How to boost::any_cast into std::string
Solution 1
"Mayukh"
is not a std::string
, it is a const
array of 7 characters {'M', 'a', 'y', 'u', 'k', 'h', '\0'}
. In C++14, "Mayukh"s
is a std::string
after using namespace std::literals::string_literals;
.
In C++11, std::string("Mayukh")
is a std::string
as well.
boost::any
only supports converting back to the exact same type (well, up to some decay/const/etc). It does not support conversions between the types. See boost any documentation:
Discriminated types that contain values of different types but do not attempt conversion between them, i.e.
5
is held strictly as an int and is not implicitly convertible either to"5"
or to5.0
. Their indifference to interpretation but awareness of type effectively makes them safe, generic containers of single values, with no scope for surprises from ambiguous conversions.
Augmenting any
with extra smart conversions can be done. For example, a pseudo-any that takes an incoming type, and possibly auto-converts it (so it won't store short
s: it converts all signed integral types to int64_t
and unsigned to uint64_t
, it converts "hello"
to std::string("hello")
, etc) before storing it.
Solution 2
That's because "Mayukh"
is not a std::string
. It's a const char[7]
, which would decay into const char*
:
boost::any a = "Mayukh";
std::cout << a.type().name() << '\n'; // prints PKc, pointer to const char
if (boost::any_cast<const char*>(&a)) {
std::cout << "yay\n"; // prints yay
}
If you want to be able to use any_cast<std::string>
, you'd need to put it in as a std::string
:
container.push_back(std::string("Mayukh"));
Solution 3
This is not an answer to the question body but rather to the title to help others who also come here from google:
bool is_char_ptr(const boost::any & operand)
{
try {
boost::any_cast<char *>(operand);
return true;
}
catch (const boost::bad_any_cast &) {
return false;
}
}
std::string any2string(boost::any anything)
{
if (anything.type() == typeid(int)) {
return std::to_string( boost::any_cast<int>(anything) );
}
if (anything.type() == typeid(double)) {
return std::to_string(boost::any_cast<double>(anything));
}
if (is_char_ptr(anything)) {
return std::string(boost::any_cast<char *>(anything));
}
if (boost::any_cast<std::string>(anything)) {
return boost::any_cast<std::string>(anything);
}
}
The last if looks weird but it works because the function is overloaded.
Mayukh Sarkar
Backend Engineer | DataGeek | Gopher | Python Lover
Updated on June 14, 2022Comments
-
Mayukh Sarkar almost 2 years
I have this test snippet
#include <boost/any.hpp> #include <iostream> #include <vector> #include <bitset> #include <string> class wrapper { int value; char character; std::string str; public: wrapper(int i, char c, std::string s) { value = i; character = c; str = s; } void get_data(){ std::cout << "Value = " << value << std::endl; std::cout << "Character = " << character << std::endl; std::cout << "String= " << str << std::endl; } }; int main(){ std::vector<boost::any> container; container.push_back(10); container.push_back(1.4); container.push_back("Mayukh"); container.push_back('A'); container.push_back(std::bitset<16>(255) ); wrapper wrap(20, 'M', "Alisha"); container.push_back(wrap); std::cout << boost::any_cast<int>(container[0]) << std::endl; std::cout << boost::any_cast<double>(container[1]) << std::endl; std::cout << boost::any_cast<std::string>(container[2]); std::cout << boost::any_cast<char>(container[3]) << std::endl; std::cout << boost::any_cast<std::bitset<16>>(container[4]); auto p = boost::any_cast<wrapper>(container[5]); p.get_data(); return 0; }
In this
boost::any_cast
gives bad_casting exception forstd::string
. It means for some reason it is not able to typecastboost::any
intostd::string
. While other classes likebitset
or my own user defined class is working. Can you please tell me why & a way out of this? -
Columbo almost 9 yearsWouldn't it be more correct to say "an
std::string
"? -
Praetorian almost 9 years@Columbo I'm with you on that, but there are those who pronounce it as stood string, in which case a is appropriate.
-
sehe almost 9 years@Columbo It starts with an s, end of story. Abbreviations are abbreviations not meant to be pronounced (they're not acronyms). But thanks for explaining how on earth people come up with that insane juxta-position of "an
std::T
" some times :) -
Yakk - Adam Nevraumont almost 9 years@Columbo How do you pronounce
std::string
to make you think it needs anan
? -
Barry almost 9 yearsIt's definitely pronounced stood string. That should be in the standard. Under [basic.obviously].
-
Columbo almost 9 years@Yakk Well, I pronounce it "s-t-d string"... :D but yeah, if in your mind it's pronounced "stood" then "a" is definitely the right article to use.