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c++templatesc++11variadic-templatescompile-time-constant

How to extract a value from a variadic template parameter pack by index?


I want to write a function magic_get, which can extract a value from a parameter pack by index, for example:

int n = 0;
n = magic_get<0>(1, 3, 5, 7);
assert(1 == n);
n = magic_get<1>(1, 3, 5, 7);
assert(3 == n);
n = magic_get<2>(1, 3, 5, 7);
assert(5 == n);
n = magic_get<3>(1, 3, 5, 7);
assert(7 == n);

How to implement magic_get?


Solution

  • template <size_t N, typename... Args>
    decltype(auto) magic_get(Args&&... as) noexcept {
        return std::get<N>(std::forward_as_tuple(std::forward<Args>(as)...));
    }
    

    Change decltype(auto) to auto and add a trailing return type of decltype(/* the whole returned expression here */) if C++14 features are unavailable.


    Tupleless version:

    template <std::size_t N, typename Tfirst, typename... Args, std::enable_if_t<N == 0, int>...>
    decltype(auto) magic_get(Tfirst&& first, Args&&... as) noexcept {
        return std::forward<Tfirst>(first);
    }
    
    template <std::size_t N, typename Tfirst, typename... Args, std::enable_if_t<N != 0, int>...>
    decltype(auto) magic_get(Tfirst&& first, Args&&... as) noexcept {
        return magic_get<N - 1>(std::forward<Args>(as)...);
    }
    

    Note that this does not work in clang, thanks to clang bug 11723. Replacing std::enable_if_t<N != 0, int>... with std::enable_if_t<N != 0, int> = 0 is a simple workaround.