OTL 4.0, otl_read_row / otl_write_row template functions

otl_read_row / otl_write_row functions exist as variadic templates (for an arbitrary number of parameters), and as nonvariadic templates (for a number of parameters in the range of [1..15]). The variadic templates are supported under #define OTL_CPP_11_ON (or any higher levels of C++XX standard support, for example under OTL_CPP_14_ON, or OTL_CPP_17_ON), and are enabled for C++ compilers that support variadic template functions. The functions are enabled for g++ 4.7 and higher under #define OTL_CPP_11_ON, or CLANG++ 3.4 and higher (typically when the following command line options are enabled: -DOTL_CPP_11_ON -std=c++11), and automatically for Visual C++ 2013. Visual C++ 2015 requires #define OTL_CPP_11_ON or OTL_CPP_14_ON. The nonvariadic templates are supported by any C++ compilers.

Here are the signatures of the variadic template functions:

template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1,typename...Args> 
void otl_read_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1,Args&...args);

template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1, typename...Args> 
void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1&& arg1,Args&&...args);

Here are the signatures of the nonvariadic template functions for pre-C++11 compilers:

template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1> void otl_read_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1);
template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1,typename Arg2> void otl_read_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1,Arg2& arg2);
...

template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1> void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1);
template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1> void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,const Arg1& arg1);
template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1,typename Arg2> void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1,Arg2& arg2);
template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1,typename Arg2> void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,const Arg1& arg1,const Arg2& arg2);
...

Here are the signatures of the nonvariadic functions for Visual C++ 2010, and Visual C++ 2012, which do not support variadic templates, but do support universal references (see the explanation below at the end of this page):

template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1> void otl_read_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1);
template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1,typename Arg2> void otl_read_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1& arg1,Arg2& arg2);
...

template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1> void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1&& arg1);
template<typename OTLStream,typename Arg1,typename Arg2> void otl_write_row(OTLStream& s,Arg1&& arg1,Arg2&& arg2);
...

The list of nonvariadic template functions goes up to 15 parameters. The intention here is that similar (even though more limited) functionality should be available to users of pre-C++11 compilers. When such users migrate their C++ code to a C++11 compiler, everything should just work.

The functions are intended for reading / writing whole logical rows, and they automatically check at the end of the argument list whether the "end-of-row" condition is true or not. It completely eliminates the "row tearing" problem. If the condition is false, OTL throws the END-OF-ROW check failed exception. The use of the functions is pretty straightforward:

    otl_write_row(s,f1); is equivalent to s<<f1<<endr;
    otl_write_row(s,f1,f2); is equivalent to s<<f1<<f2<<endr;
    ...


    otl_read_row(s,f1); is equivalent to s>>f1>>endr;
    otl_read_row(s,f1,f2); is equivalent to s>>f1>>f2>>endr;
    ...

where s is an otl_stream, and f1, f2... are variables of the data types that are supported by the otl_stream operators >>()/<<(). The functions are defined in the global namespace. In order to retrieve information on NULL values, instantiations of the otl_value<T> template can be used as parameters that get passed into the otl_read_row / otl_write_row functions, for example:

otl_value<int> f1; otl_value<otl_datetime> f2; otl_value<std::string> f3; ... otl_write_row(s,f1,f2,f3); ... otl_read_row(s,f1,f2); ...

There is a subtle difference between the variadic version of these template functions and the nonvariadic version for pre-C++11 compilers. The variadic otl_write_row() uses universal references that accept all types of parameters. The nonvariadic versions of otl_write_row() for pre-C++11 compilers accept either all const T&, or all non-const T&, which is more limited than the variadic version. The nonvariadic versions of otl_write_row() for Visual C++ 2010/2012 accept all types of parameters. "Universal references" is a term coined by Scott Meyers. There is plenty of videos, or articles by Scott Meyers, so if you're curious, just google "universal references C++".

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