How can you iterate over the elements of an std::tuple?

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1198260

Question

How can I iterate over a tuple (using C++11)? I tried the following:

for(int i=0; i<std::tuple_size<T...>::value; ++i) 
  std::get<i>(my_tuple).do_sth();

but this doesn't work:

Error 1: sorry, unimplemented: cannot expand ‘Listener ...’ into a fixed-length argument list.
Error 2: i cannot appear in a constant expression.

So, how do I correctly iterate over the elements of a tuple?

Was it helpful?

Solution

Boost.Fusion is a possibility:

Untested example:

struct DoSomething
{
    template<typename T>
    void operator()(T& t) const
    {
        t.do_sth();
    }
};

tuple<....> t = ...;
boost::fusion::for_each(t, DoSomething());

OTHER TIPS

I have an answer based on Iterating over a Tuple:

#include <tuple>
#include <utility> 
#include <iostream>

template<std::size_t I = 0, typename... Tp>
inline typename std::enable_if<I == sizeof...(Tp), void>::type
  print(std::tuple<Tp...>& t)
  { }

template<std::size_t I = 0, typename... Tp>
inline typename std::enable_if<I < sizeof...(Tp), void>::type
  print(std::tuple<Tp...>& t)
  {
    std::cout << std::get<I>(t) << std::endl;
    print<I + 1, Tp...>(t);
  }

int
main()
{
  typedef std::tuple<int, float, double> T;
  T t = std::make_tuple(2, 3.14159F, 2345.678);

  print(t);
}

The usual idea is to use compile time recursion. In fact, this idea is used to make a printf that is type safe as noted in the original tuple papers.

This can be easily generalized into a for_each for tuples:

#include <tuple>
#include <utility> 

template<std::size_t I = 0, typename FuncT, typename... Tp>
inline typename std::enable_if<I == sizeof...(Tp), void>::type
  for_each(std::tuple<Tp...> &, FuncT) // Unused arguments are given no names.
  { }

template<std::size_t I = 0, typename FuncT, typename... Tp>
inline typename std::enable_if<I < sizeof...(Tp), void>::type
  for_each(std::tuple<Tp...>& t, FuncT f)
  {
    f(std::get<I>(t));
    for_each<I + 1, FuncT, Tp...>(t, f);
  }

Though this then requires some effort to have FuncT represent something with the appropriate overloads for every type the tuple might contain. This works best if you know all the tuple elements will share a common base class or something similar.

In C++17, you can use std::apply with fold expression:

std::apply([](auto&&... args) {((/* args.dosomething() */), ...);}, the_tuple);

A complete example for printing a tuple:

#include <tuple>
#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    std::tuple t{42, 'a', 4.2}; // Another C++17 feature: class template argument deduction
    std::apply([](auto&&... args) {((std::cout << args << '\n'), ...);}, t);
}

[Online Example on Coliru]

This solution solves the issue of evaluation order in M. Alaggan's answer.

Use Boost.Hana and generic lambdas:

#include <tuple>
#include <iostream>
#include <boost/hana.hpp>
#include <boost/hana/ext/std/tuple.hpp>

struct Foo1 {
    int foo() const { return 42; }
};

struct Foo2 {
    int bar = 0;
    int foo() { bar = 24; return bar; }
};

int main() {
    using namespace std;
    using boost::hana::for_each;

    Foo1 foo1;
    Foo2 foo2;

    for_each(tie(foo1, foo2), [](auto &foo) {
        cout << foo.foo() << endl;
    });

    cout << "foo2.bar after mutation: " << foo2.bar << endl;
}

http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/27b3691f55caf271

In C++17 you can do this:

std::apply([](auto ...x){std::make_tuple(x.do_something()...);} , the_tuple);

This already works in Clang++ 3.9, using std::experimental::apply.

You need to use template metaprogramming, here shown with Boost.Tuple:

#include <boost/tuple/tuple.hpp>
#include <iostream>

template <typename T_Tuple, size_t size>
struct print_tuple_helper {
    static std::ostream & print( std::ostream & s, const T_Tuple & t ) {
        return print_tuple_helper<T_Tuple,size-1>::print( s, t ) << boost::get<size-1>( t );
    }
};

template <typename T_Tuple>
struct print_tuple_helper<T_Tuple,0> {
    static std::ostream & print( std::ostream & s, const T_Tuple & ) {
        return s;
    }
};

template <typename T_Tuple>
std::ostream & print_tuple( std::ostream & s, const T_Tuple & t ) {
    return print_tuple_helper<T_Tuple,boost::tuples::length<T_Tuple>::value>::print( s, t );
}

int main() {

    const boost::tuple<int,char,float,char,double> t( 0, ' ', 2.5f, '\n', 3.1416 );
    print_tuple( std::cout, t );

    return 0;
}

In C++0x, you can write print_tuple() as a variadic template function instead.

C++ is introducing expansion statements for this purpose. They were originally on track for C++20 but narrowly missed the cut due to a lack of time for language wording review (see here and here).

The currently agreed syntax (see the links above) is:

{
    auto tup = std::make_tuple(0, 'a', 3.14);
    template for (auto elem : tup)
        std::cout << elem << std::endl;
}

First define some index helpers:

template <size_t ...I>
struct index_sequence {};

template <size_t N, size_t ...I>
struct make_index_sequence : public make_index_sequence<N - 1, N - 1, I...> {};

template <size_t ...I>
struct make_index_sequence<0, I...> : public index_sequence<I...> {};

With your function you would like to apply on each tuple element:

template <typename T>
/* ... */ foo(T t) { /* ... */ }

you can write:

template<typename ...T, size_t ...I>
/* ... */ do_foo_helper(std::tuple<T...> &ts, index_sequence<I...>) {
    std::tie(foo(std::get<I>(ts)) ...);
}

template <typename ...T>
/* ... */ do_foo(std::tuple<T...> &ts) {
    return do_foo_helper(ts, make_index_sequence<sizeof...(T)>());
}

Or if foo returns void, use

std::tie((foo(std::get<I>(ts)), 1) ... );

Note: On C++14 make_index_sequence is already defined (http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/integer_sequence).

If you do need a left-to-right evaluation order, consider something like this:

template <typename T, typename ...R>
void do_foo_iter(T t, R ...r) {
    foo(t);
    do_foo(r...);
}

void do_foo_iter() {}

template<typename ...T, size_t ...I>
void do_foo_helper(std::tuple<T...> &ts, index_sequence<I...>) {
    do_foo_iter(std::get<I>(ts) ...);
}

template <typename ...T>
void do_foo(std::tuple<T...> &ts) {
    do_foo_helper(ts, make_index_sequence<sizeof...(T)>());
}

A more simple, intuitive and compiler-friendly way of doing this in C++17, using if constexpr:

// prints every element of a tuple
template<size_t I = 0, typename... Tp>
void print(std::tuple<Tp...>& t) {
    std::cout << std::get<I>(t) << " ";
    // do things
    if constexpr(I+1 != sizeof...(Tp))
        print<I+1>(t);
}

This is compile-time recursion, similar to the one presented by @emsr. But this doesn't use SFINAE so (I think) it is more compiler-friendly.

If you want to use std::tuple and you have C++ compiler which supports variadic templates, try code bellow (tested with g++4.5). This should be the answer to your question.

#include <tuple>

// ------------- UTILITY---------------
template<int...> struct index_tuple{}; 

template<int I, typename IndexTuple, typename... Types> 
struct make_indexes_impl; 

template<int I, int... Indexes, typename T, typename ... Types> 
struct make_indexes_impl<I, index_tuple<Indexes...>, T, Types...> 
{ 
    typedef typename make_indexes_impl<I + 1, index_tuple<Indexes..., I>, Types...>::type type; 
}; 

template<int I, int... Indexes> 
struct make_indexes_impl<I, index_tuple<Indexes...> > 
{ 
    typedef index_tuple<Indexes...> type; 
}; 

template<typename ... Types> 
struct make_indexes : make_indexes_impl<0, index_tuple<>, Types...> 
{}; 

// ----------- FOR EACH -----------------
template<typename Func, typename Last>
void for_each_impl(Func&& f, Last&& last)
{
    f(last);
}

template<typename Func, typename First, typename ... Rest>
void for_each_impl(Func&& f, First&& first, Rest&&...rest) 
{
    f(first);
    for_each_impl( std::forward<Func>(f), rest...);
}

template<typename Func, int ... Indexes, typename ... Args>
void for_each_helper( Func&& f, index_tuple<Indexes...>, std::tuple<Args...>&& tup)
{
    for_each_impl( std::forward<Func>(f), std::forward<Args>(std::get<Indexes>(tup))...);
}

template<typename Func, typename ... Args>
void for_each( std::tuple<Args...>& tup, Func&& f)
{
   for_each_helper(std::forward<Func>(f), 
                   typename make_indexes<Args...>::type(), 
                   std::forward<std::tuple<Args...>>(tup) );
}

template<typename Func, typename ... Args>
void for_each( std::tuple<Args...>&& tup, Func&& f)
{
   for_each_helper(std::forward<Func>(f), 
                   typename make_indexes<Args...>::type(), 
                   std::forward<std::tuple<Args...>>(tup) );
}

boost::fusion is another option, but it requires its own tuple type: boost::fusion::tuple. Lets better stick to the standard! Here is a test:

#include <iostream>

// ---------- FUNCTOR ----------
struct Functor 
{
    template<typename T>
    void operator()(T& t) const { std::cout << t << std::endl; }
};

int main()
{
    for_each( std::make_tuple(2, 0.6, 'c'), Functor() );
    return 0;
}

the power of variadic templates!

Here's an easy C++17 way of iterating over tuple items with just standard library:

#include <tuple>      // std::tuple
#include <functional> // std::invoke

template <
    size_t Index = 0, // start iteration at 0 index
    typename TTuple,  // the tuple type
    size_t Size =
        std::tuple_size_v<
            std::remove_reference_t<TTuple>>, // tuple size
    typename TCallable, // the callable to bo invoked for each tuple item
    typename... TArgs   // other arguments to be passed to the callable 
>
void for_each(TTuple&& tuple, TCallable&& callable, TArgs&&... args)
{
    if constexpr (Index < Size)
    {
        std::invoke(callable, args..., std::get<Index>(tuple));

        if constexpr (Index + 1 < Size)
            for_each<Index + 1>(
                std::forward<TTuple>(tuple),
                std::forward<TCallable>(callable),
                std::forward<TArgs>(args)...);
    }
}

Example:

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    std::tuple<int, char> items{1, 'a'};
    for_each(items, [](const auto& item) {
        std::cout << item << "\n";
    });
}

Output:

1
a

This can be extended to conditionally break the loop in case the callable returns a value (but still work with callables that do not return a bool assignable value, e.g. void):

#include <tuple>      // std::tuple
#include <functional> // std::invoke

template <
    size_t Index = 0, // start iteration at 0 index
    typename TTuple,  // the tuple type
    size_t Size =
    std::tuple_size_v<
    std::remove_reference_t<TTuple>>, // tuple size
    typename TCallable, // the callable to bo invoked for each tuple item
    typename... TArgs   // other arguments to be passed to the callable 
    >
    void for_each(TTuple&& tuple, TCallable&& callable, TArgs&&... args)
{
    if constexpr (Index < Size)
    {
        if constexpr (std::is_assignable_v<bool&, std::invoke_result_t<TCallable&&, TArgs&&..., decltype(std::get<Index>(tuple))>>)
        {
            if (!std::invoke(callable, args..., std::get<Index>(tuple)))
                return;
        }
        else
        {
            std::invoke(callable, args..., std::get<Index>(tuple));
        }

        if constexpr (Index + 1 < Size)
            for_each<Index + 1>(
                std::forward<TTuple>(tuple),
                std::forward<TCallable>(callable),
                std::forward<TArgs>(args)...);
    }
}

Example:

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    std::tuple<int, char> items{ 1, 'a' };
    for_each(items, [](const auto& item) {
        std::cout << item << "\n";
    });

    std::cout << "---\n";

    for_each(items, [](const auto& item) {
        std::cout << item << "\n";
        return false;
    });
}

Output:

1
a
---
1

boost's tuple provides helper functions get_head() and get_tail() so your helper functions may look like this:

inline void call_do_sth(const null_type&) {};

template <class H, class T>
inline void call_do_sth(cons<H, T>& x) { x.get_head().do_sth(); call_do_sth(x.get_tail()); }

as described in here http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_34_0/libs/tuple/doc/tuple_advanced_interface.html

with std::tuple it should be similar.

Actually, unfortunately std::tuple does not seem to provide such interface, so methods suggested before should work, or you would need to switch to boost::tuple which has other benefits (like io operators already provided). Though there is downside of boost::tuple with gcc - it does not accept variadic templates yet, but that may be already fixed as I do not have latest version of boost installed on my machine.

I might have missed this train, but this will be here for future reference.
Here's my construct based on this answer and on this gist:

#include <tuple>
#include <utility>

template<std::size_t N>
struct tuple_functor
{
    template<typename T, typename F>
    static void run(std::size_t i, T&& t, F&& f)
    {
        const std::size_t I = (N - 1);
        switch(i)
        {
        case I:
            std::forward<F>(f)(std::get<I>(std::forward<T>(t)));
            break;

        default:
            tuple_functor<I>::run(i, std::forward<T>(t), std::forward<F>(f));
        }
    }
};

template<>
struct tuple_functor<0>
{
    template<typename T, typename F>
    static void run(std::size_t, T, F){}
};

You then use it as follow:

template<typename... T>
void logger(std::string format, T... args) //behaves like C#'s String.Format()
{
    auto tp = std::forward_as_tuple(args...);
    auto fc = [](const auto& t){std::cout << t;};

    /* ... */

    std::size_t some_index = ...
    tuple_functor<sizeof...(T)>::run(some_index, tp, fc);

    /* ... */
}

There could be room for improvements.

As per OP's code, it would become this:

const std::size_t num = sizeof...(T);
auto my_tuple = std::forward_as_tuple(t...);
auto do_sth = [](const auto& elem){/* ... */};
for(int i = 0; i < num; ++i)
    tuple_functor<num>::run(i, my_tuple, do_sth);

In MSVC STL there's a _For_each_tuple_element function (not documented):

#include <tuple>

// ...

std::tuple<int, char, float> values{};
std::_For_each_tuple_element(values, [](auto&& value)
{
    // process 'value'
});

Of all the answers I've seen here, here and here, I liked @sigidagi's way of iterating best. Unfortunately, his answer is very verbose which in my opinion obscures the inherent clarity.

This is my version of his solution which is more concise and works with std::tuple, std::pair and std::array.

template<typename UnaryFunction>
void invoke_with_arg(UnaryFunction)
{}

/**
 * Invoke the unary function with each of the arguments in turn.
 */
template<typename UnaryFunction, typename Arg0, typename... Args>
void invoke_with_arg(UnaryFunction f, Arg0&& a0, Args&&... as)
{
    f(std::forward<Arg0>(a0));
    invoke_with_arg(std::move(f), std::forward<Args>(as)...);
}

template<typename Tuple, typename UnaryFunction, std::size_t... Indices>
void for_each_helper(Tuple&& t, UnaryFunction f, std::index_sequence<Indices...>)
{
    using std::get;
    invoke_with_arg(std::move(f), get<Indices>(std::forward<Tuple>(t))...);
}

/**
 * Invoke the unary function for each of the elements of the tuple.
 */
template<typename Tuple, typename UnaryFunction>
void for_each(Tuple&& t, UnaryFunction f)
{
    using size = std::tuple_size<typename std::remove_reference<Tuple>::type>;
    for_each_helper(
        std::forward<Tuple>(t),
        std::move(f),
        std::make_index_sequence<size::value>()
    );
}

Demo: coliru

C++14's std::make_index_sequence can be implemented for C++11.

Using constexpr and if constexpr(C++17) this is fairly simple and straight forward:

template <std::size_t I = 0, typename ... Ts>
void print(std::tuple<Ts...> tup) {
  if constexpr (I == sizeof...(Ts)) {
    return;
  } else {
    std::cout << std::get<I>(tup) << ' ';
    print<I+1>(tup);
  }
}

I have stumbled on the same problem for iterating over a tuple of function objects, so here is one more solution:

#include <tuple> 
#include <iostream>

// Function objects
class A 
{
    public: 
        inline void operator()() const { std::cout << "A\n"; };
};

class B 
{
    public: 
        inline void operator()() const { std::cout << "B\n"; };
};

class C 
{
    public:
        inline void operator()() const { std::cout << "C\n"; };
};

class D 
{
    public:
        inline void operator()() const { std::cout << "D\n"; };
};


// Call iterator using recursion.
template<typename Fobjects, int N = 0> 
struct call_functors 
{
    static void apply(Fobjects const& funcs)
    {
        std::get<N>(funcs)(); 

        // Choose either the stopper or descend further,  
        // depending if N + 1 < size of the tuple. 
        using caller = std::conditional_t
        <
            N + 1 < std::tuple_size_v<Fobjects>,
            call_functors<Fobjects, N + 1>, 
            call_functors<Fobjects, -1>
        >;

        caller::apply(funcs); 
    }
};

// Stopper.
template<typename Fobjects> 
struct call_functors<Fobjects, -1>
{
    static void apply(Fobjects const& funcs)
    {
    }
};

// Call dispatch function.
template<typename Fobjects>
void call(Fobjects const& funcs)
{
    call_functors<Fobjects>::apply(funcs);
};


using namespace std; 

int main()
{
    using Tuple = tuple<A,B,C,D>; 

    Tuple functors = {A{}, B{}, C{}, D{}}; 

    call(functors); 

    return 0; 
}

Output: 

A 
B 
C 
D

Others have mentioned some well-designed third-party libraries that you may turn to. However, if you are using C++ without those third-party libraries, the following code may help.

namespace detail {

template <class Tuple, std::size_t I, class = void>
struct for_each_in_tuple_helper {
  template <class UnaryFunction>
  static void apply(Tuple&& tp, UnaryFunction& f) {
    f(std::get<I>(std::forward<Tuple>(tp)));
    for_each_in_tuple_helper<Tuple, I + 1u>::apply(std::forward<Tuple>(tp), f);
  }
};

template <class Tuple, std::size_t I>
struct for_each_in_tuple_helper<Tuple, I, typename std::enable_if<
    I == std::tuple_size<typename std::decay<Tuple>::type>::value>::type> {
  template <class UnaryFunction>
  static void apply(Tuple&&, UnaryFunction&) {}
};

}  // namespace detail

template <class Tuple, class UnaryFunction>
UnaryFunction for_each_in_tuple(Tuple&& tp, UnaryFunction f) {
  detail::for_each_in_tuple_helper<Tuple, 0u>
      ::apply(std::forward<Tuple>(tp), f);
  return std::move(f);
}

Note: The code compiles with any compiler supporing C++11, and it keeps consistency with design of the standard library:

  1. The tuple need not be std::tuple, and instead may be anything that supports std::get and std::tuple_size; in particular, std::array and std::pair may be used;

  2. The tuple may be a reference type or cv-qualified;

  3. It has similar behavior as std::for_each, and returns the input UnaryFunction;

  4. For C++14 (or laster version) users, typename std::enable_if<T>::type and typename std::decay<T>::type could be replaced with their simplified version, std::enable_if_t<T> and std::decay_t<T>;

  5. For C++17 (or laster version) users, std::tuple_size<T>::value could be replaced with its simplified version, std::tuple_size_v<T>.

  6. For C++20 (or laster version) users, the SFINAE feature could be implemented with the Concepts.

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