Is clone still the way to go in C++11? Or is there some new way to use RTTI to copy a derived class object from a base class pointer?
In case anybody is interested in a non-invasive cloning, C++11's lambdas seem to provide some new cloning facilities: Thinking about the issue of cloning, I came to admit that the one who manufactured the original instance of an object should also be the one who can help build a replica. Consider the case where all of your objects are manufactured by some Factory
. In this case, additionally to the usual create
interface, your factory could be equipped with a clone
interface, e.g. like so:
#include <iostream>
#include <functional>
#include <memory>
#include <unordered_map>
template <typename BASE>
struct
Factory {
private: using
TCloneFn = std::function<std::shared_ptr<BASE>(BASE const * const)>;
private:
static std::unordered_map<BASE const*,TCloneFn> cloneFnMap;
public: template <typename DERIVED_TYPE, typename...TS>
static std::shared_ptr<BASE>
create(TS...args) {
BASE* obj = new DERIVED_TYPE(args...);
const std::shared_ptr<BASE> pNewObj =
std::shared_ptr<BASE>(
obj,
[&](BASE* p){
cloneFnMap.erase(p);
delete p;
}
);
cloneFnMap[obj] = [&](BASE const * const orig){
std::shared_ptr<BASE> pClone = create<DERIVED_TYPE>(std::ref(static_cast<DERIVED_TYPE const &>(*orig)));
return pClone;
};
return pNewObj;
}
public: static std::shared_ptr<BASE>
clone(std::shared_ptr<BASE const> original) {
return cloneFnMap[original.get()](original.get());
}
};
template <typename BASE> std::unordered_map<BASE const*,typename Factory<BASE>::TCloneFn> Factory<BASE>::cloneFnMap;
class Base {
public: virtual ~Base() throw() {}
public: virtual void whoAmI() const {
std::cout << "I am Base instance " << this << "\n";
}
};
class Derived : public Base {
std::string name;
public: Derived(std::string name) : name(name) {}
public: Derived(const Derived&other) : name("copy of "+other.name) {
}
private: virtual void whoAmI() const {
std::cout << "I am Derived instance " << this << " " << name << "\n";
}
};
int main() {
std::shared_ptr<Base> a = Factory<Base>::create<Derived>("Original");
a->whoAmI();
std::shared_ptr<Base> copy_of_a = Factory<Base>::clone(a);
copy_of_a->whoAmI();
std::shared_ptr<Base> copy_of_a_copy = Factory<Base>::clone(copy_of_a);
copy_of_a_copy->whoAmI();
return 0;
}
The trick is to remember how the original was constructed in the Factory::create
method (by associating a pointer to the object with a lambda that will invoke the copy-constructor). Never throw away old blueprints, you may need them later-on;-)
Frankly, I still prefer the old clone
solution with CRTP etc, but this may trigger some new ideas or come otherwise in handy.
The code above is also at http://ideone.com/kIPFt2
EDIT: As wjl commented, the first version of the code would cause cloneFnMap
to steadily grow. After thinking it over, I decided to fix the code by introducing a custom deleter to the shared_ptr
s being returned such that the cloneFnMap
will also get cleaned up. Still, this should just be considered an experimental proof-of-concept code.