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c++templatesc++11inheritancetemplate-inheritance

Force template parameter class to inherit from another templated class with partially fulfilled parameters


So I have the following two classes:

template < class Cost >
class Transformation {
  public:
    virtual Cost getCost() = 0;
};

template < class TransfCl, class Cost >
class State {
    protected:
        State(){
            static_assert(
                std::is_base_of< Transformation< Cost >, TransfCl >::value,
                "TransfCl class in State must be derived from Transformation< Cost >"
            );
        }
    public:
        virtual void apply( const TransfCl& ) = 0;
};

But would like to, instead, be able to drop the Cost template parameter to State, because State's functionality is completely independent of Cost. This way, I could create non-abstract classes using a syntax similar to this:

class TransfImpl : public Transformation< int >{
    public: int getCost(){ return 0; }
};

class StateImpl : public State< TransfImpl >{
    public:
        StateImpl(){
            static_assert(
                std::is_base_of< Transformation, TransfImpl  >::value,
                "TransfImpl must inherit from Transformation< Cost >"
            );
        }
        void apply( const TransfImpl & ){}
};

I also wanted to eventually chain this to a third class, which would use the State-derived class as its template parameter, but wouldn't need to also have the Transformation-derived and Cost-derived classes in its template parameters to verify that its State-derived template parameter class is, in fact, derived from State


Solution

  • With

    template <template <typename...> class C, typename...Ts>
    std::true_type is_template_base_of_impl(const C<Ts...>*);
    
    template <template <typename...> class C>
    std::false_type is_template_base_of_impl(...);
    
    template <template <typename...> class C, typename T>
    using is_template_base_of = decltype(is_template_base_of_impl<C>(std::declval<T*>()));
    

    You may do

    template <class TransfCl>
    class State {
    protected:
        static_assert(is_template_base_of<Transformation, TransfCl>::value,
                      "TransfCl class in State must be derived from Transformation<Cost>");
    
        // previous code ...
    };