Question

Is it possible to connect a function with a different signature to a Boost::Signal which expects a certain signature?

I have many signals (of varying signature) And from outside that module I want to be able to observe the signals without caring about the signature of the signals. Is it even possible?

Example:

float sum(float x, float y)
{
  return x + y;
}

void signal_monitor(void)
{
  //Do something
}

boost::signal<float (float, float)> sig;

sig.connect(&print_sum);
sig.connect(/* How to connect to signal_monitor ?  */);

sig(5, 3);

Is it possible to use Boost::Bind to do it?

Boost version used:1.46.1

If I Use

sig.connect( ( boost::phoenix::bind( &signal_monitor ), 1.f ) ); // Return 1.f

I get the following errors:

opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp: In static member function ‘static R boost::detail::function::function_obj_invoker2<FunctionObj, R, T0, T1>::invoke(boost::detail::function::function_buffer&, T0, T1) [with FunctionObj = float, R = float, T0 = float, T1 = float]’:
opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp:913:60:   instantiated from ‘void boost::function2<R, T1, T2>::assign_to(Functor) [with Functor = float, R = float, T0 = float, T1 = float]’
opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp:722:7:   instantiated from ‘boost::function2<R, T1, T2>::function2(Functor, typename boost::enable_if_c<boost::type_traits::ice_not<boost::is_integral<Functor>::value>::value, int>::type) [with Functor = float, R = float, T0 = float, T1 = float, typename boost::enable_if_c<boost::type_traits::ice_not<boost::is_integral<Functor>::value>::value, int>::type = int]’
opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp:1064:16:   instantiated from ‘boost::function<R(T0, T1)>::function(Functor, typename boost::enable_if_c<boost::type_traits::ice_not<boost::is_integral<Functor>::value>::value, int>::type) [with Functor = float, R = float, T0 = float, T1 = float, typename boost::enable_if_c<boost::type_traits::ice_not<boost::is_integral<Functor>::value>::value, int>::type = int]’
opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp:1105:5:   instantiated from ‘typename boost::enable_if_c<boost::type_traits::ice_not<boost::is_integral<Functor>::value>::value, boost::function<R(T0, T1)>&>::type boost::function<R(T0, T1)>::operator=(Functor) [with Functor = float, R = float, T0 = float, T1 = float, typename boost::enable_if_c<boost::type_traits::ice_not<boost::is_integral<Functor>::value>::value, boost::function<R(T0, T1)>&>::type = boost::function<float(float, float)>&]’
opt/include/boost/signals2/detail/slot_template.hpp:156:9:   instantiated from ‘void boost::signals2::slot2<R, T1, T2, SlotFunction>::init_slot_function(const F&) [with F = float, R = float, T1 = float, T2 = float, SlotFunction = boost::function<float(float, float)>]’
opt/include/boost/signals2/detail/slot_template.hpp:81:9:   instantiated from ‘boost::signals2::slot2<R, T1, T2, SlotFunction>::slot2(const F&) [with F = float, R = float, T1 = float, T2 = float, SlotFunction = boost::function<float(float, float)>]’
../../../example/example.cpp:200:61:   instantiated from here
opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp:132:42: error: ‘* f’ cannot be used as a function
opt/include/boost/function/function_template.hpp:133:9: error: control reaches end of non-void function [-Werror=return-type]
cc1plus: all warnings being treated as errors
make[1]: *** [example.o] Error 1

Many Thanks guys.

Answer 1

Yes:

sig.connect( boost::bind( &signal_monitor ) );

Bind simply won’t forward the arguments.

EDIT: As mentioned by Luc this won’t work due to the bind expression returning nothing, perhaps there’s a different solution using just boost bind, but another is to bring out the big guns, boost::phoenix ( #include "boost/phoenix.hpp" ):

sig.connect( ( boost::phoenix::bind( &signal_monitor ), 1.f ) ); // Return 1.f

Notice the extra (), otherwise you’re still passing parameters to connect.