std::uninitialized_fill_n

Defined in header `<memory>`
template< class ForwardIt, class Size, class T > ForwardIt uninitialized_fill_n( ForwardIt first, Size count, const T& value );	(1)
template< class ExecutionPolicy, class ForwardIt, class Size, class T > ForwardIt uninitialized_fill_n( ExecutionPolicy&& policy, ForwardIt first, Size count, const T& value );	(2)	(since C++17)

1) Copies the given value value to the first count elements in an uninitialized memory area beginning at first as if by for (; n--; ++first)
::new (/* VOIDIFY */(*first))
typename std::iterator_traits<ForwardIt>::value_type(value);

where /* VOIDIFY */(e) is:

static_cast<void*>(&e)	(until C++11)
static_cast<void*>(std::addressof(e))	(since C++11)

If an exception is thrown during the initialization, the objects already constructed are destroyed in an unspecified order.

2) Same as (1), but executed according to policy. This overload does not participate in overload resolution unless

std::is_execution_policy_v<std::decay_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true.	(until C++20)
std::is_execution_policy_v<std::remove_cvref_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true.	(since C++20)

Parameters

first	-	the beginning of the range of the elements to initialize
count	-	number of elements to construct
value	-	the value to construct the elements with
Type requirements
- `ForwardIt` must meet the requirements of LegacyForwardIterator.
- No increment, assignment, comparison, or indirection through valid instances of `ForwardIt` may throw exceptions. Applying &* to a `ForwardIt` value must yield a pointer to its value type. (until C++11)

Return value

Iterator to the element past the last element copied.

Complexity

Linear in count.

Exceptions

The overload with a template parameter named ExecutionPolicy reports errors as follows:

If execution of a function invoked as part of the algorithm throws an exception and ExecutionPolicy is one of the standard policies, std::terminate is called. For any other ExecutionPolicy, the behavior is implementation-defined.
If the algorithm fails to allocate memory, std::bad_alloc is thrown.

Possible implementation

template<class ForwardIt, class Size, class T>
ForwardIt uninitialized_fill_n(ForwardIt first, Size count, const T& value)
{
    using V = typename std::iterator_traits<ForwardIt>::value_type;
    ForwardIt current = first;
    try
    {
        for (; count > 0; ++current, (void) --count)
            ::new (static_cast<void*>(std::addressof(*current))) V(value);
        return current;
    }
    catch (...)
    {
        for (; first != current; ++first)
            first->~V();
        throw;
    }
}

Example

Run this code

#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
#include <string>
#include <tuple>
 
int main()
{
    std::string* p;
    std::size_t sz;
    std::tie(p, sz) = std::get_temporary_buffer<std::string>(4);
    std::uninitialized_fill_n(p, sz, "Example");
 
    for (std::string* i = p; i != p + sz; ++i)
    {
        std::cout << *i << '\n';
        i->~basic_string<char>();
    }
    std::return_temporary_buffer(p);
}

Output:

Example
Example
Example
Example

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

DR	Applied to	Behavior as published	Correct behavior
LWG 866	C++98	given `T` as the value type of `ForwardIt`, if T::operator new exists, the program might be ill-formed	uses global replacement- new instead
LWG 1339	C++98	the location of the first element following the filling range was not returned	returned
LWG 2433	C++11	this algorithm might be hijacked by overloaded operator&	uses std::addressof
LWG 3870	C++20	this algorithm might create objects on a const storage	kept disallowed

Compiler support
Freestanding and hosted
Language
Standard library
Standard library headers
Named requirements
Feature test macros (C++20)
Language support library
Concepts library (C++20)
Metaprogramming library (C++11)
Diagnostics library
General utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Iterators library
Ranges library (C++20)
Algorithms library
Numerics library
Localizations library
Input/output library
Filesystem library (C++17)
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Concurrency support library (C++11)
Technical specifications
Symbols index
External libraries

uninitialized_fill	copies an object to an uninitialized area of memory, defined by a range (function template)
ranges::uninitialized_fill_n (C++20)	copies an object to an uninitialized area of memory, defined by a start and a count (niebloid)