So I'm trying to get rid of my std::vector's by using boost::ptr_vector. Now I'm trying to remove an element from one, and have the removed element deleted as well. The most obvious thing to me was to do:
class A
{ int m; };
boost::ptr_vector<A> vec;
A* a = new A;
vec.push_back(a);
vec.erase(a);
But this won't even compile (see below for the full error message). I've tried the erase/remove idiom like I would on a std::vector but all the algorithms of boost::ptr_vector turn out to be slightly different from those in std::vector.
So my questions:
Compiler error:
1>------ Build started: Project: ptr_vector_test, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
1>Compiling...
1>ptr_vector_test.cpp
1>c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\range\const_iterator.hpp(37) : error C2825: 'C': must be a class or namespace when followed by '::'
1> c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\mpl\eval_if.hpp(63) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::range_const_iterator<C>' being compiled
1> with
1> [
1> C=A *
1> ]
1> c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\range\iterator.hpp(63) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::mpl::eval_if_c<C,F1,F2>' being compiled
1> with
1> [
1> C=true,
1> F1=boost::range_const_iterator<A *>,
1> F2=boost::range_mutable_iterator<A *const >
1> ]
1> c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\ptr_container\detail\reversible_ptr_container.hpp(506) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::range_iterator<C>' being compiled
1> with
1> [
1> C=A *const
1> ]
1> c:\tmp\ptr_vector_test\ptr_vector_test.cpp(21) : see reference to function template instantiation 'boost::void_ptr_iterator<VoidIter,T> boost::ptr_container_detail::reversible_ptr_container<Config,CloneAllocator>::erase<A*>(const Range &)' being compiled
1> with
1> [
1> VoidIter=std::_Vector_iterator<void *,std::allocator<void *>>,
1> T=A,
1> Config=boost::ptr_container_detail::sequence_config<A,std::vector<void *,std::allocator<void *>>>,
1> CloneAllocator=boost::heap_clone_allocator,
1> Range=A *
1> ]
1>c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\range\const_iterator.hpp(37) : error C2039: 'const_iterator' : is not a member of '`global namespace''
1>c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\range\const_iterator.hpp(37) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ';' before identifier 'type'
1>c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\range\const_iterator.hpp(37) : error C2208: 'boost::type' : no members defined using this type
1>c:\users\rvanhout\svn\trunk\thirdparty\boost\range\const_iterator.hpp(37) : fatal error C1903: unable to recover from previous error(s); stopping compilation
1>Build log was saved at "file://c:\tmp\ptr_vector_test\Debug\BuildLog.htm"
1>ptr_vector_test - 5 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
Well you can do that with a std::vector either.
In both cases erase takes an iterator as a parameter.
So before you can erase something from a vector (or a ptr_vector) you need to locate it.
Also note that the ptr_vector treats its content as if you have stored an object not a pointer. So any searching is done via the object.
So basically
std::vector<A> x;
std::ptr_vector<A> y;
// These two object should behave in exactly the same way.
// The ONLY difference is inserting values which for y are pointers.
// Y take ownership of the pointer and all subsequent acesses to the
// members of y look like they are objects
Example:
#include <boost/ptr_container/ptr_vector.hpp>
#include <vector>
class A
{ int m;
public:
A(int x):m(x) {}
bool operator==(A const& rhs) {return m = rhs.m;}
};
int main()
{
boost::ptr_vector<A> x;
x.push_back(new A(1));
x.erase(std::find(x.begin(),x.end(),A(1)));
std::vector<A> y;
y.push_back(A(2));
y.erase(std::find(y.begin(),y.end(),A(2)));
// To find an exact pointer don't modify the equality.
// Use find_if and pass a predicate that tests for a pointer
A* a = new A(3);
boost:ptr_Vector<A> z;
z.push_back(a);
z.erase(std::find_if(y.begin(),y.end(),CheckPointerValue(a));
}
struct CheckPointerValue
{
CheckPointerValue(A* a):anA(a) {}
bool operator()(A const& x) { return &X == anA;}
private:
A* anA;
};