C++: How to require that one template type is derived from the other

Question

In a comparison operator:

template<class R1, class R2>
bool operator==(Manager<R1> m1, Manager<R2> m2) {
    return m1.internal_field == m2.internal_field;
}

Is there any way I could enforce that R1 and R2 must have a supertype or subtype relation? That is, I'd like to allow either R1 to be derived from R2, or R2 to be derived from R1, but disallow the comparison if R1 and R2 are unrelated types.

Answer 1

A trait you want might look like this:

template <typename B, typename D>
struct is_base_of // check if B is a base of D
{
    typedef char yes[1];
    typedef char no[2];

    static yes& test(B*);
    static no& test(...);

    static D* get(void);

    static const bool value = sizeof(test(get()) == sizeof(yes);
};

Then you just need a static assert of some sort:

// really basic
template <bool>
struct static_assert;

template <>
struct static_assert<true> {}; // only true is defined

#define STATIC_ASSERT(x) static_assert<(x)>()

Then put the two together:

template<class R1, class R2>
bool operator==(Manager<R1> m1, Manager<R2> m2)
{
    STATIC_ASSERT(is_base_of<R1, R2>::value || is_base_of<R2, R1>::value);

    return p1.internal_field == p2.internal_field;
}

If one does not derive from the other, the function will not compile. (Your error will be similar to "static_assert<false> not defined", and it will point to that line.)

Answer 2

You can use boost's typetraits (is_base_of), and boost's enable_if.

#include <boost/type_traits.hpp>
#include <boost/utility/enable_if.hpp>

template <class R1, class R2>
struct has_derived_base_relationship :
    boost::integral_constant<
        bool, boost::is_base_of<R1, R2>::value || boost::is_base_of<R2, R1>::value 
    >
{};

template<class R1, class R2>
typename boost::enable_if<has_derived_base_relationship<R1, R2>, bool>::type 
operator==(Manager<R1> m1, Manager<R2> m2) {
    return p1.internal_field == p2.internal_field;
}

On the other hand, why would operator== usage have more value with types of the same inheritance tree? Wouldn't it have to use double dispatch to achieve meaningful results?