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reverse_bidirectional_iterator<BidirectionalIterator, T, Reference, Distance>



Categories: iterators, adaptors	Component type: type

Description

Reverse_bidirectional_iterator is an iterator adaptor that enables backwards traversal of a range. Operator++ applied to an object of class reverse_bidirectional_iterator<BidirectionalIterator> means the same thing as operator-- applied to an object of class BidirectionalIterator. There are two different reverse iterator adaptors: the class reverse_bidirectional_iterator has a template argument that is a Bidirectional Iterator, and the class reverse_iterator has a template argument that is a Random Access Iterator. [1]

Example

template <class T>
void forw(const list<T>& L)
{
   list<T>::iterator first = L.begin();
   list<T>::iterator last = L.end();
   while (first != last) 
      cout << *first++ << endl;
}      

template <class T>
void rev(const list<T>& L)
{
   typedef reverse_bidirectional_iterator<list<T>::iterator,
                                          T,
                                          list<T>::reference_type,
                                          list<T>::difference_type> 
           reverse_iterator; [2]
   reverse_iterator rfirst(L.end());
   reverse_iterator rlast(L.begin());

   while (rfirst != rlast) 
      cout << *rfirst++ << endl;
}

In the function forw, the elements are printed in the order *first, *(first+1), ..., *(last-1). In the function rev, they are printed in the order *(last - 1), *(last-2), ..., *first. [3]

Definition

Defined in the standard header iterator, and in the nonstandard backward-compatibility header iterator.h. This class is no longer part of the C++ standard, but it was present in early drafts, and it is retained in this implementation for backward compatibility.

Template parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
`BidirectionalIterator`	The base iterator class. Incrementing an object of class `reverse_bidirectional_iterator<BidirectionalIterator>` corresponds to decrementing an object of class `BidirectionalIterator`.
`T`	The reverse iterator's value type. This should always be the same as the base iterator's value type.
`Reference`	The reverse iterator's reference type. This should always be the same as the base iterator's reference type.	`T&`
`Distance`	The reverse iterator's distance type. This should always be the same as the base iterator's distance type.	`ptrdiff_t`

Model of

Bidirectional Iterator.

Type requirements

The base iterator type (that is, the template parameter BidirectionalIterator) must be a Bidirectional Iterator. The reverse_bidirectional_iterator's value type, reference type, and distance type (that is, the template parameters T, Reference, and Distance, respectively) must be the same as the base iterator's value type, reference type, and distance type.

Public base classes

None.

Members

Member	Where defined	Description
`self`	`reverse_bidirectional_iterator`	See below
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator()`	Trivial Iterator	The default constructor
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator(const reverse_bidirectional_iterator& x)`	Trivial Iterator	The copy constructor
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator& operator=(const reverse_bidirectional_iterator& x)`	Trivial Iterator	The assignment operator
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator(BidirectionalIterator x)`	`reverse_bidirectional_iterator`	See below.
`BidirectionalIterator base()`	`reverse_bidirectional_iterator`	See below.
`Reference operator*() const`	Trivial Iterator	The dereference operator
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator& operator++()`	Forward Iterator	Preincrement
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator operator++(int)`	Forward Iterator	Postincrement
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator& operator--()`	Bidirectional Iterator	Predecrement
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator operator--(int)`	Bidirectional Iterator	Postdecrement
`bool operator==(const reverse_bidirectional_iterator&, const reverse_bidirectional_iterator&)`	Trivial Iterator	Compares two iterators for equality. This is a global function, not a member function.
`bidirectional_iterator_tag iterator_category(const reverse_bidirectional_iterator&)`	Iterator tags	Returns the iterator's category. This is a global function, not a member function.
`T* value_type(const reverse_bidirectional_iterator&)`	Iterator tags	Returns the iterator's value type. This is a global function, not a member function.
`Distance* distance_type(const reverse_bidirectional_iterator&)`	Iterator tags	Returns the iterator's distance type. This is a global function, not a member function.

New members

These members are not defined in the Bidirectional Iterator requirements, but are specific to reverse_bidirectional_iterator.

Member	Description
`self`	A typedef for `reverse_bidirectional_iterator<BidirectionalIterator, T, Reference, Distance>`.
`BidirectionalIterator base()`	Returns the current value of the `reverse_bidirectional_iterator`'s base iterator. If `ri` is a reverse iterator and `i` is any iterator, the two fundamental identities of reverse iterators can be written as `reverse_bidirectional_iterator(i).base() == i` and `&ri == &(ri.base() - 1)`.
`reverse_bidirectional_iterator(BidirectionalIterator i)`	Constructs a `reverse_bidirectional_iterator` whose base iterator is `i`.

Notes

[1] There isn't really any good reason to have two separate classes: this separation is purely because of a technical limitation in some of today's C++ compilers. If the two classes were combined into one, then there would be no way to declare the return types of the iterator tag functions iterator_category, distance_type and value_type correctly. The iterator traits class solves this problem: it addresses the same issues as the iterator tag functions, but in a cleaner and more flexible manner. Iterator traits, however, rely on partial specialization, and many C++ compilers do not yet implement partial specialization. Once compilers that support partial specialization become more common, these two different reverse iterator classes will be combined into a single class.

[2] The declarations for rfirst and rlast are written in this clumsy form simply as an illustration of how to declare a reverse_bidirectional_iterator. List is a Reversible Container, so it provides a typedef for the appropriate instantiation of reverse_bidirectional_iterator. The usual way of declaring these variables is much simpler:

    list<T>::reverse_bidirectional_iterator rfirst = rbegin();
    list<T>::reverse_bidirectional_iterator rlast = rend();

[3] Note the implications of this remark. The variable rfirst is initialized as reverse_bidirectional_iterator<...> rfirst(V.end());. The value obtained when it is dereferenced, however, is *(V.end() - 1). This is a general property: the fundamental identity of reverse iterators is &*(reverse_bidirectional_iterator(i)) == &*(i - 1). This code sample shows why this identity is important: if [f, l) is a valid range, then it allows [reverse_bidirectional_iterator(l), reverse_bidirectional_iterator(f)) to be a valid range as well. Note that the iterator l is not part of the range, but it is required to be dereferenceable or past-the-end. There is no requirement that any such iterator precedes f.