[cfe-dev] <PR 18283> C++ 03 - Need clarification regarding non-type template argument

[Marshall Clow]

On Jan 21, 2014, at 5:59 AM, Rahul Jain <rahul1.jain at samsung.com> wrote:

>  
> Hi all,
>  
> Note - this is with respect to C++ 03.
>  
> Test code:
>  
> template <int> struct A {};
> int const i = {42};
> typedef A<i> Ai;

Short, snarky answer - you can’t bracket-initialize a variable in c++03
	int const i = {42};

> For non-type template argument, standard (C++ 03) says that:
> 14.3.2 / 1
> A template-argument for a non-type, non-template template-parameter shall be one of:
> an integral constant-expression of integral or enumeration type; or ......
> For the test code above, the statement 'typedef A<i> Ai', should the compiler
> check the rhs (rvalue) of variable 'i' to determine if it is a constant or not?
> Shouldnt it just check the type of i (which is declared as const)?
> Whether 'i' evaluates to constant (at compile time) or not should be the responsibility of compiler
> while processing statement 'int const i = {42}' and not 'typedef A<i> Ai' ? Isnt it?
>  
> Another analogy:
> For arrays, the size of the array needs to be a compile time constant. So, the following code :
>  
> int const x = 42;
> int z[x];
>  
> For the statement 'int z[x]', will the compiler evaluate the rhs of 'x' to check if it evaluates to constant at runtime
> or will it just see that 'x' is of 'integer const' type and hence there is no problem with the array declaration?
> Whether 'x' evaluates to constant should be the responsibility of compiler while processing statement 'int const x=42'
> and not while processing 'int z[x]' ?
>  
> Should this analogy be applicable to non-type template argument?
> Please throw some light on this, am I missing any particular case?

My understanding (which may be flawed) is that the compiler needs to see both:
* That the compiler needs to be able to determine that the value it needs is const
* That the compiler can see what the value actually is, so that it can allocate space for the array, or instantiate the template.


So, this would not work:

	extern const int i;
	template <int> struct A {};
	typedef A<i> Ai;

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