type of reference-captured object inside lambda

Question

The following code works with gcc

#include <map>

int main() {
    std::map<int, double> dict;
    const auto lambda = [&]()
    {
        decltype(dict)::value_type bar;
    };
}

But for msvc I have to additionally use std::remove_reference

#include <map>
#include <type_traits>

int main() {
    std::map<int, double> dict;
    const auto lambda = [&]()
    {
        std::remove_reference_t<decltype(dict)>::value_type bar;
    };
}

Otherwise I get an error:

error C2651: 'std::map<int,double,std::less<_Kty>,std::allocator<std::pair<const _Kty,_Ty>>> &': left of '::' must be a class, struct or union

Which compiler shows the correct behaviour according to the standard?

update:

For msvc decltype(dict) really is a reference, as the following code

#include <map>

int main()
{
    std::map<int, double> dict;
    const auto lambda = [&]()
    {
        decltype(dict) foo;
    };
}

errors with

error C2530: 'foo': references must be initialized

If this really is wrong behaviour, it could lead to nasty bugs, like dangling references when code is compiled with msvc.

#include <map>

std::map<int, double> return_a_map()
{
    std::map<int, double> result;
    return result;
}

int main()
{
    std::map<int, double> dict;
    const auto lambda = [&]()
    {
        decltype(dict) foo = return_a_map();
        // foo is a dangling reference in msvc
    };
}

Answer 1

There is no special rule regarding non parenthesized applications of decltype (ie. [expr.prim.lambda]/20 does not apply). So we just fall back to the usual definition of decltype, which mandates that if the operand is an id-expression, the yielded type is just the declared type of the entity, and that's not a reference type. Hence VC++ is wrong.

NB: it doesn't matter whether dict is captured or not, because ¶17:

Every id-expression within the compound-statement of a lambda-expression that is an odr-use (3.2) of an entity captured by copy is transformed into an access to the corresponding unnamed data member of the closure type. [ Note: An id-expression that is not an odr-use refers to the original entity, never to a member of the closure type. Furthermore, such an id-expression does not cause the implicit capture of the entity. — end note ]

decltype never odr-uses any of its operands or suboperands. This rule actually gets pretty problematic at times, e.g. as shown in core issue 958:

int f (int&);
void* f (const int&);

int main()
{
   int i;
   [=] ()-> decltype(f(i)) { return f(i); };
}

Here, decltype(f(i)) uses the non-const i from the enclosing scope. However, since the lambda isn't mutable, the i in the body is actually const, hence the trailing-return-type is incorrect. CWG concluded this arises too infrequently to be worth solving.