Use of typeid to handle different types

Question

I am trying to use boost::any to encapsulate the sqlite return values. I then tried to write a loop to print these.

My first thought was to do something like:

for(boost::any field: row) {
  switch(field.type()) {
      case typeid(double):
          double value = any_cast<double>(field);
          ...
          break;
      case typeid(other type):
          ...
  }
}

Now for the experienced programmer it becomes obvious that this can not work since typeid returns an instance rather than a numeric id. After some research I figured I might try either typeid(...).hash_code() however this is not sufficiently constexpr qualified (Beside the danger of hash collision).

Questions

1. Is there a better way than building an excessive if ... else ... labyrinth to handle objects based on their typeid?
2. Is there a reason why hash_code is not a const_expr? Is this a result of the separate compilation of object files?
3. What is the use of std::type_index? Considering that it only provides some additional operators (<, <=, >, >=) why was it not possible to integrate its functionality with std::type_info?

Answer 1

I have a feeling you are looking for boost variant and static visitations.

Since variants weren't mentioned, this might be worth posting as an answer. Demonstruction:

Live On Coliru

#include <sstream>
#include <iostream>

#include <boost/variant.hpp>

using namespace boost;

struct Nil {};
using blob_t = std::vector<uint8_t>;
using field_value_t = boost::variant<Nil, double, char const*, long, blob_t/*, boost::date_time, std::vector<uint8_t>*/>;

struct handler : static_visitor<std::string> {

    std::string operator()(double)      const { return "double"; }
    std::string operator()(char const*) const { return "C string (ew!)"; }
    std::string operator()(long)        const { return "long"; }
    std::string operator()(blob_t)      const { return "long"; }
    std::string operator()(Nil)         const { return "<NIL>"; }

    template<typename T>
    std::string operator()(T const&)    const { throw "Not implemented"; } // TODO proper exception
};

void handle_field(field_value_t const& value) {
    std::cout << "It's a " << apply_visitor(handler(), value) << "\n";
}

int main() {

    handle_field({});
    handle_field(blob_t { 1,2,3 });
    handle_field("Hello world");
    handle_field(3.14);

}

Prints

It's a <NIL>
It's a long
It's a C string (ew!)
It's a double

Answer 2

Here is an implementation of something similar to static visitation on boost::any, using C++11 lambdas:

#include <iostream>
#include <type_traits>
#include <boost/any.hpp>

template <size_t, typename...>
struct select_type { };

template <size_t index, typename First, typename... Types>
struct select_type<index, First, Types...> : public select_type<index - 1, Types...> { };

template <typename First, typename... Types>
struct select_type<0, First, Types...>
{
    using type = First;
};

template <typename T>
struct function_traits : public function_traits<decltype(&T::operator())> { };

template <typename Return, typename Class, typename... Args>
struct function_traits<Return (Class::*)(Args...) const>
{
    using result_type = Return;

    template <size_t argN>
    using argument_type = select_type<argN, Args...>;
};

template <typename... Functors>
struct any_call_impl
{
    static bool call(boost::any &, Functors const & ...)
    {
        return false;
    }

    static bool call(boost::any const &, Functors const & ...)
    {
        return false;
    }
};

template <typename FirstFunctor, typename... Functors>
struct any_call_impl<FirstFunctor, Functors...>
{
    static bool call(boost::any & v, FirstFunctor const & first, Functors const & ... rest)
    {
        using arg = typename function_traits<FirstFunctor>::template argument_type<0>::type;
        using arg_bare = typename std::remove_cv<typename std::remove_reference<arg>::type>::type;

        if (v.type() == typeid(arg_bare)) {
            first(*boost::any_cast<arg_bare>(&v));
            return true;
        }

        return any_call_impl<Functors...>::call(v, rest...);
    }

    static bool call(boost::any const & v, FirstFunctor const & first, Functors const & ... rest)
    {
        using arg = typename function_traits<FirstFunctor>::template argument_type<0>::type;
        using arg_bare = typename std::remove_cv<typename std::remove_reference<arg>::type>::type;

        if (v.type() == typeid(arg_bare)) {
            first(*boost::any_cast<arg_bare>(&v));
            return true;
        }

        return any_call_impl<Functors...>::call(v, rest...);
    }
};

template <typename... Functors>
bool any_call(boost::any & v, Functors const & ... f)
{
    return any_call_impl<Functors...>::call(v, f...);
}

template <typename... Functors>
bool any_call(boost::any const & v, Functors const & ... f)
{
    return any_call_impl<Functors...>::call(v, f...);
}

int main(void) {
    boost::any a = 1;

    any_call(a,
        [](double d) { std::cout << "double " << d << std::endl; },
        [](int i) { std::cout << "int " << i << std::endl; }
    );

    return 0;
}

(Demo)

The idea is that you pass a boost::any or boost::any const as the first argument to any_call, and after that you pass multiple lambdas. The first lambda whose parameter type matches the type of object contained in boost::any will be called, and then any_call will return true. If no lambda matches, any_call will return false.