| Home | Libraries | People | FAQ | More

## Obtaining iterators from values

Boost.Intrusive offers another useful feature that's not present in STL containers: it's possible to obtain an iterator to a value from the value itself. This feature is implemented in Boost.Intrusive containers by a function called `iterator_to`:

    iterator iterator_to(reference value);
    const_iterator iterator_to(const_reference value);

For Boost.Intrusive containers that have local iterators, like unordered associative containers, we can also obtain local iterators:

    local_iterator local_iterator_to(reference value);
    const_local_iterator local_iterator_to(const_reference value) const;

For most Boost.Intrusive containers (`list`, `slist`, `set`, `multiset`) we have an alternative static `s_iterator_to` function.

For unordered associative containers (`unordered_set`, `multiset`), `iterator_to` has no static alternative function. On the other hand, `local_iterator_to` functions have their `s_local_iterator_to` static alternatives.

Alternative static functions are available under certain circumstances explained in the Stateful value traits section; if the programmer uses hooks provided by Boost.Intrusive, those functions will be available.

Let's see a small function that shows the use of `iterator_to` and `local_iterator_to`:

    #include <boost/intrusive/list.hpp>
    #include <boost/intrusive/unordered_set.hpp>
    #include <boost/functional/hash.hpp>
    #include <vector>

    using namespace boost::intrusive;

    class intrusive_data
    {
       int data_id_;
       public:

       void set(int id)  {  data_id_ = id;    }

       //This class can be inserted in an intrusive list
       list_member_hook<>   list_hook_;

       //This class can be inserted in an intrusive unordered_set
       unordered_set_member_hook<>   unordered_set_hook_;

       //Comparison operators
       friend bool operator==(const intrusive_data &a, const intrusive_data &b)
       {  return a.data_id_ == b.data_id_; }

       friend bool operator!=(const intrusive_data &a, const intrusive_data &b)
       {  return a.data_id_ != b.data_id_; }

       //The hash function
       friend std::size_t hash_value(const intrusive_data &i)
       {  return boost::hash<int>()(i.data_id_);  }
    };

    //Definition of the intrusive list that will hold intrusive_data
    typedef member_hook<intrusive_data, list_member_hook<>
            , &intrusive_data::list_hook_> MemberListOption;
    typedef list<intrusive_data, MemberListOption> list_t;

    //Definition of the intrusive unordered_set that will hold intrusive_data
    typedef member_hook
          < intrusive_data, unordered_set_member_hook<>
          , &intrusive_data::unordered_set_hook_> MemberUsetOption;
    typedef boost::intrusive::unordered_set
       < intrusive_data, MemberUsetOption> unordered_set_t;

    int main()
    {
       //Create MaxElem objects
       const int MaxElem = 100;
       std::vector<intrusive_data> nodes(MaxElem);

       //Declare the intrusive containers
       list_t     list;
       unordered_set_t::bucket_type buckets[MaxElem];
       unordered_set_t  unordered_set
          (unordered_set_t::bucket_traits(buckets, MaxElem));

       //Initialize all the nodes
       for(int i = 0; i < MaxElem; ++i) nodes[i].set(i);

       //Now insert them in both intrusive containers
       list.insert(list.end(), nodes.begin(), nodes.end());
       unordered_set.insert(nodes.begin(), nodes.end());

       //Now check the iterator_to function
       list_t::iterator list_it(list.begin());
       for(int i = 0; i < MaxElem; ++i, ++list_it)
          if(list.iterator_to(nodes[i])       != list_it ||
             list_t::s_iterator_to(nodes[i])  != list_it)
             return 1;

       //Now check unordered_set::s_iterator_to (which is a member function)
       //and unordered_set::s_local_iterator_to (which is an static member function)
       unordered_set_t::iterator unordered_set_it(unordered_set.begin());
       for(int i = 0; i < MaxElem; ++i){
          unordered_set_it = unordered_set.find(nodes[i]);
          if(unordered_set.iterator_to(nodes[i]) != unordered_set_it)
             return 1;
          if(*unordered_set.local_iterator_to(nodes[i])      != *unordered_set_it ||
             *unordered_set_t::s_local_iterator_to(nodes[i]) != *unordered_set_it )
             return 1;
       }

       return 0;
    }