[Boost-users] [Any] inconsistent return types of any_cast overloads

Subject: [Boost-users] [Any] inconsistent return types of any_cast overloads
From: Arne Vogel (avogel_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-12-02 10:59:27

Hello Boost Users,

Code like the following used to work with Boost 1.53 on x86-64 Linux 
using GCC 4.7 and -std=c++11:

boost::any makeVec()
{
    return std::vector<int>{ 1, 2, 3 };
}

void foo()
{
   const auto& vec = boost::any_cast<std::vector<int>>(makeVec());
   for ( auto value : vec )
   {
       // ...
   }
}

The same code is likely to cause a segmentation violation using Boost 
1.55. According to the online documentation *1, any_cast has two 
overloads accepting reference arguments:

template<typename ValueType> ValueType any_cast(any&);
template<typename ValueType> ValueType any_cast(const any&);

If these were indeed the only overloads accepting reference arguments, 
there is no reason why the example code shouldn't work. ValueType 
any_cast(const any&) should be the preferred overload and it returns a 
vector<int> temporary whose lifetime is then extended to the end of the 
block by being bound to a local const reference, as required by the C++ 
standard.

However, in any.hpp, I discovered the following overload, which is only 
declared if the macro BOOST_NO_CXX11_RVALUE_REFERENCES is not set. I 
suppose this overload was added since 1.53, or that, previously, it was 
by default omitted.

template<typename ValueType> ValueType&& any_cast(any&&);

This has higher precedence binding to the temporary returned from 
makeVec, and returns an rvalue reference to the vector<int> contained in 
said temporary, which is then implicitly converted to a const lvalue 
reference as by the usual language rules. Since the lifetime of the 
temporary returned by makeVec is NOT extended - this only works for 
temporaries directly bound to a local const reference, whereas the 
result of makeVec is "hidden" inside the call to any_cast - the 
temporary is destroyed before the start of the for loop, which renders 
vec invalid and the code a denizen of undefined behavior land.

So much for the analysis, now for my actual question. :-)

Why does the new overload return by reference when the old ones return 
by value? The rationale for the old overloads was, I believe, "you 
should have to ask for a reference if you want one", which makes sense 
given precisely that using references tends to be more error prone if 
temporaries are involved. So this would be the very reason why Any does 
not declare:

template<typename ValueType> const ValueType& any_cast(const any&);

even though it could be implemented as easily as the actual overload. If 
I really wanted to get an const reference out of any_cast, I could write 
something like

   boost::any_cast<const ValueType&>(var);

I can't think of a reason to be inconsistent in this regard and return a 
reference if a temporary is passed to any_cast, instead of requiring a 
user who really wants any_cast to return an rvalue reference to write 
any_cast<ValueType&&>(...). That the overload breaks existing code and 
(due to being undocumented and not checked at compile time *2), silently 
so, whereas using ValueType any_cast(any&&) would at least fail to do 
any harm, is, in my opinion, another reason to be sceptical of the 
current solution.

Furthermore, there is a usability reason for preferring ValueType(any 
&&): If ValueType &&(any &&) is declared and I do NOT want a reference, 
I need to write more verbose and inelegant code than in the opposite case:

// Name the temporary
const auto &vecAny = makeVec();
// Now, ValueType&& any_cast(any&&) is eliminated from candidate set (no 
conversion from an lvalue to an rvalue reference)
const auto& vec = boost::any_cast<std::vector<int>>(vecAny);

Note that the const is accidental here, using a mutable lvalue would 
work as well.

Looking forward to your opinions,
Arne Vogel

*1) 
http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_55_0/doc/html/boost/any_cast_idp25247624.html
*2) A compiler may issue a warning. However, I found that GCC 4.8.1 does 
not warn, even with -Wall and the definition of any_cast being known at 
the point of use.