C++ callback using class member

Question

I know this has been asked so many times, and because of that it's difficult to dig through the cruft and find a simple example of what works.

I've got this, it's simple and it works for MyClass...

#include <iostream>
using std::cout;
using std::endl;

class MyClass
{
    public:
        MyClass();
        static void Callback(MyClass* instance, int x);
    private:
        int private_x;
};

class EventHandler
{
    public:
        void addHandler(MyClass* owner)
        {
            cout << "Handler added..." << endl;
            //Let's pretend an event just occured
            owner->Callback(owner,1);
        }
};

EventHandler* handler;

MyClass::MyClass()
{
    private_x = 5;
    handler->addHandler(this);
}

void MyClass::Callback(MyClass* instance, int x)
{
    cout << x + instance->private_x << endl;
}

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    handler = new EventHandler();
    MyClass* myClass = new MyClass();
}

class YourClass
{
    public:
        YourClass();
        static void Callback(YourClass* instance, int x);
};

How can that be rewritten so EventHandler::addHandler() will work with both MyClass and YourClass. I'm sorry but it's just the way my brain works, I need to see a simple example of what works before I can comprehend why/how it works. If you've got a favorite way to make this work now's the time to show it off, please markup that code and post it back.

[edit]

It was answered but the answer was deleted before I could give the checkmark. The answer in my case was a templated function. Changed addHandler to this...

class EventHandler
{
    public:
        template<typename T>
        void addHandler(T* owner)
        {
            cout << "Handler added..." << endl;
            //Let's pretend an event just occured
            owner->Callback(owner,1);
        }
};

Answer 1

Instead of having static methods and passing around a pointer to the class instance, you could use functionality in the new C++11 standard: std::function and std::bind:

#include <functional>
class EventHandler
{
    public:
        void addHandler(std::function<void(int)> callback)
        {
            cout << "Handler added..." << endl;
            // Let's pretend an event just occured
            callback(1);
        }
};

The addHandler method now accepts a std::function argument, and this "function object" have no return value and takes an integer as argument.

To bind it to a specific function, you use std::bind:

class MyClass
{
    public:
        MyClass();

        // Note: No longer marked `static`, and only takes the actual argument
        void Callback(int x);
    private:
        int private_x;
};

MyClass::MyClass()
{
    using namespace std::placeholders; // for `_1`

    private_x = 5;
    handler->addHandler(std::bind(&MyClass::Callback, this, _1));
}

void MyClass::Callback(int x)
{
    // No longer needs an explicit `instance` argument,
    // as `this` is set up properly
    cout << x + private_x << endl;
}

You need to use std::bind when adding the handler, as you explicitly needs to specify the otherwise implicit this pointer as an argument. If you have a free-standing function, you don't have to use std::bind:

void freeStandingCallback(int x)
{
    // ...
}

int main()
{
    // ...
    handler->addHandler(freeStandingCallback);
}

Having the event handler use std::function objects, also makes it possible to use the new C++11 lambda functions:

handler->addHandler([](int x) { std::cout << "x is " << x << '\n'; });

Answer 2

Here's a concise version that works with class method callbacks and with regular function callbacks. In this example, to show how parameters are handled, the callback function takes two parameters: bool and int.

class Caller {
  template<class T> void addCallback(T* const object, void(T::* const mf)(bool,int))
  {
    using namespace std::placeholders; 
    callbacks_.emplace_back(std::bind(mf, object, _1, _2));
  }
  void addCallback(void(* const fun)(bool,int)) 
  {
    callbacks_.emplace_back(fun);
  }
  void callCallbacks(bool firstval, int secondval) 
  {
    for (const auto& cb : callbacks_)
      cb(firstval, secondval);
  }
private:
  std::vector<std::function<void(bool,int)>> callbacks_;
}

class Callee {
  void MyFunction(bool,int);
}

//then, somewhere in Callee, to add the callback, given a pointer to Caller `ptr`

ptr->addCallback(this, &Callee::MyFunction);

//or to add a call back to a regular function
ptr->addCallback(&MyRegularFunction);

This restricts the C++11-specific code to the addCallback method and private data in class Caller. To me, at least, this minimizes the chance of making mistakes when implementing it.

Note that with C++20's bind_front you can simplify add_callback for class member functions to:

      template<class T> void addCallback(T* const object, void(T::* const mf)(bool,int))
      {
        callbacks_.emplace_back(std::bind_front(mf, object));
      }

Answer 3

What you want to do is to make an interface which handles this code and all your classes implement the interface.

class IEventListener{
public:
   void OnEvent(int x) = 0;  // renamed Callback to OnEvent removed the instance, you can add it back if you want.
};


class MyClass :public IEventListener
{
    ...
    void OnEvent(int x); //typically such a function is NOT static. This wont work if it is static.
};

class YourClass :public IEventListener
{

Note that for this to work the "Callback" function is non static which i believe is an improvement. If you want it to be static, you need to do it as JaredC suggests with templates.

Answer 4

A complete working example from the code above.... for C++11:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <functional>

#if __cplusplus <= 199711L
  #error This file needs at least a C++11 compliant compiler, try using:
  #error    $ g++ -std=c++11 ..
#endif

using namespace std;

class EventHandler {
    public:
        void addHandler(std::function<void(int)> callback) {
            printf("\nHandler added...");
            // Let's pretend an event just occured
            callback(1);
        }
};


class MyClass
{
    public:
        MyClass(int);
        // Note: No longer marked `static`, and only takes the actual argument
        void Callback(int x);

    private:
        EventHandler *pHandler;
        int private_x;
};

MyClass::MyClass(int value) {
    using namespace std::placeholders; // for `_1`

    pHandler = new EventHandler();
    private_x = value;
    pHandler->addHandler(std::bind(&MyClass::Callback, this, _1));
}

void MyClass::Callback(int x) {
    // No longer needs an explicit `instance` argument,
    // as `this` is set up properly
    printf("\nResult:%d\n\n", (x+private_x));
}

// Main method
int main(int argc, char const *argv[]) {

    printf("\nCompiler:%ld\n", __cplusplus);
    new MyClass(5);
    return 0;
}


// where $1 is your .cpp file name... this is the command used:
// g++ -std=c++11 -Wall -o $1 $1.cpp
// chmod 700 $1
// ./$1

Output should be:

Compiler:201103

Handler added...
Result:6

Answer 5

MyClass and YourClass could both be derived from SomeonesClass which has an abstract (virtual) Callback method. Your addHandler would accept objects of type SomeonesClass and MyClass and YourClass can override Callback to provide their specific implementation of callback behavior.

Answer 6

If you have callbacks with different parameters you can use templates as follows:
// compile with: g++ -std=c++11 myTemplatedCPPcallbacks.cpp -o myTemplatedCPPcallbacksApp

#include <functional>     // c++11

#include <iostream>        // due to: cout


using std::cout;
using std::endl;

class MyClass
{
    public:
        MyClass();
        static void Callback(MyClass* instance, int x);
    private:
        int private_x;
};

class OtherClass
{
    public:
        OtherClass();
        static void Callback(OtherClass* instance, std::string str);
    private:
        std::string private_str;
};

class EventHandler
{

    public:
        template<typename T, class T2>
        void addHandler(T* owner, T2 arg2)
        {
            cout << "\nHandler added..." << endl;
            //Let's pretend an event just occured
            owner->Callback(owner, arg2);
         }   

};

MyClass::MyClass()
{
    EventHandler* handler;
    private_x = 4;
    handler->addHandler(this, private_x);
}

OtherClass::OtherClass()
{
    EventHandler* handler;
    private_str = "moh ";
    handler->addHandler(this, private_str );
}

void MyClass::Callback(MyClass* instance, int x)
{
    cout << " MyClass::Callback(MyClass* instance, int x) ==> " 
         << 6 + x + instance->private_x << endl;
}

void OtherClass::Callback(OtherClass* instance, std::string private_str)
{
    cout << " OtherClass::Callback(OtherClass* instance, std::string private_str) ==> " 
         << " Hello " << instance->private_str << endl;
}

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    EventHandler* handler;
    handler = new EventHandler();
    MyClass* myClass = new MyClass();
    OtherClass* myOtherClass = new OtherClass();
}