Initialize all elements or std::array with the same constructor arguments

Question

I am wondering if it's possible to initialize a std::array of objects with an implicitly deleted default constructor, without knowing a priori the size of the array because it's a template argument and so having lost the possibility of using an initializer list. Code follows, it breaks with a "call to implicitly-deleted default constructor of std::array<A, 3UL>"

struct A {
  A (int b, int c) : mb(b), mc(c) { }
  int mb;
  int mc;
};

template <size_t NR_A>
struct B {
  B (int b, int c) : 
    // <- how to initialize mAs here?
  { }
  std::array<A, NR_A> mAs;
};

B<3> inst(1,1);

edit: I'd like to initialize all the A's of mAs to A{1,1}

Answer 1

You may use delegating constructors and pack expansion

struct A {
    A(int b, int c) : b(b), c(c) { }
    A(const A&) = delete;
    A(A&&) = delete;
    int b;
    int c;
};

template <size_t N>
struct B {
  B (int b, int c) : B(b, c, std::make_index_sequence<N>{}) {}

  template<size_t... Is>
  B (int b, int c, std::index_sequence<Is...>) :
    arr{(Is, A{b, c})...}
  {}

  std::array<A, N> arr;
};

Live

Note if the move and copy constructors are deleted, this will only work after C++17.

Answer 2

For both C++11 and C++14 (i.e.: pre-C++17) what you want can be achieved by means of template metaprogramming.

You could declare the following helper class template, array_maker<>, which has a static member function template, make_array, that calls itself recursively:

template<typename T, std::size_t N, std::size_t Idx = N>
struct array_maker {
    template<typename... Ts>
    static std::array<T, N> make_array(const T& v, Ts...tail) {
        return array_maker<T, N, Idx-1>::make_array(v, v, tail...);
    }
};

Then, specialize this class template for the case Idx equal to 1, i.e.: the base case of the recursion:

template<typename T, std::size_t N>
struct array_maker<T, N, 1> {
    template<typename... Ts>
    static std::array<T, N> make_array(const T& v, Ts... tail) {
        return std::array<T, N>{v, tail...};
    }
};

Finally, it can be used in the constructor of your template this way:

template <size_t NR_A>
struct B {
  B (int b, int c) : mAs{array_maker<A, NR_A>::make_array(A{b,c})}
  {}    
  std::array<A, NR_A> mAs;
};

Answer 3

here's a solution I came up with (requires c++17)

template<typename T, std::size_t N, std::size_t index_t = N, typename... Ts>
constexpr auto make_array(T t, Ts... ts)
{
  if constexpr (index_t <= 1) {
    return std::array<T, N> {t, ts...};
  } else {
    return make_array<T, N, index_t - 1>(t, t, ts...);
  }
}

This is a modification of one of the previous solution that had an array maker struct. This does the same just in a more concise form.

It takes in a single item and keeps doubling down on that item until it reaches a depth of 1,then returns an array from the unfolding. I didn't realize that you a fold expression can be used even though no arguments are passed through it. Although I know this implicitly from things like printf.