Question:
Can I overload the >> operator in a class for all integral types using a template? If so, how?
Answer:
The short answer is no.
The long answer?
Templates are mechanisms for providing generic behavior for a range of types.There is no way in C++ to directly restrict the types that can be passed in.There are some tricks that can be used to restrict certain usages, like situations in which the only types that will be allowed are those that derive from some classX. Here is an example of how to do that:
templateBy extending the same concept, you could try something for integral types.class AllowOnlyXandDerivedClasses{public: AllowOnlyXandDerivedClasses() { T *t; X *x = t; // this will generate a compiler error for // types other than X and its derived classes. }};
templateAlthough this looks promising, it will also allow classes for which conversionoperators or non-explicit constructors exist, so the solution is not foolproof.X &operator << (X const&x, T t){ int i = t; // should fail for _MOST_ non-integral types. // .. rest return x;}
