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c++c++17option-typestdoptional

Take value out of std::optional


How do you actually take a value out of optional? Meaning take ownership of the value inside the std::optional and replace it with std::nullopt (or swap it with another value)?

In Rust for example you could .unwrap your Option or do something like foo.take().unwrap(). I'm trying to do something like that with C++ optionals.


Solution

  • operator*/value() returns a reference to the value held by the optional, so you can simply use std::move to move it to a temporary variable

    std::optional<std::string> opt = "abc";
    // "take" the contained value by calling operator* on a rvalue to optional
    auto taken = *std::move(opt);
    

    This will invoke the rvalue reference overload of operator*() of the optional, which returns an rvalue reference to the contained value.

    You can also directly perform std::move on the return value of the operator*() of the lvalue optional, which will convert the lvalue reference of the contained value into an rvalue

    auto taken = std::move(*opt);