Creating templates in C++ to handle pointers to objects and primitive types

Question

Say I had a template like template<typename T> class my_data_structure. I would like the template to be able to handle the primitive types e.g. int and objects, as well as pointer variable (e.g. Vertex*).

The operations can be:

1. Direct comparisons on integers or objects e.g. using >,
2. object->compare(another_object) for pointer variables.

Can this be done without having to write two different data structures? I'm sorry I cannot post more code, but this is part of a school project, and I would rather not be accused of plagiarism.

Answer 1

Use a partial template specialization:

Primary template:

template<typename T>
struct  Foo
{
    bool operator ==( T otherData )
    {
        return m_data == otherData;
    }
    T m_data;
};

Partial template specialization for T*

template<class T>
struct Foo<T*>
{
    bool operator ==( const T &otherObj )
    {
        return m_obj->compare( otherObj );
    }
    T* m_obj;
};