std::is_polymorphic

 

C++

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

 

Metaprogramming library

Type traits
Type categories is_void (C++11) is_null_pointer (C++14)   is_array (C++11) is_pointer (C++11) is_enum (C++11) is_union (C++11) is_class (C++11) is_function (C++11) is_object (C++11) is_scalar (C++11) is_compound (C++11) is_integral (C++11) is_floating_point (C++11)   is_fundamental (C++11) is_arithmetic (C++11) is_reference (C++11) is_lvalue_reference (C++11) is_rvalue_reference (C++11) is_member_pointer (C++11) is_member_object_pointer (C++11) is_member_function_pointer (C++11) Type properties is_const (C++11) is_volatile (C++11) is_empty (C++11) is_polymorphic (C++11) is_final (C++14) is_abstract (C++11) is_aggregate (C++17) is_implicit_lifetime (C++23) is_trivial (C++11) is_trivially_copyable (C++11) is_standard_layout (C++11) is_literal_type (C++11)(until C++20*) is_pod (C++11)(deprecated in C++20) is_signed (C++11) is_unsigned (C++11) is_bounded_array (C++20) is_unbounded_array (C++20) is_scoped_enum (C++23) has_unique_object_representations (C++17) Type trait constants integral_constantbool_constanttrue_typefalse_type (C++11)(C++17)(C++11)(C++11) Metafunctions conjunction (C++17) disjunction (C++17) negation (C++17)	Supported operations is_constructibleis_trivially_constructibleis_nothrow_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_default_constructibleis_trivially_default_constructibleis_nothrow_default_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_copy_constructibleis_trivially_copy_constructibleis_nothrow_copy_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_move_constructibleis_trivially_move_constructibleis_nothrow_move_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_assignableis_trivially_assignableis_nothrow_assignable (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_copy_assignableis_trivially_copy_assignableis_nothrow_copy_assignable (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_move_assignableis_trivially_move_assignableis_nothrow_move_assignable (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) is_destructibleis_trivially_destructibleis_nothrow_destructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) has_virtual_destructor (C++11) is_swappable_withis_swappableis_nothrow_swappable_withis_nothrow_swappable (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++17) Relationships and property queries is_same (C++11) is_base_of (C++11) is_convertibleis_nothrow_convertible (C++11)(C++20) is_layout_compatible (C++20) is_pointer_interconvertible_base_of (C++20) is_pointer_interconvertible_with_class (C++20)   is_corresponding_member (C++20) alignment_of (C++11) rank (C++11) extent (C++11) is_invocableis_invocable_ris_nothrow_invocableis_nothrow_invocable_r (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++17) reference_constructs_from_temporary (C++23) reference_converts_from_temporary (C++23) Type modifications remove_cvremove_constremove_volatile (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) add_cvadd_constadd_volatile (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) make_signed (C++11) make_unsigned (C++11) remove_reference (C++11) add_lvalue_referenceadd_rvalue_reference (C++11)(C++11) remove_pointer (C++11) add_pointer (C++11) remove_extent (C++11) remove_all_extents (C++11) Type transformations aligned_storage (C++11)(deprecated in C++23) aligned_union (C++11)(deprecated in C++23) decay (C++11) remove_cvref (C++20) enable_if (C++11) void_t (C++17) conditional (C++11) common_type (C++11) common_reference (C++20) underlying_type (C++11) result_ofinvoke_result (C++11)(until C++20*)(C++17) type_identity (C++20)
Compile-time rational arithmetic
Compile-time integer sequences
integer_sequence (C++14)

 

Defined in header <type_traits>
template< class T > struct is_polymorphic;		(since C++11)

std::is_polymorphic is an UnaryTypeTrait.

If T is a polymorphic class (that is, a non-union class that declares or inherits at least one virtual function), the base characteristic is std::true_type. For any other type, the base characteristic is std::false_type.

If T is an incomplete non-union class type, the behavior is undefined.

The behavior of a program that adds specializations for std::is_polymorphic or std::is_polymorphic_v (since C++17) is undefined.

Template parameters

T

-

a type to check

Helper variable template

template< class T > inline constexpr bool is_polymorphic_v = is_polymorphic<T>::value;		(since C++17)

Inherited from std::integral_constant

Member constants

value [static]

true if T is a polymorphic class type, false otherwise (public static member constant)

Member functions

operator bool	converts the object to bool, returns value (public member function)
operator() (C++14)	returns value (public member function)

Member types

Type	Definition
value_type	bool
type	std::integral_constant<bool, value>

Possible implementation

namespace detail { template<class T> std::true_type detect_is_polymorphic( decltype(dynamic_cast<const volatile void*>(static_cast<T*>(nullptr))) ); template<class T> std::false_type detect_is_polymorphic(...); } // namespace detail   template<class T> struct is_polymorphic : decltype(detail::detect_is_polymorphic<T>(nullptr)) {};

Example

Run this code

#include <type_traits>
 
struct A { int m; };
static_assert(!std::is_polymorphic_v<A>);
 
struct B { virtual void foo(); };
static_assert(std::is_polymorphic_v<B>);
 
struct C : B {};
static_assert(std::is_polymorphic_v<C>);
 
struct D { virtual ~D() = default; };
static_assert(std::is_polymorphic_v<D>);
 
// Uses inheritance, but not the virtual keyword:
struct E : A {};
static_assert(!std::is_polymorphic_v<E>);
 
struct F : virtual A {};
static_assert(!std::is_polymorphic_v<F>);
 
struct AX : A {};
struct AY : A {};
struct XY : virtual AX, virtual AY {};
static_assert(!std::is_polymorphic_v<XY>);
 
int main() {}

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 2015	C++11	the behavior was undefined if T is an incomplete union type	the base characteristic is std::false_type in this case

See also

is_class (C++11)	checks if a type is a non-union class type (class template)
is_abstract (C++11)	checks if a type is an abstract class type (class template)
has_virtual_destructor (C++11)	checks if a type has a virtual destructor (class template)