods>
struct any_methods {
private:
  any_method_tuple<methods...> const* vtable = 0;
  template<class T>
  static any_method_tuple<methods...> const* get_vtable( tag_t<T> ) {
    static const auto table = make_vtable<methods...>(tag<T>);
    return &table;
  }
public:
  any_methods() = default;
  template<class T>
  any_methods( tag_t<T> ): vtable(get_vtable(tag<T>)) {}
  any_methods& operator=(any_methods const&)=default;
  template<class T>
  void change_type( tag_t<T> ={} ) { vtable = get_vtable(tag<T>); }
    
  template<class any_method>
  auto get_invoker( tag_t<any_method> ={} ) const {
    return std::get<typename any_method_function<any_method>::type>( *vtable );
  }
};

We could specialize this for a cases where the vtable is small (for example, 1 item), and use direct pointers stored in-class in those cases for efficiency.

Now we start the super_any. I use super_any_t to make the declaration of super_any a bit easier.

template<class...methods>
struct super_any_t;

This searches the methods that the super any supports for SFINAE and better error messages:

template<class super_any, class method>
struct super_method_applies_helper : std::false_type {};

template<class M0, class...Methods, class method>
struct super_method_applies_helper<super_any_t<M0, Methods...>, method> :
    std::integral_constant<bool, std::is_same<M0, method>{}  || super_method_applies_helper<super_any_t<Methods...>, method>{}>
{};

template<class...methods, class method>
auto super_method_test( super_any_t<methods...> const&, tag_t<method> )
{
  return std::integral_constant<bool, super_method_applies_helper< super_any_t<methods...>, method >{} && method::is_const >{};
}
template<class...methods, class method>
auto super_method_test( super_any_t<methods...>&, tag_t<method> )
{
  return std::integral_constant<bool, super_method_applies_helper< super_any_t<methods...>, method >{} >{};
}

template<class super_any, class method>
struct super_method_applies:
    decltype( super_method_test( std::declval<super_any>(), tag<method> ) )
{};

Next we create the any_method type. An any_method is a pseudo-method-pointer. We create it globally and constly using syntax like:

const auto print=make_any_method( [](auto&&self, auto&&os){ os << self; } );

or in C++17:

const any_method print=[](auto&&self, auto&&os){ os << self; };

Note that using a non-lambda can make things hairy, as we use the type for a lookup step. This can be fixed, but would make this example longer than it already is. So always initialize an any method from a lambda, or from a type parametarized on a lambda.

template<class Sig, bool const_method, class F>
struct any_method {
  using signature=Sig;
  enum{is_const=const_method};
private:
  F f;
public:

  template<class Any,
    // SFINAE testing that one of the Anys's matches this type:
    std::enable_if_t< super_method_applies< Any&&, any_method >{}, int>* =nullptr
  >
  friend auto operator->*( Any&& self, any_method const& m ) {
    // we don't use the value of the any_method, because each any_method has
    // a unique type (!) and we check that one of the auto*'s in the super_any
    // already has a pointer to us.  We then dispatch to the corresponding
    // any_method_data...

    return [&self, invoke = self.get_invoker(tag<any_method>), m](auto&&...args)->decltype(auto)
    {
      return invoke( decltype(self)(self), &m, decltype(args)(args)... );
    };
  }
  any_method( F fin ):f(std::move(fin)) {}
  
  template<class...Args>
  decltype(auto) operator()(Args&&...args)const {
    return f(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
  }
};

A factory method, not needed in C++17 I believe:

template<class Sig, bool is_const=false, class F>
any_method<Sig, is_const, std::decay_t<F>>
make_any_method( F&& f ) {
  return {std::forward<F>(f)};
}

This is the augmented any. It is both an any, and it carries around a bundle of type-erasure function pointers that change whenever the contained any does:

template<class... methods>
struct super_any_t:boost::any, any_methods<methods...> {
  using vtable=any_methods<methods...>;
public:
  template<class T,
    std::enable_if_t< !std::is_base_of<super_any_t, std::decay_t<T>>{}, int> =0
  >
  super_any_t( T&& t ):
    boost::any( std::forward<T>(t) )
  {
    using dT=std::decay_t<T>;
    this->change_type( tag<dT> );
  }
  
  boost::any& as_any()&{return *this;}
  boost::any&& as_any()&&{return std::move(*this);}
  boost::any const& as_any()const&{return *this;}
  super_any_t()=default;
  super_any_t(super_any_t&& o):
    boost::any( std::move( o.as_any() ) ),
    vtable(o)
  {}
  super_any_t(super_any_t const& o):
    boost::any( o.as_any() ),
    vtable(o)
  {}
  template<class S,
    std::enable_if_t< std::is_same<std::decay_t<S>, super_any_t>{}, int> =0
  >
  super_any_t( S&& o ):
    boost::any( std::forward<S>(o).as_any() ),
    vtable(o)
  {}
  super_any_t& operator=(super_any_t&&)=default;
  super_any_t& operator=(super_any_t const&)=default;
  
  template<class T,
    std::enable_if_t< !std::is_same<std::decay_t<T>, super_any_t>{}, int>* =nullptr
  >
  super_any_t& operator=( T&& t ) {
    ((boost::any&)*this) = std::forward<T>(t);
    using dT=std::decay_t<T>;
    this->change_type( tag<dT> );
    return *this;
  }  
};

Because we store the any_methods as const objects, this makes making a super_any a bit easier:

template<class...Ts>
using super_any = super_any_t< std::remove_cv_t<Ts>... >;

Test code:

const auto print = make_any_method<void(std::ostream&)>([](auto&& p, std::ostream& t){ t << p << "\n"; });
const auto wprint = make_any_method<void(std::wostream&)>([](auto&& p, std::wostream& os ){ os << p << L"\n"; });

int main()
{
  super_any<decltype(print), decltype(wprint)> a = 7;
  super_any<decltype(print), decltype(wprint)> a2 = 7;

  (a->*print)(std::cout);
  (a->*wprint)(std::wcout);
}

live example.

Originally posted here in a SO self question & answer (and people noted above helped with the implementation).

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