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        Pointer cast for unique_ptr - HackMD
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<tr><th>Doc. no.:</th>    <td>P3139R0</td></tr>
<tr><th>Date:</th>        <td>2024-5-20</td></tr>
<tr><th>Audience:</th>    <td>LEWG</td></tr>
<tr><th>Reply-to:</th>    <td>Zhihao Yuan &lt;zhihao.yuan@broadcom.com&gt;<br>Jordan Saxonberg &lt;jordan.saxonberg@broadcom.com&gt;</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h1 id="Pointer-cast-for-unique_ptr" data-id="Pointer-cast-for-unique_ptr"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Pointer-cast-for-unique_ptr" title="Pointer-cast-for-unique_ptr"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Pointer cast for </span><code>unique_ptr</code></h1><p><span class="toc"><ul>
<li><a href="#Pointer-cast-for-unique_ptr" title="Pointer cast for unique_ptr">Pointer cast for unique_ptr</a><ul>
<li><a href="#Introduction" title="Introduction">Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="#Prior-Art" title="Prior Art">Prior Art</a></li>
<li><a href="#Motivation" title="Motivation">Motivation</a></li>
<li><a href="#Design" title="Design">Design</a></li>
<li><a href="#Technical-Specification" title="Technical Specification">Technical Specification</a></li>
<li><a href="#Implementation-Experience" title="Implementation Experience">Implementation Experience</a></li>
<li><a href="#Acknowledgements" title="Acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</span></p><h2 id="Introduction" data-id="Introduction"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Introduction" title="Introduction"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Introduction</span></h2><p><span>We propose </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span> overloads for </span><code>std::const_pointer_cast</code><span> and </span><code>std::dynamic_pointer_cast</code><span>. For each kind of cast, we allow users to choose between either using the defaulted deleter or preserving the original deleter type for each kind of cast.</span></p><p><span>The table following illustrates the simpler case of the two where users expect defaulted deleters in the resulting types.</span></p><table class="no-alt"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2">
<p><span>Given an API:</span></p>
<pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">auto</span> <span class="token function">GetClient</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token operator">-&gt;</span> std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span><span class="token keyword">const</span> Client<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre>
</td></tr>
<tr><th>
<p><span>C++23</span></p>
</th><td>
<p><span>⚠ Owning raw pointer</span></p>
<pre><code class="cpp hljs">std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>Client<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> client<span class="token punctuation">;</span>
client<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">reset</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">const_cast</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>Client<span class="token operator">*</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token function">GetClient</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">release</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre>
<p><span>❌ Leak resources if </span><code>dynamic_cast</code><span> fails</span></p>
<pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">void</span> <span class="token function">UseV2Client</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>Client<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> client<span class="token punctuation">)</span>
<span class="token punctuation">{</span>
    std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>ClientV2<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> v2<span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token comment">// ...</span>
    v2<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">reset</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">dynamic_cast</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>ClientV2<span class="token operator">*</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>client<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">release</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre>
</td></tr>
<tr><th>
<p><mark><span>P3139</span></mark></p>
</th><td>
<p><span>✔</span></p>
<pre><code class="cpp hljs">std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>Client<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> client<span class="token punctuation">;</span>
client <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">const_pointer_cast</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>Client<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token function">GetClient</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre>
<p><span>✔</span></p>
<pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">void</span> <span class="token function">UseV2Client</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>Client<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> client<span class="token punctuation">)</span>
<span class="token punctuation">{</span>
    std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>ClientV2<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> v2<span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token comment">// ...</span>
    v2 <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">dynamic_pointer_cast</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>ClientV2<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span><span class="token function">move</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>client<span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h2 id="Prior-Art" data-id="Prior-Art"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Prior-Art" title="Prior-Art"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Prior Art</span></h2><p><a href="https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_63_0/boost/pointer_cast.hpp" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Boost.SmartPtr</span></a><span> ships all four casts (</span><code>dynamic_pointer_cast</code><span>, </span><code>static_pointer_cast</code><span>, </span><code>const_pointer_cast</code><span>, and </span><code>reinterpret_pointer_cast</code><span>) that create </span><code>std::unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> by releasing </span><code>std::unique_ptr&lt;U&gt;</code><span> since 2016.</span></p><h2 id="Motivation" data-id="Motivation"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Motivation" title="Motivation"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Motivation</span></h2><dl>
<dt><span>Improve resource safety</span></dt>
<dd><span>The need for pointer casts between </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span>s was spotted in code reviews from independent parties. Without coincidence, the conclusions were to use </span><code>.release()</code><span>, a resource-unsafe API, as a one-off solution. Such a practice encourages the use of unsafe constructs and potentially breaks future code as a result. The standard C++ should encourage the opposite.</span></dd>
<dt><span>Express the intent of pointer cast via established vocabularies</span></dt>
<dd><span>When people look for pointer casts between smart pointers, they look for </span><code>std::dynamic_pointer_cast</code><span>, </span><code>std::const_pointer_cast</code><span>, etc. These names resemble </span><code>dynamic_cast</code><span> and </span><code>const_cast</code><span> and work for </span><code>std::shared_ptr</code><span> already. There is no simpler way to express the same intent and no reason to find a different set of names.</span></dd>
<dt><span>Standardize existing practices</span></dt>
<dd><span>The </span><a href="https://cppalliance.org/slack/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>cpplang</span></a><span> Slack workspace rediscovers </span><code>dynamic_pointer_cast(std::unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;&amp;&amp;)</code><span> on a yearly basis, albeit </span><code>boost::dynamic_pointer_cast(std::unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;&amp;&amp;)</code><span> existed before the group's birth. Some of the work supports preserving the incoming deleter type. It's time to consider adopting the working parts from Boost and explore the recurring extension.</span></dd>
</dl><h2 id="Design" data-id="Design"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Design" title="Design"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Design</span></h2><p><code>unique_ptr</code><span> differs from </span><code>shared_ptr</code><span> in a few significant ways. Obviously, we can only cast from an rvalue of </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span> by moving its ownership. The other differences that made impacts on the design are:</span></p><ol>
<li><span>A </span><code>shared_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> carries a type-erased deleter, while </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;</code><span>'s deleter is a part of the type. The seemly intuitive </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> to </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U&gt;</code><span> actually requires replacing </span><code>std::default_delete&lt;T&gt;</code><span> with </span><code>std::default_delete&lt;U&gt;</code><span>, which may not apply to the customized deleters.</span></li>
<li><span>A casted </span><code>shared_ptr&lt;U&gt;</code><span> is only an alias to the original </span><code>shared_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span>. The newly created object requires no deleter, and you can expect the original deleter to be able to delete the uncasted pointer. Meanwhile, </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U, D&gt;</code><span>, in general, must deal with the question "whether </span><code>D</code><span> can delete the casted pointer."</span></li>
<li><span>A </span><code>shared_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> owns a "real" pointer, while </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;</code><span> can customize its pointer type as indicated by its pointer typedef. Converting between the pointer types may create loopholes as the </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T[], D&gt;</code><span> specializations reused this mechanism.</span></li>
</ol><p><span>It turns out that using </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span> with a type-erased deleter is not uncommon in the industry. It does not have to be as sophisticated as something that calls into </span><code>memory_resource</code><span>. A deleter that takes a pointer to a polymorphic base class is possibly a type-erased deleter. Even </span><code>&amp;std::free</code><span> is a legitimate type-erased deleter. So when designing the APIs to cast between </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span>s, we would like to support both expectations: </span><strong><span>one set of APIs to cast </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> to </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U&gt;</code><span> and the other set to cast </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;</code><span> to </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U, D&gt;</code></strong><span>. In other words, one defaults the deleter, and the other one preserves the deleter.</span></p><p><span>However, the set of casts we can safely perform in practice is not without boundaries with both API styles. According to our preliminary survey using GitHub code search, </span><code>static_cast</code><span>s between </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span>s using the </span><code>.release()</code><span> trick almost always perform downcast in the hope of gaining performance over </span><code>dynamic_cast</code><span> by sacrificing safety, and </span><code>reinterpret_cast</code><span>s between </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span>s only retrieve byte sequences. The authors consider both use cases require expertise and cannot be a part of the intuitive APIs, which are supposed to be safe by default. On the other hand, type-erased APIs for these types of casts would not only be expert-only but also serve no use case, as we know so far. Therefore, this paper proposes </span><strong><span>only </span><code>dynamic_pointer_cast</code><span> and </span><code>const_pointer_cast</code><span> between </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span>s</span></strong><span>.</span></p><p><span>Attention to safety is also reflected in the proposed APIs. For example, in the API to downcast </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> to </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U&gt;</code><span>, we require </span><code>U</code><span> to have a virtual destructor. This is not required in the deleter-preserving API since the behavior of the deleter is unknown. But when the deleter is known to be </span><code>default_delete&lt;U&gt;</code><span>, we can prevent undefined behavior ahead of time. In some cases, prior knowledge of the default deleter reduces the amount of checks. For example, </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T[], D&gt;::pointer</code><span> may also be </span><code>T*</code><span>, which requires extra checks to prevent accidentally creating </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span> that manages </span><code>new[]</code><span>-ed resources with a non-array deleter and such. The following chart summarizes the </span><strong><span>guardrails in the proposed APIs</span></strong><span> beyond the underlying calls to the </span><code>unique_ptr</code><span> constructors.</span></p><table data-original-title="" title="">
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th><code>unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;</code><span> </span><span class="mathjax"><mjx-container class="MathJax CtxtMenu_Attached_0" jax="CHTML" tabindex="0" ctxtmenu_counter="234" style="font-size: 113.1%; position: relative;"><mjx-math class="MJX-TEX" aria-hidden="true"><mjx-mo class="mjx-n"><mjx-c class="mjx-c2192"></mjx-c></mjx-mo></mjx-math><mjx-assistive-mml unselectable="on" display="inline"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mo stretchy="false">→</mo></math></mjx-assistive-mml></mjx-container></span><span> </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U&gt;</code></th>
<th><code>unique_ptr&lt;T,D&gt;</code><span> </span><span class="mathjax"><mjx-container class="MathJax CtxtMenu_Attached_0" jax="CHTML" tabindex="0" ctxtmenu_counter="235" style="font-size: 113.1%; position: relative;"><mjx-math class="MJX-TEX" aria-hidden="true"><mjx-mo class="mjx-n"><mjx-c class="mjx-c2192"></mjx-c></mjx-mo></mjx-math><mjx-assistive-mml unselectable="on" display="inline"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mo stretchy="false">→</mo></math></mjx-assistive-mml></mjx-container></span><span> </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U,D&gt;</code></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><code>const_pointer_cast</code></td>
<td><span>Valid to </span><code>const_cast</code><span> from </span><code>T*</code><span> to </span><code>U*</code></td>
<td><span>Valid to </span><code>const_cast</code><span> from </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer</code><span> to </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U, D&gt;::pointer</code><span>;</span><br><span>Either </span><code>T</code><span> and </span><code>U</code><span> both are array types, or neither</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>dynamic_pointer_cast</code></td>
<td><span>Valid to </span><code>dynamic_cast</code><span> from </span><code>T*</code><span> to </span><code>U*</code><span>;</span><br><code>U</code><span> has a virtual destructor</span></td>
<td><span>Valid to </span><code>dynamic_cast</code><span> from </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer</code><span> to </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;U, D&gt;::pointer</code><span>;</span><br><span>Neither </span><code>T</code><span> nor </span><code>U</code><span> is an array type</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><h2 id="Technical-Specification" data-id="Technical-Specification"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Technical-Specification" title="Technical-Specification"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Technical Specification</span></h2><pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">template</span><span class="token operator">&lt;</span><span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">T</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">U</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span>
<span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> <span class="token function">dynamic_pointer_cast</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> r<span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token keyword">noexcept</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre><blockquote>
<p><em><span>Constraints:</span></em><span> </span><code>dynamic_cast&lt;T*&gt;((U*)nullptr)</code><span> is a valid expression.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Mandates:</span></em><span> </span><code>has_virtual_destructor_v&lt;T&gt;</code><span> is true.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Preconditions:</span></em><span> The expression </span><code>dynamic_cast&lt;T*&gt;(r.get())</code><span> has well-defined behavior.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Effects:</span></em><span> Equivalent to:</span></p>
<pre><code>if (auto p = dynamic_cast&lt;T*&gt;(r.get()))
  return (void)r.release(), unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;(p);
else
  return nullptr;
</code></pre>
<p><em><span>[Note 1:</span></em><span> The seemingly equivalent expression </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;(dynamic_cast&lt;T*&gt;(r.get()))</code><span> can result in undefined behavior, attempting to delete the same object twice. </span><em><span class="smartypants">–</span><span>end note]</span></em></p>
</blockquote><pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">template</span><span class="token operator">&lt;</span><span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">T</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">D</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">U</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span>
<span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> <span class="token function">dynamic_pointer_cast</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> r<span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token keyword">noexcept</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre><blockquote>
<p><em><span>Constraints:</span></em><span> </span><code>dynamic_cast&lt;unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer&gt;(declval&lt;typename unique_ptr&lt;U, D&gt;::pointer&gt;()))</code><span> is a valid expression.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Mandates:</span></em><span> Neither </span><code>T</code><span> nor </span><code>U</code><span> is an array type.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Preconditions:</span></em><span> The expression </span><code>dynamic_cast&lt;unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer&gt;(r.get())</code><span> has well-defined behavior.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Effects:</span></em><span> Equivalent to:</span></p>
<pre><code>if (auto p = dynamic_cast&lt;unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer&gt;(r.get()))
  return (void)r.release(), unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;(p, std::forward&lt;D&gt;(r.get_deleter()));
else if constexpr (!is_pointer_v&lt;D&gt; &amp;&amp; is_default_constructible_v&lt;D&gt;)
  return nullptr;
else if constexpr (is_copy_constructible_v&lt;D&gt;)
  return unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;(nullptr, r.get_deleter());
</code></pre>
</blockquote><pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">template</span><span class="token operator">&lt;</span><span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">T</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">U</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span>
<span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> <span class="token function">const_pointer_cast</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> r<span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token keyword">noexcept</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre><blockquote>
<p><em><span>Constraints:</span></em><span> </span><code>const_cast&lt;T*&gt;((U*)nullptr)</code><span> is a valid expression.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Effects:</span></em><span> Equivalent to: </span><code>return unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;(const_cast&lt;T*&gt;(r.release()));</code></p>
<p><em><span>[Note 2:</span></em><span> The seemingly equivalent expression </span><code>unique_ptr&lt;T&gt;(const_cast&lt;T*&gt;(r.get()))</code><span> can result in undefined behavior, attempting to delete the same object twice. </span><em><span class="smartypants">–</span><span>end note]</span></em></p>
</blockquote><pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">template</span><span class="token operator">&lt;</span><span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">T</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">D</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">U</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span>
<span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> <span class="token function">const_pointer_cast</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> r<span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token keyword">noexcept</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
</code></pre><blockquote>
<p><em><span>Constraints:</span></em><span> </span><code>const_cast&lt;unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer&gt;(declval&lt;typename unique_ptr&lt;U, D&gt;::pointer&gt;())</code><span> is a valid expression.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Mandates:</span></em><span> </span><code>is_array_v&lt;T&gt; == is_array_v&lt;U&gt;</code><span> is </span><code>true</code><span>.</span></p>
<p><em><span>Effects:</span></em><span> Equivalent to: </span><code>return unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;(const_cast&lt;unique_ptr&lt;T, D&gt;::pointer&gt;(r.release()), std::forward&lt;D&gt;(r.get_deleter()));</code></p>
</blockquote><h2 id="Implementation-Experience" data-id="Implementation-Experience"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Implementation-Experience" title="Implementation-Experience"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Implementation Experience</span></h2><p><span>Here is a full implementation: </span><ruby><a href="https://godbolt.org/z/n3Kh376hs" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="godbolt"><span> </span></span><span>n3Kh376hs</span></a><rt><span>Compiler Explorer</span></rt></ruby></p><p><span>The snippet below implements the variant of </span><code>dynamic_pointer_cast</code><span> that preserves the deleter type (i.e., supports type-erased deleter).</span></p><pre><code class="cpp hljs"><span class="token keyword">template</span><span class="token operator">&lt;</span><span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">T</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">D</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token keyword">class</span> <span class="token class-name">U</span><span class="token operator">&gt;</span>
    <span class="token keyword">requires</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token keyword">requires</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>pointer p<span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span>
        <span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">dynamic_cast</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>pointer<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>p<span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">}</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span>
<span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> <span class="token keyword">auto</span> <span class="token function">dynamic_pointer_cast</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> r<span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token keyword">noexcept</span>
    <span class="token operator">-&gt;</span> unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span>
<span class="token punctuation">{</span>
    <span class="token keyword">static_assert</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token operator">!</span>is_array_v<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> <span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> <span class="token operator">!</span>is_array_v<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>U<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span>
                  <span class="token string">"don't work with array of polymorphic objects"</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token keyword">if</span> <span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token keyword">auto</span> p <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">dynamic_cast</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>unique_ptr<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span>pointer<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>r<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">get</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">{</span>
        r<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">release</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
        <span class="token keyword">return</span> <span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">unique_ptr</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>p<span class="token punctuation">,</span> std<span class="token double-colon punctuation">::</span><span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">forward</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>r<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">get_deleter</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">}</span>
    <span class="token keyword">else</span> <span class="token keyword">if</span> <span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> <span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token operator">!</span>is_pointer_v<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span> <span class="token operator">&amp;&amp;</span> is_default_constructible_v<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">{</span>
        <span class="token keyword">return</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><span class="token punctuation">}</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">}</span>
    <span class="token keyword">else</span> <span class="token keyword">if</span> <span class="token keyword">constexpr</span> <span class="token punctuation">(</span>is_copy_constructible_v<span class="token operator">&lt;</span>D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">{</span>
        <span class="token keyword">return</span> <span class="token generic-function"><span class="token function">unique_ptr</span><span class="token generic class-name"><span class="token operator">&lt;</span>T<span class="token punctuation">,</span> D<span class="token operator">&gt;</span></span></span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token keyword">nullptr</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> r<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">get_deleter</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">}</span>
    <span class="token keyword">else</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">{</span>
        <span class="token keyword">static_assert</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token boolean">false</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token string">"unable to create an empty unique_ptr"</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span>
    <span class="token punctuation">}</span>
<span class="token punctuation">}</span>
</code></pre><h2 id="Acknowledgements" data-id="Acknowledgements"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Acknowledgements" title="Acknowledgements"><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a><span>Acknowledgements</span></h2><p><span>Thank Broadcom Software for supporting the work.</span></p></div>
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<li><a href="#Prior-Art" title="Prior Art">Prior Art</a></li>
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