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<meta name="author" content="David Abrahams, Jeremy Siek, Thomas Witt" />
<meta name="organization" content="Boost Consulting, Indiana University Open Systems Lab, University of Hanover Institute for Transport Railway Operation and Construction" />
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<div class="document" id="iterator-facade">
<h1 class="title">Iterator Facade</h1>
<table class="docinfo" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="docinfo-name" />
<col class="docinfo-content" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><th class="docinfo-name">Author:</th>
<td>David Abrahams, Jeremy Siek, Thomas Witt</td></tr>
<tr><th class="docinfo-name">Contact:</th>
<td><a class="first reference" href="mailto:dave&#64;boost-consulting.com">dave&#64;boost-consulting.com</a>, <a class="reference" href="mailto:jsiek&#64;osl.iu.edu">jsiek&#64;osl.iu.edu</a>, <a class="last reference" href="mailto:witt&#64;ive.uni-hannover.de">witt&#64;ive.uni-hannover.de</a></td></tr>
<tr><th class="docinfo-name">Organization:</th>
<td><a class="first reference" href="http://www.boost-consulting.com">Boost Consulting</a>, Indiana University <a class="reference" href="http://www.osl.iu.edu">Open Systems
Lab</a>, University of Hanover <a class="last reference" href="http://www.ive.uni-hannover.de">Institute for Transport
Railway Operation and Construction</a></td></tr>
<tr><th class="docinfo-name">Date:</th>
<td>2003-08-05</td></tr>
<tr><th class="docinfo-name">Copyright:</th>
<td>Copyright Dave Abrahams, Jeremy Siek, and Thomas Witt 2003. All rights reserved</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">abstract:</th><td class="field-body"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> is a base class template that implements the
interface of standard iterators in terms of a few core functions
and associated types, to be supplied by a derived iterator class.</p>
<div class="contents topic" id="table-of-contents">
<p class="topic-title"><a name="table-of-contents">Table of Contents</a></p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference" href="#motivation" id="id10" name="id10">Motivation</a></li>
<li><a class="reference" href="#usage" id="id11" name="id11">Usage</a></li>
<li><a class="reference" href="#iterator-core-access" id="id12" name="id12">Iterator Core Access</a></li>
<li><a class="reference" href="#operator" id="id13" name="id13"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[]</span></tt></a></li>
<li><a class="reference" href="#id3" id="id14" name="id14"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator-&gt;</span></tt></a></li>
<li><a class="reference" href="#reference" id="id15" name="id15">Reference</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference" href="#id8" id="id16" name="id16"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> requirements</a></li>
<li><a class="reference" href="#iterator-facade-operations" id="id17" name="id17"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> operations</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="motivation">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10" name="motivation">Motivation</a></h1>
<p>While the iterator interface is rich, there is a core subset of the
interface that is necessary for all the functionality. We have
identified the following core behaviors for iterators:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>dereferencing</li>
<li>incrementing</li>
<li>decrementing</li>
<li>equality comparison</li>
<li>random-access motion</li>
<li>distance measurement</li>
</ul>
<p>In addition to the behaviors listed above, the core interface elements
include the associated types exposed through iterator traits:
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">value_type</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">reference</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">difference_type</span></tt>, and
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_category</span></tt>.</p>
<p>Iterator facade uses the Curiously Recurring Template Pattern (CRTP)
<a class="citation-reference" href="#cop95" id="id1" name="id1">[Cop95]</a> so that the user can specify the behavior of
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> in a derived class. Former designs used policy
objects to specify the behavior. <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> does not use policy
objects for several reasons:</p>
<blockquote>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>the creation and eventual copying of the policy object may create
overhead that can be avoided with the current approach.</li>
<li>The policy object approach does not allow for custom constructors
on the created iterator types, an essential feature if
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> should be used in other library
implementations.</li>
<li>Without the use of CRTP, the standard requirement that an
iterator's <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator++</span></tt> returns the iterator type itself means
that all iterators generated by <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> would be
instantiations of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt>. Cumbersome type generator
metafunctions would be needed to build new parameterized
iterators, and a separate <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_adaptor</span></tt> layer would be
impossible.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="section" id="usage">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11" name="usage">Usage</a></h1>
<p>The user of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> derives his iterator class from an
instantiation of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> which takes the derived iterator
class as the first template parameter. The order of the other
template parameters to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> have been carefully chosen
to take advantage of useful defaults. For example, when defining a
constant lvalue iterator, the user can pass a const-qualified version
of the iterator's <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">value_type</span></tt> as <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt>'s <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Value</span></tt>
parameter and omit the <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Reference</span></tt> parameter which follows.</p>
<p>The derived iterator class must define member functions implementing
the iterator's core behaviors. The following table describes
expressions which are required to be valid depending on the category
of the derived iterator type. These member functions are described
briefly below and in more detail in the iterator facade
requirements.</p>
<blockquote>
<table border class="table">
<colgroup>
<col width="44%" />
<col width="56%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr><th>Expression</th>
<th>Effects</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">i.dereference()</span></tt></td>
<td>Access the value referred to</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">i.equal(j)</span></tt></td>
<td>Compare for equality with <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">j</span></tt></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">i.increment()</span></tt></td>
<td>Advance by one position</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">i.decrement()</span></tt></td>
<td>Retreat by one position</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">i.advance(n)</span></tt></td>
<td>Advance by <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">n</span></tt> positions</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">i.distance_to(j)</span></tt></td>
<td>Measure the distance to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">j</span></tt></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</blockquote>
<!-- Should we add a comment that a zero overhead implementation of iterator_facade
is possible with proper inlining? -->
<p>In addition to implementing the core interface functions, an iterator
derived from <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> typically defines several
constructors. To model any of the standard iterator concepts, the
iterator must at least have a copy constructor. Also, if the iterator
type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt> is meant to be automatically interoperate with another
iterator type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Y</span></tt> (as with constant and mutable iterators) then
there must be an implicit conversion from <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt> to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Y</span></tt> or from <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Y</span></tt>
to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt> (but not both), typically implemented as a conversion
constructor. Finally, if the iterator is to model Forward Traversal
Iterator or a more-refined iterator concept, a default constructor is
required.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="iterator-core-access">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12" name="iterator-core-access">Iterator Core Access</a></h1>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> and the operator implementations need to be able
to access the core member functions in the derived class. Making the
core member functions public would expose an implementation detail to
the user. The design used here ensures that implementation details do
not appear in the public interface of the derived iterator type.</p>
<p>Preventing direct access to the core member functions has two
advantages. First, there is no possibility for the user to accidently
use a member function of the iterator when a member of the value_type
was intended. This has been an issue with smart pointer
implementations in the past. The second and main advantage is that
library implementers can freely exchange a hand-rolled iterator
implementation for one based on <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> without fear of
breaking code that was accessing the public core member functions
directly.</p>
<p>In a naive implementation, keeping the derived class' core member
functions private would require it to grant friendship to
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> and each of the seven operators. In order to
reduce the burden of limiting access, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_core_access</span></tt> is
provided, a class that acts as a gateway to the core member functions
in the derived iterator class. The author of the derived class only
needs to grant friendship to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_core_access</span></tt> to make his core
member functions available to the library.</p>
<!-- This is no long uptodate -thw -->
<!-- Yes it is; I made sure of it! -DWA -->
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_core_access</span></tt> will be typically implemented as an empty
class containing only private static member functions which invoke the
iterator core member functions. There is, however, no need to
standardize the gateway protocol. Note that even if
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_core_access</span></tt> used public member functions it would not
open a safety loophole, as every core member function preserves the
invariants of the iterator.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="operator">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13" name="operator"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[]</span></tt></a></h1>
<p>The indexing operator for a generalized iterator presents special
challenges. A random access iterator's <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[]</span></tt> is only
required to return something convertible to its <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">value_type</span></tt>.
Requiring that it return an lvalue would rule out currently-legal
random-access iterators which hold the referenced value in a data
member (e.g. <a class="reference" href="counting_iterator.html">counting_iterator</a>), because <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">*(p+n)</span></tt> is a reference
into the temporary iterator <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">p+n</span></tt>, which is destroyed when
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[]</span></tt> returns.</p>
<p>Writable iterators built with <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> implement the
semantics required by the preferred resolution to <a class="reference" href="http://anubis.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/lwg-active.html#299">issue 299</a> and
adopted by proposal <a class="reference" href="http://anubis.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC22/WG21/docs/papers/2003/n1477.html">n1477</a>: the result of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">p[n]</span></tt> is a proxy object
containing a copy of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">p+n</span></tt>, and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">p[n]</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">x</span></tt> is equivalent to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">*(p</span>
<span class="pre">+</span> <span class="pre">n)</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">x</span></tt>. This approach will work properly for any random-access
iterator regardless of the other details of its implementation. A
user who knows more about the implementation of her iterator is free
to implement an <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[]</span></tt> which returns an lvalue in the derived
iterator class; it will hide the one supplied by <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt>
from clients of her iterator.</p>
<a class="target" id="operator-arrow" name="operator-arrow"></a></div>
<div class="section" id="id3">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id14" name="id3"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator-&gt;</span></tt></a></h1>
<p>The <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">reference</span></tt> type of a readable iterator (and today's input
iterator) need not in fact be a reference, so long as it is
convertible to the iterator's <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">value_type</span></tt>. When the <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">value_type</span></tt>
is a class, however, it must still be possible to access members
through <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator-&gt;</span></tt>. Therefore, an iterator whose <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">reference</span></tt>
type is not in fact a reference must return a proxy containing a copy
of the referenced value from its <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator-&gt;</span></tt>.</p>
<p>The return type for <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator-&gt;</span></tt> and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[]</span></tt> is not
explicitly specified. Instead it requires each <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt>
instantiation to meet the requirements of its <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_category</span></tt>.</p>
<table class="citation" frame="void" id="cop95" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<col />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id1" name="cop95">[Cop95]</a></td><td>[Coplien, 1995] Coplien, J., Curiously Recurring Template
Patterns, C++ Report, February 1995, pp. 24-27.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div class="section" id="reference">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id15" name="reference">Reference</a></h1>
<pre class="literal-block">
template &lt;
class Derived
, class Value
, class AccessCategory
, class TraversalCategory
, class Reference = /* see <a class="reference" href="#iterator-facade-requirements">below</a> */
, class Difference = ptrdiff_t
&gt;
class iterator_facade {
public:
typedef remove_cv&lt;Value&gt;::type value_type;
typedef Reference reference;
typedef /* see <a class="reference" href="#operator-arrow">description of operator-&gt;</a> */ pointer;
typedef Difference difference_type;
typedef iterator_tag&lt;AccessCategory, TraversalCategory&gt; iterator_category;
reference operator*() const;
/* see <a class="reference" href="#operator-arrow">below</a> */ operator-&gt;() const;
/* see <a class="reference" href="#brackets">below</a> */ operator[](difference_type n) const;
Derived&amp; operator++();
Derived operator++(int);
Derived&amp; operator--();
Derived operator--(int);
Derived&amp; operator+=(difference_type n);
Derived&amp; operator-=(difference_type n);
Derived operator-(difference_type n) const;
};
// Comparison operators
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type // exposition
operator ==(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator !=(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator &lt;(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator &lt;=(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator &gt;(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator &gt;=(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator &gt;=(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
// Iterator difference
template &lt;class Dr1, class V1, class AC1, class TC1, class R1, class D1,
class Dr2, class V2, class AC2, class TC2, class R2, class D2&gt;
typename enable_if_interoperable&lt;Dr1, Dr2, bool&gt;::type
operator -(iterator_facade&lt;Dr1, V1, AC1, TC1, R1, D1&gt; const&amp; lhs,
iterator_facade&lt;Dr2, V2, AC2, TC2, R2, D2&gt; const&amp; rhs);
// Iterator addition
template &lt;class Derived, class V, class AC, class TC, class R, class D&gt;
Derived operator+ (iterator_facade&lt;Derived, V, AC, TC, R, D&gt; const&amp;,
typename Derived::difference_type n)
</pre>
<p>[<em>Note:</em> The <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">enable_if_interoperable</span></tt> template used above is for exposition
purposes. The member operators should be only be in an overload set
provided the derived types <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Dr1</span></tt> and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Dr2</span></tt> are interoperable, by
which we mean they are convertible to each other. The
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">enable_if_interoperable</span></tt> approach uses SFINAE to take the operators
out of the overload set when the types are not interoperable.]</p>
<!-- we need a new label here because the presence of markup in the
title prevents an automatic link from being generated -->
<a class="target" id="iterator-facade-requirements" name="iterator-facade-requirements"></a><div class="section" id="id8">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id16" name="id8"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> requirements</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived</span></tt> template parameter must be a class derived from
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt>.</p>
<p>The default for the <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Reference</span></tt> parameter is <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Value&amp;</span></tt> if the
access category for <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> is implicitly convertible to
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">writable_iterator_tag</span></tt>, and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">const</span> <span class="pre">Value&amp;</span></tt> otherwise.</p>
<p>The following table describes the other requirements on the
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived</span></tt> parameter. Depending on the resulting iterator's
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_category</span></tt>, a subset of the expressions listed in the table
are required to be valid. The operations in the first column must be
accessible to member functions of class <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_core_access</span></tt>.</p>
<p>In the table below, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt> is the derived iterator type, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a</span></tt> is an
object of type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">b</span></tt> and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span></tt> are objects of type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">const</span> <span class="pre">X</span></tt>,
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">n</span></tt> is an object of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::difference_type</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">y</span></tt> is a constant
object of a single pass iterator type interoperable with X, and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">z</span></tt>
is a constant object of a random access traversal iterator type
interoperable with <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt>.</p>
<table border class="table">
<colgroup>
<col width="19%" />
<col width="18%" />
<col width="36%" />
<col width="26%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr><th>Expression</th>
<th>Return Type</th>
<th>Assertion/Note</th>
<th>Required to implement
Iterator Concept(s)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c.dereference()</span></tt></td>
<td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::reference</span></tt></td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Readable Iterator, Writable
Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c.equal(b)</span></tt></td>
<td>convertible to bool</td>
<td>true iff <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">b</span></tt> and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span></tt> are
equivalent.</td>
<td>Single Pass Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c.equal(y)</span></tt></td>
<td>convertible to bool</td>
<td>true iff <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span></tt> and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">y</span></tt> refer to the
same position. Implements <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">==</span> <span class="pre">y</span></tt>
and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">!=</span> <span class="pre">y</span></tt>.</td>
<td>Single Pass Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a.advance(n)</span></tt></td>
<td>unused</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Random Access Traversal
Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a.increment()</span></tt></td>
<td>unused</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Incrementable Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a.decrement()</span></tt></td>
<td>unused</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Bidirectional Traversal
Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c.distance_to(b)</span></tt></td>
<td>convertible to
X::difference_type</td>
<td>equivalent to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">distance(c,</span> <span class="pre">b)</span></tt></td>
<td>Random Access Traversal
Iterator</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c.distance_to(z)</span></tt></td>
<td>convertible to
X::difference_type</td>
<td>equivalent to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">distance(c,</span> <span class="pre">z)</span></tt>.
Implements <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">-</span> <span class="pre">z</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">&lt;</span> <span class="pre">z</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span>
<span class="pre">&lt;=</span> <span class="pre">z</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">&gt;</span> <span class="pre">z</span></tt>, and <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">c</span> <span class="pre">&gt;=</span> <span class="pre">c</span></tt>.</td>
<td>Random Access Traversal
Iterator</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<!-- We should explain more about how the
functions in the interface of iterator_facade
are there conditionally. -JGS -->
</div>
<div class="section" id="iterator-facade-operations">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id17" name="iterator-facade-operations"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_facade</span></tt> operations</a></h2>
<p>The operations in this section are described in terms of operations on
the core interface of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived</span></tt> which may be inaccessible
(i.e. private). The implementation should access these operations
through member functions of class <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">iterator_core_access</span></tt>.</p>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">reference</span> <span class="pre">operator*()</span> <span class="pre">const;</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Returns:</th><td class="field-body"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">static_cast&lt;Derived</span> <span class="pre">const*&gt;(this)-&gt;dereference()</span></tt></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator-&gt;()</span> <span class="pre">const;</span></tt> (see <a class="reference" href="#operator-arrow">below</a>)</p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Returns:</th><td class="field-body"><p class="first">If <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::reference</span></tt> is a reference type, returns an object
of type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::pointer</span></tt> equal to:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
&amp;static_cast&lt;Derived const*&gt;(this)-&gt;dereference()
</pre>
<p>Otherwise returns an object of unspecified type such that, given an
object <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a</span></tt> of type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a-&gt;m</span></tt> is equivalent to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">(w</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">*a,</span>
<span class="pre">w.m)</span></tt> for some temporary object <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">w</span></tt> of type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::value_type</span></tt>.</p>
<p class="last">The type <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::pointer</span></tt> is <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Value*</span></tt> if the access category for
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X</span></tt> is implicitly convertible to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">writable_iterator_tag</span></tt>, and
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Value</span> <span class="pre">const*</span></tt> otherwise.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<a class="target" id="brackets" name="brackets"></a><p><em>unspecified</em> <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">operator[](difference_type</span> <span class="pre">n)</span> <span class="pre">const;</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Returns:</th><td class="field-body">an object convertible to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::reference</span></tt> and holding a copy
<em>p</em> of <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">a+n</span></tt> such that, for a constant object <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">v</span></tt> of type
<tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::value_type</span></tt>, <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">X::reference(a[n]</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">v)</span></tt> is equivalent
to <tt class="literal"><span class="pre">p</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">v</span></tt>.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived&amp;</span> <span class="pre">operator++();</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body"><pre class="first last literal-block">
static_cast&lt;Derived*&gt;(this)-&gt;increment();
return *this;
</pre>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<!-- I realize that the committee is moving away from specifying things
like this in terms of code, but I worried about the imprecision of
saying that a core interface function is invoked without describing
the downcast. An alternative to what I did would be to mention it
above where we talk about accessibility. -->
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived</span> <span class="pre">operator++(int);</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body"><pre class="first last literal-block">
Derived tmp(static_cast&lt;Derived const*&gt;(this));
++*this;
return tmp;
</pre>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived&amp;</span> <span class="pre">operator--();</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body"><pre class="first last literal-block">
static_cast&lt;Derived*&gt;(this)-&gt;decrement();
return *this;
</pre>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived</span> <span class="pre">operator--(int);</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body"><pre class="first last literal-block">
Derived tmp(static_cast&lt;Derived const*&gt;(this));
--*this;
return tmp;
</pre>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived&amp;</span> <span class="pre">operator+=(difference_type</span> <span class="pre">n);</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body"><pre class="first last literal-block">
static_cast&lt;Derived*&gt;(this)-&gt;advance(n);
return *this;
</pre>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived&amp;</span> <span class="pre">operator-=(difference_type</span> <span class="pre">n);</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body"><pre class="first last literal-block">
static_cast&lt;Derived*&gt;(this)-&gt;advance(-n);
return *this;
</pre>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">Derived</span> <span class="pre">operator-(difference_type</span> <span class="pre">n)</span> <span class="pre">const;</span></tt></p>
<table class="field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Effects:</th><td class="field-body">Derived tmp(static_cast&lt;Derived const*&gt;(this));
return tmp -= n;</td>
</tr>
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Returns:</th><td class="field-body"><tt class="literal"><span class="pre">static_cast&lt;Derived</span> <span class="pre">const*&gt;(this)-&gt;advance(-n);</span></tt></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>