std::uninitialized_value_construct_n

 

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Dynamic memory management

Uninitialized memory algorithms uninitialized_copy uninitialized_fill uninitialized_move (C++17) uninitialized_default_construct (C++17) uninitialized_value_construct (C++17) destroy (C++17) destroy_at (C++17) voidify (C++20) uninitialized_copy_n (C++11) uninitialized_fill_n uninitialized_move_n (C++17) uninitialized_default_construct_n (C++17) uninitialized_value_construct_n (C++17) destroy_n (C++17) construct_at (C++20) Constrained uninitialized memory algorithms ranges::uninitialized_copy (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_fill (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_move (C++20) ranges::construct_at (C++20) ranges::destroy (C++20) ranges::destroy_n (C++20) ranges::destroy_at (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_copy_n (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_fill_n (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_move_n (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_default_construct (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_value_construct (C++20) ranges::uninitialized_default_construct_n (C++20)   ranges::uninitialized_value_construct_n (C++20) Allocators allocator allocator_traits (C++11) allocation_result (C++23) allocator_arg (C++11) uses_allocator (C++11) uses_allocator_construction_args (C++20) make_obj_using_allocator (C++20) uninitialized_construct_using_allocator (C++20) scoped_allocator_adaptor (C++11) pmr::polymorphic_allocator (C++17) Memory resources pmr::memory_resource (C++17) pmr::get_default_resource (C++17) pmr::set_default_resource (C++17) pmr::new_delete_resource (C++17) pmr::null_memory_resource (C++17) pmr::synchronized_pool_resource (C++17) pmr::unsynchronized_pool_resource (C++17)   pmr::monotonic_buffer_resource (C++17) pmr::pool_options (C++17) Garbage collection support declare_reachable (C++11)(until C++23) undeclare_reachable (C++11)(until C++23) declare_no_pointers (C++11)(until C++23) undeclare_no_pointers (C++11)(until C++23) pointer_safety (C++11)(until C++23) get_pointer_safety (C++11)(until C++23) Uninitialized storage raw_storage_iterator (until C++20*) get_temporary_buffer (until C++20*) return_temporary_buffer (until C++20*) Explicit lifetime management start_lifetime_asstart_lifetime_as_array (C++23)(C++23)

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Defined in header <memory>
template< class ForwardIt, class Size > ForwardIt uninitialized_value_construct_n( ForwardIt first, Size n );	(1)	(since C++17)
template< class ExecutionPolicy, class ForwardIt, class Size > ForwardIt uninitialized_value_construct_n( ExecutionPolicy&& policy,                                            ForwardIt first, Size n );	(2)	(since C++17)

1) Constructs n objects of type typename iterator_traits<ForwardIt>::value_type in the uninitialized storage starting at first by value-initialization, as if by for (; n > 0; (void) ++first, --n)
    ::new (static_cast<void*>(std::addressof(*first)))
        typename std::iterator_traits<ForwardIt>::value_type();

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 elements to initialize
n	-	the number of elements to initialize
policy	-	the execution policy to use. See execution policy for details.
Type requirements
- ForwardIt must meet the requirements of LegacyForwardIterator.
- No increment, assignment, comparison, or indirection through valid instances of ForwardIt may throw exceptions.

Return value

The end of the range of objects (i.e., std::next(first, n)).

Complexity

Linear in n.

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> ForwardIt uninitialized_value_construct_n(ForwardIt first, Size n) { using T = typename std::iterator_traits<ForwardIt>::value_type; ForwardIt current = first; try { for (; n > 0 ; (void) ++current, --n) ::new (const_cast<void*>(static_cast<const volatile void*>( std::addressof(*current)))) T(); return current; } catch (...) { std::destroy(first, current); throw; } }

Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
#include <string>
 
int main()
{
    struct S { std::string m{"Default value"}; };
 
    constexpr int n{3};
    alignas(alignof(S)) unsigned char mem[n * sizeof(S)];
 
    try
    {
        auto first{reinterpret_cast<S*>(mem)};
        auto last = std::uninitialized_value_construct_n(first, n);
 
        for (auto it{first}; it != last; ++it)
            std::cout << it->m << '\n';
 
        std::destroy(first, last);
    }
    catch (...)
    {
        std::cout << "Exception!\n";
    }
 
    // Notice that for "trivial types" the uninitialized_value_construct_n
    // zero-initializes the given uninitialized memory area.
    int v[]{1, 2, 3, 4};
    for (const int i : v)
        std::cout << i << ' ';
    std::cout << '\n';
    std::uninitialized_value_construct_n(std::begin(v), std::size(v));
    for (const int i : v)
        std::cout << i << ' ';
    std::cout << '\n';
}

Output:

Default value
Default value
Default value
1 2 3 4
0 0 0 0

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 3870	C++20	this algorithm might create objects on a const storage	kept disallowed

See also

uninitialized_value_construct (C++17)	constructs objects by value-initialization in an uninitialized area of memory, defined by a range (function template)
uninitialized_default_construct_n (C++17)	constructs objects by default-initialization in an uninitialized area of memory, defined by a start and a count (function template)
ranges::uninitialized_value_construct_n (C++20)	constructs objects by value-initialization in an uninitialized area of memory, defined by a start and a count (niebloid)