Using an abstract deleter with std::unique_ptr

Question

I want to have a run-time interface that offers some creation methods. These methods return unique_ptr<T>, and I want to enable custom deletion by the creating class. The thing is that I definitely don't want the interface to offer these methods directly- they should only be available in the destruction of the unique_ptr<T, SomeCustomDel>. Now, I figured that I can use std::unique_ptr<T, std::function<void(T*)>>, but I'd really rather not because I simply don't need that level of abstraction and I don't want to have to pay the heap allocation.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I found this question googling my own problem; using unique_ptr with an abstract base class pointer. All the answers are great. I found @deft_code's one to be the best for my needs.

This is what I ended up doing in my case:

Suppose T is an abstract base class type. The makeT(), func creates a new instance of some derived class, and returns the T*:

std::unique_ptr<T, std::function<void(T*)>> p(makeT(), [](T* p){p.delete();});

I just wanted to share this for those who are looking for short, copy and pasteish solution.

For the untrained c++11 eyes, the [](... syntax is a lambda.

As is mentioned in the other answers, it's not a 'function pointer' in the C sense, but a callable c++ object, which is really tiny, and should have negligible overhead to carry it around.

Answer 2

This is a response to one of the answers, not to the original question. It is an answer instead of a comment simply because of formatting reasons.

I wish there was a standard "dynamic" deleter version of std::unique_ptr. This mythical class would allow me to attach a deleter to the unique_ptr when I instantiate it, similar to std::shared_ptr.

Here is a start of an implementation of such a class. It is fairly easy to do. I've used unique_ptr only as an exception safety aid, nothing more. It is not as full-featured as you might like. These extra features are left as an exercise for the reader. :-) What is below establishes unique ownership of the pointer and storage for the custom dynamic deleter. Note that the smart pointer owns a passed-in pointer even if the constructor of the smart pointer throws (this is actually where unique_ptr is most useful in the implementation).

#include <memory>
#include <type_traits>

namespace detail
{

class impl
{
public:
    virtual ~impl() {};
};

template <class T, class D>
class erase_type
    : public impl
{
    T* t_;
    D d_;

public:
    explicit erase_type(T* t)
            noexcept(std::is_nothrow_default_constructible<D>::value)
        : t_(t)
    {}

    erase_type(T* t, const D& d)
            noexcept(std::is_nothrow_copy_constructible<D>::value)
        : t_(t),
          d_(d)
       {}

    erase_type(T* t, D&& d)
            noexcept(std::is_nothrow_move_constructible<D>::value)
        : t_(t),
          d_(std::move(d))
       {}

    virtual ~erase_type()
    {
        if (t_)
            d_(t_);
    }

    erase_type(const erase_type&) = delete;
    erase_type& operator=(const erase_type&) = delete;
};

}  // detail

template <class T>
class my_pointer
{
    T* ptr_;
    detail::impl* impl_;

public:
    my_pointer() noexcept
        : ptr_(nullptr),
          impl_(nullptr)
    {}

    template <class Y>
    explicit my_pointer(Y* p)
        : ptr_(static_cast<T*>(p)),
          impl_(nullptr)
    {
        std::unique_ptr<Y> hold(p);
        impl_ = new detail::erase_type<Y, std::default_delete<Y>>(p);
        hold.release();
    }

    template <class Y, class D>
    explicit my_pointer(Y* p, D&& d)
        : ptr_(static_cast<T*>(p)),
          impl_(nullptr)
    {
        std::unique_ptr<Y, D&> hold(p, d);
        typedef
            detail::erase_type<Y, typename std::remove_reference<D>::type>
            ErasedType;
        impl_ = new ErasedType(p, std::forward<D>(d));
        hold.release();
    }

    ~my_pointer()
    {
        delete impl_;
    }

    my_pointer(my_pointer&& p) noexcept
        : ptr_(p.ptr_),
          impl_(p.impl_)
    {
        p.ptr_ = nullptr;
        p.impl_ = nullptr;
    }

    my_pointer& operator=(my_pointer&& p) noexcept
    {
        delete impl_;
        ptr_ = p.ptr_;
        impl_ = p.impl_;
        p.ptr_ = nullptr;
        p.impl_ = nullptr;
        return *this;
    }

    typename std::add_lvalue_reference<T>::type
    operator*() const noexcept
        {return *ptr_;}

    T* operator->() const noexcept
        {return ptr_;}
};

Note that unlike unique_ptr (and like shared_ptr), the constructors taking a pointer are not noexcept. Although that could possibly be mitigated via the use of a "small deleter" optimization. Yet another exercise left for the reader. :-)

Answer 3

I wish there was a standard "dynamic" deleter version of std::unique_ptr. This mythical class would allow me to attach a deleter to the unique_ptr when I instantiate it, similar to std::shared_ptr.

That said if such a type existed I suspect it would essentially be implemented with std::unique_ptr<T,std::function<void(T*)>>. The very thing you wanted to avoid.

However I think you're underestimating std::function. Its implementation is optimization to avoid hitting the heap if possible. If your deleter object remains small everything will be done on the stack (I think boost::function can statically handle deleters up to 32 bytes in size).

A for the problem of a too general deleter. You have to provide the definition of the deleter. There is no way around that. However you don't have to let the user instantiate the class, which essentially forbids them from using it. To do this make the deleter's constructor(s) require a tag structure that is only defined in the implementation file.

Or possibly the simplest solution. Put the deleter in a detail namespace. The user is still free to use it, but it's obvious that they should not and can't complain when you change it, breaking their code.

Answer 4

Your specification isn't completely clear to me, but have you considered unique_ptr<T, void(*)(void*)>? This is a very flexible type with many qualities of a dynamic deleter.

If that isn't what you're looking for, you might try something along the lines of:

class impl
{
public:
    virtual ~impl();

    virtual void operator()(void*) = 0;
    virtual void other_functionality() = 0;
};

class my_deleter
{
    impl* p_;
public:
    ...
    void operator()(void* p) {(*p_)(p);}
    void other_functionality() {p_->other_functionality();}
    ...
};

It is difficult to know what is best in your case without more details about your requirements.

Answer 5

I see two options.

Option 1: Use a custom deleter that contains a function pointer and optionally a raw char array to encode some state if necessary:

template<class T>
void simply_delete(T* ptr, const unsigned char*) {
    delete ptr;
}

template<class T, int StateSize>
struct my_deleter {
    void (*funptr)(T*,const unsigned char*);
    array<unsigned char,StateSize> state;

    my_deleter() : funptr(&simply_delete<T>) {}

    void operator()(T* ptr) const {
        funptr(ptr,StateSize>0 ? &state[0] : nullptr);
    }
};

template<class T>
using upi = unique_ptr<T,my_deleter<T,sizeof(void*)>>;

Now, you can create different upi<T> objects that store different function pointers and deleter states without the need of mentioning what exactly is happening in its type. But this is almost the same as a function<> deleter which implements the "small function optimization". You can expect a decent standard library implementation to provide a very efficient function<> wrapper for small function objects (like function pointers) that don't require any heap allocations. At least I do. :)

Option 2: Simply use shared_ptr instead of unique_ptr and make use of its built-in type erasure feature with respect to deleters. This will also allow you to support Derived->Base conversions easily. For greatest control over what is allocated where you could use the std::allocate_shared function template.