Choose function to apply based on the validity of an expression

Question

The problem is the following, in C++14:

• Let's have two functions FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, and arguments Args&&... args
• The function apply_on_validity should apply valid_f on args if the expression std::forward<FV>(valid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...) is valid
• Otherwise and if std::forward<FV>(invalid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...) is a valid expression, apply_on_validity should apply invalid_f on args
• Otherwise apply_on_validity should do nothing

I guess the code should look like something like this:

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args, /* Some template metaprog here */>
void apply_on_validity(FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
{
    // Apply valid_f by default
    std::forward<FV>(valid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args, /* Some template metaprog here */>
void apply_on_validity(FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
{
    // Apply invalid_f if valid_f does not work
    std::forward<FV>(invalid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args, /* Some template metaprog here */>
void apply_on_validity(FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
{
    // Do nothing when neither valid_f nor invalid_f work
}

But I don't really know how to do that. Any idea?

---

Link to the generalization here.

Answer 1

Take:

template <int N> struct rank : rank<N-1> {};
template <> struct rank<0> {};

and then:

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args>
auto apply_on_validity_impl(rank<2>, FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
    -> decltype(std::forward<FV>(valid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...), void())
{
    std::forward<FV>(valid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args>
auto apply_on_validity_impl(rank<1>, FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
    -> decltype(std::forward<FI>(invalid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...), void())
{
    std::forward<FI>(invalid_f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args>
void apply_on_validity_impl(rank<0>, FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
{

}

template <class FV, class FI, class... Args>
void apply_on_validity(FV&& valid_f, FI&& invalid_f, Args&&... args)
{
    return apply_on_validity_impl(rank<2>{}, std::forward<FV>(valid_f), std::forward<FI>(invalid_f), std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}

DEMO