Is there a way to make member function NOT callable from constructor?





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18















I have member function (method) which uses



std::enable_shared_from_this::weak_from_this() 


In short: weak_from_this returns weak_ptr to this. One caveat is it can't be used from constructor.
If somebody would use my function from constructor of inherited class, weak_from_this inside it would return expired weak_ptr. I guard against that with assertion checking that it's not expired, but it's a run-time check.



Is there a way to check against it at compile time?










share|improve this question

























  • Note there is a difference in scope between a child class constructor body and the parent class constructor: the latter has been executed completely before you even start initializing the child class's members (if any), let alone enter the child class constructor body.

    – rubenvb
    yesterday






  • 4





    Nice question. One way would be to make a dummy class with pure virtual function weak_from_this and inherit yours from it. This will make it a hard compile error.

    – SergeyA
    yesterday






  • 5





    @SergeyA Why didn't you post that as an answer? All other people here seem to conclude that it's not possible so either your comment is wrong and misleading or they are wrong and you should show how it can be achieved.

    – Bakuriu
    yesterday











  • @Bakuriu well, I did not have the energy to polish it to the full blown answer. It is possible that it is not a workable solution.

    – SergeyA
    10 hours ago


















18















I have member function (method) which uses



std::enable_shared_from_this::weak_from_this() 


In short: weak_from_this returns weak_ptr to this. One caveat is it can't be used from constructor.
If somebody would use my function from constructor of inherited class, weak_from_this inside it would return expired weak_ptr. I guard against that with assertion checking that it's not expired, but it's a run-time check.



Is there a way to check against it at compile time?










share|improve this question

























  • Note there is a difference in scope between a child class constructor body and the parent class constructor: the latter has been executed completely before you even start initializing the child class's members (if any), let alone enter the child class constructor body.

    – rubenvb
    yesterday






  • 4





    Nice question. One way would be to make a dummy class with pure virtual function weak_from_this and inherit yours from it. This will make it a hard compile error.

    – SergeyA
    yesterday






  • 5





    @SergeyA Why didn't you post that as an answer? All other people here seem to conclude that it's not possible so either your comment is wrong and misleading or they are wrong and you should show how it can be achieved.

    – Bakuriu
    yesterday











  • @Bakuriu well, I did not have the energy to polish it to the full blown answer. It is possible that it is not a workable solution.

    – SergeyA
    10 hours ago














18












18








18


3






I have member function (method) which uses



std::enable_shared_from_this::weak_from_this() 


In short: weak_from_this returns weak_ptr to this. One caveat is it can't be used from constructor.
If somebody would use my function from constructor of inherited class, weak_from_this inside it would return expired weak_ptr. I guard against that with assertion checking that it's not expired, but it's a run-time check.



Is there a way to check against it at compile time?










share|improve this question
















I have member function (method) which uses



std::enable_shared_from_this::weak_from_this() 


In short: weak_from_this returns weak_ptr to this. One caveat is it can't be used from constructor.
If somebody would use my function from constructor of inherited class, weak_from_this inside it would return expired weak_ptr. I guard against that with assertion checking that it's not expired, but it's a run-time check.



Is there a way to check against it at compile time?







c++ c++17 shared-ptr weak-ptr






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share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited yesterday









armitus

524114




524114










asked yesterday









KorriKorri

37129




37129













  • Note there is a difference in scope between a child class constructor body and the parent class constructor: the latter has been executed completely before you even start initializing the child class's members (if any), let alone enter the child class constructor body.

    – rubenvb
    yesterday






  • 4





    Nice question. One way would be to make a dummy class with pure virtual function weak_from_this and inherit yours from it. This will make it a hard compile error.

    – SergeyA
    yesterday






  • 5





    @SergeyA Why didn't you post that as an answer? All other people here seem to conclude that it's not possible so either your comment is wrong and misleading or they are wrong and you should show how it can be achieved.

    – Bakuriu
    yesterday











  • @Bakuriu well, I did not have the energy to polish it to the full blown answer. It is possible that it is not a workable solution.

    – SergeyA
    10 hours ago



















  • Note there is a difference in scope between a child class constructor body and the parent class constructor: the latter has been executed completely before you even start initializing the child class's members (if any), let alone enter the child class constructor body.

    – rubenvb
    yesterday






  • 4





    Nice question. One way would be to make a dummy class with pure virtual function weak_from_this and inherit yours from it. This will make it a hard compile error.

    – SergeyA
    yesterday






  • 5





    @SergeyA Why didn't you post that as an answer? All other people here seem to conclude that it's not possible so either your comment is wrong and misleading or they are wrong and you should show how it can be achieved.

    – Bakuriu
    yesterday











  • @Bakuriu well, I did not have the energy to polish it to the full blown answer. It is possible that it is not a workable solution.

    – SergeyA
    10 hours ago

















Note there is a difference in scope between a child class constructor body and the parent class constructor: the latter has been executed completely before you even start initializing the child class's members (if any), let alone enter the child class constructor body.

– rubenvb
yesterday





Note there is a difference in scope between a child class constructor body and the parent class constructor: the latter has been executed completely before you even start initializing the child class's members (if any), let alone enter the child class constructor body.

– rubenvb
yesterday




4




4





Nice question. One way would be to make a dummy class with pure virtual function weak_from_this and inherit yours from it. This will make it a hard compile error.

– SergeyA
yesterday





Nice question. One way would be to make a dummy class with pure virtual function weak_from_this and inherit yours from it. This will make it a hard compile error.

– SergeyA
yesterday




5




5





@SergeyA Why didn't you post that as an answer? All other people here seem to conclude that it's not possible so either your comment is wrong and misleading or they are wrong and you should show how it can be achieved.

– Bakuriu
yesterday





@SergeyA Why didn't you post that as an answer? All other people here seem to conclude that it's not possible so either your comment is wrong and misleading or they are wrong and you should show how it can be achieved.

– Bakuriu
yesterday













@Bakuriu well, I did not have the energy to polish it to the full blown answer. It is possible that it is not a workable solution.

– SergeyA
10 hours ago





@Bakuriu well, I did not have the energy to polish it to the full blown answer. It is possible that it is not a workable solution.

– SergeyA
10 hours ago












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















15














I am afraid the answer is "no, it's not possible to protect against this at compile-time." It's always difficult to prove a negative, but consider this: if it was possible to protect a function this way, it would probably have been done for weak_from_this and shared_from_this in the standard library itself.






share|improve this answer































    4














    No there is no way. Consider:



    void call_me(struct widget*);

    struct widget : std::enable_shared_from_this<widget> {
    widget() {
    call_me(this);
    }

    void display() {
    shared_from_this();
    }
    };

    // later:

    void call_me(widget* w) {
    w->display(); // crash
    }


    The thing is there is a reason you want to check for not calling shared_from_this in the constructor. Think about that reason. It's not that shared_from_this cannot be called, it's because it's return value has no way of being assigned yet. It is also not because it will never be assigned. It's because it will be assigned later in the execution of the code. Order of operation is a runtime property of your program. You cannot assert at compile time for order of operation, which is done at runtime.






    share|improve this answer































      4














      Not as such, but - if performance is not an issue, you could add a flag which indicates construction is complete, and use that to fail at run-time with such calls:



      class A {

      // ... whatever ...
      public:
      A() {
      // do construction work
      constructed = true;
      }

      foo() {
      if (not constructed) {
      throw std::logic_error("Cannot call foo() during construction");
      }
      // the rest of foo
      }

      protected:
      bool constructed { false };
      }


      You could also make these checks only apply when compiling in DEBUG mode (e.g. with conditional compilation using the preprocessor - #ifndef NDEBUG) so that at run time you won't get the performance penalty. Mind the noexcepts though.



      An alternative to throwing could be assert()'ing.






      share|improve this answer


























      • Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

        – Korri
        yesterday











      • @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

        – Jesper Juhl
        yesterday














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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes








      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      15














      I am afraid the answer is "no, it's not possible to protect against this at compile-time." It's always difficult to prove a negative, but consider this: if it was possible to protect a function this way, it would probably have been done for weak_from_this and shared_from_this in the standard library itself.






      share|improve this answer




























        15














        I am afraid the answer is "no, it's not possible to protect against this at compile-time." It's always difficult to prove a negative, but consider this: if it was possible to protect a function this way, it would probably have been done for weak_from_this and shared_from_this in the standard library itself.






        share|improve this answer


























          15












          15








          15







          I am afraid the answer is "no, it's not possible to protect against this at compile-time." It's always difficult to prove a negative, but consider this: if it was possible to protect a function this way, it would probably have been done for weak_from_this and shared_from_this in the standard library itself.






          share|improve this answer













          I am afraid the answer is "no, it's not possible to protect against this at compile-time." It's always difficult to prove a negative, but consider this: if it was possible to protect a function this way, it would probably have been done for weak_from_this and shared_from_this in the standard library itself.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          AngewAngew

          135k11261354




          135k11261354

























              4














              No there is no way. Consider:



              void call_me(struct widget*);

              struct widget : std::enable_shared_from_this<widget> {
              widget() {
              call_me(this);
              }

              void display() {
              shared_from_this();
              }
              };

              // later:

              void call_me(widget* w) {
              w->display(); // crash
              }


              The thing is there is a reason you want to check for not calling shared_from_this in the constructor. Think about that reason. It's not that shared_from_this cannot be called, it's because it's return value has no way of being assigned yet. It is also not because it will never be assigned. It's because it will be assigned later in the execution of the code. Order of operation is a runtime property of your program. You cannot assert at compile time for order of operation, which is done at runtime.






              share|improve this answer




























                4














                No there is no way. Consider:



                void call_me(struct widget*);

                struct widget : std::enable_shared_from_this<widget> {
                widget() {
                call_me(this);
                }

                void display() {
                shared_from_this();
                }
                };

                // later:

                void call_me(widget* w) {
                w->display(); // crash
                }


                The thing is there is a reason you want to check for not calling shared_from_this in the constructor. Think about that reason. It's not that shared_from_this cannot be called, it's because it's return value has no way of being assigned yet. It is also not because it will never be assigned. It's because it will be assigned later in the execution of the code. Order of operation is a runtime property of your program. You cannot assert at compile time for order of operation, which is done at runtime.






                share|improve this answer


























                  4












                  4








                  4







                  No there is no way. Consider:



                  void call_me(struct widget*);

                  struct widget : std::enable_shared_from_this<widget> {
                  widget() {
                  call_me(this);
                  }

                  void display() {
                  shared_from_this();
                  }
                  };

                  // later:

                  void call_me(widget* w) {
                  w->display(); // crash
                  }


                  The thing is there is a reason you want to check for not calling shared_from_this in the constructor. Think about that reason. It's not that shared_from_this cannot be called, it's because it's return value has no way of being assigned yet. It is also not because it will never be assigned. It's because it will be assigned later in the execution of the code. Order of operation is a runtime property of your program. You cannot assert at compile time for order of operation, which is done at runtime.






                  share|improve this answer













                  No there is no way. Consider:



                  void call_me(struct widget*);

                  struct widget : std::enable_shared_from_this<widget> {
                  widget() {
                  call_me(this);
                  }

                  void display() {
                  shared_from_this();
                  }
                  };

                  // later:

                  void call_me(widget* w) {
                  w->display(); // crash
                  }


                  The thing is there is a reason you want to check for not calling shared_from_this in the constructor. Think about that reason. It's not that shared_from_this cannot be called, it's because it's return value has no way of being assigned yet. It is also not because it will never be assigned. It's because it will be assigned later in the execution of the code. Order of operation is a runtime property of your program. You cannot assert at compile time for order of operation, which is done at runtime.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered yesterday









                  Guillaume RacicotGuillaume Racicot

                  16.3k53872




                  16.3k53872























                      4














                      Not as such, but - if performance is not an issue, you could add a flag which indicates construction is complete, and use that to fail at run-time with such calls:



                      class A {

                      // ... whatever ...
                      public:
                      A() {
                      // do construction work
                      constructed = true;
                      }

                      foo() {
                      if (not constructed) {
                      throw std::logic_error("Cannot call foo() during construction");
                      }
                      // the rest of foo
                      }

                      protected:
                      bool constructed { false };
                      }


                      You could also make these checks only apply when compiling in DEBUG mode (e.g. with conditional compilation using the preprocessor - #ifndef NDEBUG) so that at run time you won't get the performance penalty. Mind the noexcepts though.



                      An alternative to throwing could be assert()'ing.






                      share|improve this answer


























                      • Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

                        – Korri
                        yesterday











                      • @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

                        – Jesper Juhl
                        yesterday


















                      4














                      Not as such, but - if performance is not an issue, you could add a flag which indicates construction is complete, and use that to fail at run-time with such calls:



                      class A {

                      // ... whatever ...
                      public:
                      A() {
                      // do construction work
                      constructed = true;
                      }

                      foo() {
                      if (not constructed) {
                      throw std::logic_error("Cannot call foo() during construction");
                      }
                      // the rest of foo
                      }

                      protected:
                      bool constructed { false };
                      }


                      You could also make these checks only apply when compiling in DEBUG mode (e.g. with conditional compilation using the preprocessor - #ifndef NDEBUG) so that at run time you won't get the performance penalty. Mind the noexcepts though.



                      An alternative to throwing could be assert()'ing.






                      share|improve this answer


























                      • Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

                        – Korri
                        yesterday











                      • @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

                        – Jesper Juhl
                        yesterday
















                      4












                      4








                      4







                      Not as such, but - if performance is not an issue, you could add a flag which indicates construction is complete, and use that to fail at run-time with such calls:



                      class A {

                      // ... whatever ...
                      public:
                      A() {
                      // do construction work
                      constructed = true;
                      }

                      foo() {
                      if (not constructed) {
                      throw std::logic_error("Cannot call foo() during construction");
                      }
                      // the rest of foo
                      }

                      protected:
                      bool constructed { false };
                      }


                      You could also make these checks only apply when compiling in DEBUG mode (e.g. with conditional compilation using the preprocessor - #ifndef NDEBUG) so that at run time you won't get the performance penalty. Mind the noexcepts though.



                      An alternative to throwing could be assert()'ing.






                      share|improve this answer















                      Not as such, but - if performance is not an issue, you could add a flag which indicates construction is complete, and use that to fail at run-time with such calls:



                      class A {

                      // ... whatever ...
                      public:
                      A() {
                      // do construction work
                      constructed = true;
                      }

                      foo() {
                      if (not constructed) {
                      throw std::logic_error("Cannot call foo() during construction");
                      }
                      // the rest of foo
                      }

                      protected:
                      bool constructed { false };
                      }


                      You could also make these checks only apply when compiling in DEBUG mode (e.g. with conditional compilation using the preprocessor - #ifndef NDEBUG) so that at run time you won't get the performance penalty. Mind the noexcepts though.



                      An alternative to throwing could be assert()'ing.







                      share|improve this answer














                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer








                      edited 17 hours ago

























                      answered yesterday









                      einpoklumeinpoklum

                      37.1k28132263




                      37.1k28132263













                      • Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

                        – Korri
                        yesterday











                      • @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

                        – Jesper Juhl
                        yesterday





















                      • Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

                        – Korri
                        yesterday











                      • @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

                        – Jesper Juhl
                        yesterday



















                      Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

                      – Korri
                      yesterday





                      Since apparently there isn't compile-time solution which doesn't make code less readable, I decided to go with assert(!wptr.expired()). I think it's a little bit more fitting than exception, because there is no way to recover from this situation.

                      – Korri
                      yesterday













                      @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

                      – Jesper Juhl
                      yesterday







                      @Korri remember that asserts are usually compiled out in release builds, so nothing will happen. An exception however is not, so it would still terminate the program (if not caught and swallowed) in a release build. You could do both; first assert then throw, or just throw.

                      – Jesper Juhl
                      yesterday




















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