swap std::unique_ptr with lambda as deleter -- GCC

Question

Can we use a lambda as a deleter with a std::unique_ptr ? Actualy, I did it with clang++ and it was happy to do so.

I'm using std::swap to swap to std::unique_ptr<ObjType, decltyp(deleter)>; where auto deleter = [](struct addrinfo* ptr){if (ptr != nullptr) {freeaddrinfo(ptr);} };. Clang's swap seems to do not need a copy assignment operator, but gcc's std::swap did, as you can see in those logs :

In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/memory:81:0,
                 from /home/zenol/proj/src/PROJ/TCPClient.cpp:28:
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/unique_ptr.h: In instantiation of ‘std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>& std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>::operator=(std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>&&) [with _Tp = addrinfo; _Dp = Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0]’:
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/move.h:176:11:   required from ‘void std::swap(_Tp&, _Tp&) [with _Tp = std::unique_ptr<addrinfo, Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0>]’
/home/zenol/proj/src/Proj/SocketHelp.hpp:109:50:   required from ‘void Proj::retrieve_addresses(std::string, int, addrinfo&, addrinfo*&, T&, U) [with T = std::unique_ptr<addrinfo, Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0>; U = Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0; std::string = std::basic_string<char>]’
/home/zenol/proj/src/PROJ/TCPClient.cpp:65:49:   required from here
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/unique_ptr.h:193:16: erreur: use of deleted function ‘Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0& Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0::operator=(const Proj::TCPClient::connect(const Proj::SocketAddress&, int)::__lambda0&)’
  get_deleter() = std::forward<deleter_type>(__u.get_deleter());
                ^
/home/zenol/proj/src/Proj/TCPClient.cpp:56:21: note: a lambda closure type has a deleted copy assignment operator
     auto deleter = [](struct addrinfo* ptr)
                     ^

What says the standard? Can I manage to wap those two std::unique_ptr ? Are they a workaround ? (Maybe encapsulating the lambda inside a std::function? ...)

Edit : Here is a small example that should be more or less the same thing :

auto deleter = [](struct addrinfo* ptr)
{if (ptr != nullptr) {freeaddrinfo(ptr);} };

std::unique_ptr<struct addrinfo, decltype(deleter)>
resources_keeper(nullptr, deleter);

int main()
{
    decltype(resources_keeper) plouf1(nullptr, deleter);
    decltype(resources_keeper) plouf2(nullptr, deleter);

    std::swap(plouf1, plouf2);
    return 0;
}

The error :

In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/stl_pair.h:59:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/stl_algobase.h:64,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/memory:62,
                 from mini.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/move.h: In instantiation of ‘void std::swap(_Tp&, _Tp&) [with _Tp = __lambda0]’:
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/tuple:381:36:   required from ‘void std::_Tuple_impl<_Idx, _Head, _Tail ...>::_M_swap(std::_Tuple_impl<_Idx, _Head, _Tail ...>&) [with long unsigned int _Idx = 1ul; _Head = __lambda0; _Tail = {}]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/tuple:382:35:   required from ‘void std::_Tuple_impl<_Idx, _Head, _Tail ...>::_M_swap(std::_Tuple_impl<_Idx, _Head, _Tail ...>&) [with long unsigned int _Idx = 0ul; _Head = addrinfo*; _Tail = {__lambda0}]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/tuple:667:33:   required from ‘void std::tuple<_T1, _T2>::swap(std::tuple<_T1, _T2>&) [with _T1 = addrinfo*; _T2 = __lambda0]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/tuple:1050:7:   required from ‘void std::swap(std::tuple<_Elements ...>&, std::tuple<_Elements ...>&) [with _Elements = {addrinfo*, __lambda0}]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/unique_ptr.h:269:21:   required from ‘void std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>::swap(std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>&) [with _Tp = addrinfo; _Dp = __lambda0]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/unique_ptr.h:484:7:   required from ‘void std::swap(std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>&, std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>&) [with _Tp = addrinfo; _Dp = __lambda0]’
mini.cpp:21:29:   required from here
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/move.h:176:11: erreur: use of deleted function ‘__lambda0& __lambda0::operator=(const __lambda0&)’
       __a = _GLIBCXX_MOVE(__b);
           ^
mini.cpp:9:17: note: a lambda closure type has a deleted copy assignment operator
 auto deleter = [](struct addrinfo* ptr)
                 ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/stl_pair.h:59:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/stl_algobase.h:64,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8.1/memory:62,
                 from mini.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8.1/bits/move.h:177:11: erreur: use of deleted function ‘__lambda0& __lambda0::operator=(const __lambda0&)’
       __b = _GLIBCXX_MOVE(__tmp);
           ^

Answer 1

This has nothing to do with unique_ptr or tuple, you can reduce the error to this:

int main()
{
  auto deleter = []() { };
  auto del2 = deleter;
  deleter = static_cast<decltype(deleter)>(del2);
}

Which compiles with Clang but fails with G++, giving this error:

t.cc: In function ‘int main()’:
t.cc:5:11: error: use of deleted function ‘main()::<lambda()>& main()::<lambda()>::operator=(const main()::<lambda()>&)’
   deleter = static_cast<decltype(deleter)>(del2);
           ^
t.cc:3:19: note: a lambda closure type has a deleted copy assignment operator
   auto deleter = []() { };
                   ^

The last C++11 standard says in [expr.prim.lambda]/19:

The closure type associated with a lambda-expression has a deleted (8.4.3) default constructor and a deleted copy assignment operator. It has an implicitly-declared copy constructor (12.8) and may have an implicitly-declared move constructor (12.8).

So it is up to the compiler whether the type is move-assignable or not.