7 Expressions [expr]

7.5 Primary expressions [expr.prim]

7.5.5 Lambda expressions [expr.prim.lambda]

7.5.5.2 Captures [expr.prim.lambda.capture]

lambda-capture:
	capture-default
	capture-list
	capture-default , capture-list
capture-default:
	&
	=
capture-list:
	capture
	capture-list , capture
capture:
	simple-capture
	init-capture
simple-capture:
	identifier ...
	& identifier ...
	this
	* this
init-capture:
	... identifier initializer
	& ... identifier initializer
The body of a lambda-expression may refer to variables with automatic storage duration and the *this object (if any) of enclosing block scopes by capturing those entities, as described below.
If a lambda-capture includes a capture-default that is &, no identifier in a simple-capture of that lambda-capture shall be preceded by &.
If a lambda-capture includes a capture-default that is =, each simple-capture of that lambda-capture shall be of the form “& identifier ...”, “this”, or “* this.
Note
:
The form [&,this] is redundant but accepted for compatibility with ISO C++ 2014.
— end note
 ]
Ignoring appearances in initializers of init-captures, an identifier or this shall not appear more than once in a lambda-capture.
Example
:
struct S2 { void f(int i); };
void S2::f(int i) {
  [&, i]{ };        // OK
  [&, this, i]{ };  // OK, equivalent to [&, i]
  [&, &i]{ };       // error: i preceded by & when & is the default
  [=, *this]{ };    // OK
  [=, this]{ };     // OK, equivalent to [=]
  [i, i]{ };        // error: i repeated
  [this, *this]{ }; // error: this appears twice
}
— end example
 ]
A lambda-expression shall not have a capture-default or simple-capture in its lambda-introducer unless its innermost enclosing scope is a block scope ([basic.scope.block]) or it appears within a default member initializer and its innermost enclosing scope is the corresponding class scope ([basic.scope.class]).
The identifier in a simple-capture is looked up using the usual rules for unqualified name lookup; each such lookup shall find a local entity.
The simple-captures this and * this denote the local entity *this.
An entity that is designated by a simple-capture is said to be explicitly captured.
If an identifier in a simple-capture appears as the declarator-id of a parameter of the lambda-declarator's parameter-declaration-clause, the program is ill-formed.
Example
:
void f() {
  int x = 0;
  auto g = [x](int x) { return 0; };    // error: parameter and simple-capture have the same name
}
— end example
 ]
An init-capture without ellipsis behaves as if it declares and explicitly captures a variable of the form “auto init-capture ;” whose declarative region is the lambda-expression's compound-statement, except that:
  • if the capture is by copy (see below), the non-static data member declared for the capture and the variable are treated as two different ways of referring to the same object, which has the lifetime of the non-static data member, and no additional copy and destruction is performed, and
  • if the capture is by reference, the variable's lifetime ends when the closure object's lifetime ends.
Note
:
This enables an init-capture like “x = std​::​move(x)”; the second “x” must bind to a declaration in the surrounding context.
— end note
 ]
Example
:
int x = 4;
auto y = [&r = x, x = x+1]()->int {
            r += 2;
            return x+2;
         }();                               // Updates ​::​x to 6, and initializes y to 7.

auto z = [a = 42](int a) { return 1; };     // error: parameter and local variable have the same name
— end example
 ]
For the purposes of lambda capture, an expression potentially references local entities as follows:
If an expression potentially references a local entity within a declarative region in which it is odr-usable, and the expression would be potentially evaluated if the effect of any enclosing typeid expressions ([expr.typeid]) were ignored, the entity is said to be implicitly captured by each intervening lambda-expression with an associated capture-default that does not explicitly capture it.
The implicit capture of *this is deprecated when the capture-default is =; see [depr.capture.this].
Example
:
void f(int, const int (&)[2] = {});         // #1
void f(const int&, const int (&)[1]);       // #2
void test() {
  const int x = 17;
  auto g = [](auto a) {
    f(x);                       // OK: calls #1, does not capture x
  };

  auto g1 = [=](auto a) {
    f(x);                       // OK: calls #1, captures x
  };

  auto g2 = [=](auto a) {
    int selector[sizeof(a) == 1 ? 1 : 2]{};
    f(x, selector);             // OK: captures x, might call #1 or #2
  };

  auto g3 = [=](auto a) {
    typeid(a + x);              // captures x regardless of whether a + x is an unevaluated operand
  };
}
Within g1, an implementation might optimize away the capture of x as it is not odr-used.
— end example
 ]
Note
:
The set of captured entities is determined syntactically, and entities might be implicitly captured even if the expression denoting a local entity is within a discarded statement ([stmt.if]).
Example
:
template<bool B>
void f(int n) {
  [=](auto a) {
    if constexpr (B && sizeof(a) > 4) {
      (void)n;                  // captures n regardless of the value of B and sizeof(int)
    }
  }(0);
}
— end example
 ]
— end note
 ]
An entity is captured if it is captured explicitly or implicitly.
An entity captured by a lambda-expression is odr-used ([basic.def.odr]) in the scope containing the lambda-expression.
Note
:
As a consequence, if a lambda-expression explicitly captures an entity that is not odr-usable, the program is ill-formed ([basic.def.odr]).
— end note
 ]
Example
:
void f1(int i) {
  int const N = 20;
  auto m1 = [=]{
    int const M = 30;
    auto m2 = [i]{
      int x[N][M];          // OK: N and M are not odr-used
      x[0][0] = i;          // OK: i is explicitly captured by m2 and implicitly captured by m1
    };
  };
  struct s1 {
    int f;
    void work(int n) {
      int m = n*n;
      int j = 40;
      auto m3 = [this,m] {
        auto m4 = [&,j] {   // error: j not odr-usable due to intervening lambda m3
          int x = n;        // error: n is odr-used but not odr-usable due to intervening lambda m3
          x += m;           // OK: m implicitly captured by m4 and explicitly captured by m3
          x += i;           // error: i is odr-used but not odr-usable
                            // due to intervening function and class scopes
          x += f;           // OK: this captured implicitly by m4 and explicitly by m3
        };
      };
    }
  };
}

struct s2 {
  double ohseven = .007;
  auto f() {
    return [this] {
      return [*this] {
          return ohseven;       // OK
      };
    }();
  }
  auto g() {
    return [] {
      return [*this] { };   // error: *this not captured by outer lambda-expression
    }();
  }
};
— end example
 ]
Note
:
Because local entities are not odr-usable within a default argument ([basic.def.odr]), a lambda-expression appearing in a default argument cannot implicitly or explicitly capture any local entity.
Such a lambda-expression can still have an init-capture if any full-expression in its initializer satisfies the constraints of an expression appearing in a default argument ([dcl.fct.default]).
— end note
 ]
Example
:
void f2() {
  int i = 1;
  void g1(int = ([i]{ return i; })());          // error
  void g2(int = ([i]{ return 0; })());          // error
  void g3(int = ([=]{ return i; })());          // error
  void g4(int = ([=]{ return 0; })());          // OK
  void g5(int = ([]{ return sizeof i; })());    // OK
  void g6(int = ([x=1]{ return x; })());        // OK
  void g7(int = ([x=i]{ return x; })());        // error
}
— end example
 ]
An entity is captured by copy if
For each entity captured by copy, an unnamed non-static data member is declared in the closure type.
The declaration order of these members is unspecified.
The type of such a data member is the referenced type if the entity is a reference to an object, an lvalue reference to the referenced function type if the entity is a reference to a function, or the type of the corresponding captured entity otherwise.
A member of an anonymous union shall not be captured by copy.
Every id-expression within the compound-statement of a lambda-expression that is an odr-use of an entity captured by copy is transformed into an access to the corresponding unnamed data member of the closure type.
Note
:
An id-expression that is not an odr-use refers to the original entity, never to a member of the closure type.
However, such an id-expression can still cause the implicit capture of the entity.
— end note
 ]
If *this is captured by copy, each expression that odr-uses *this is transformed to instead refer to the corresponding unnamed data member of the closure type.
Example
:
void f(const int*);
void g() {
  const int N = 10;
  [=] {
    int arr[N];     // OK: not an odr-use, refers to automatic variable
    f(&N);          // OK: causes N to be captured; &N points to
                    // the corresponding member of the closure type
  };
}
— end example
 ]
An entity is captured by reference if it is implicitly or explicitly captured but not captured by copy.
It is unspecified whether additional unnamed non-static data members are declared in the closure type for entities captured by reference.
If declared, such non-static data members shall be of literal type.
Example
:
// The inner closure type must be a literal type regardless of how reference captures are represented.
static_assert([](int n) { return [&n] { return ++n; }(); }(3) == 4);
— end example
 ]
A bit-field or a member of an anonymous union shall not be captured by reference.
An id-expression within the compound-statement of a lambda-expression that is an odr-use of a reference captured by reference refers to the entity to which the captured reference is bound and not to the captured reference.
Note
:
The validity of such captures is determined by the lifetime of the object to which the reference refers, not by the lifetime of the reference itself.
— end note
 ]
Example
:
auto h(int &r) {
  return [&] {
    ++r;            // Valid after h returns if the lifetime of the
                    // object to which r is bound has not ended
  };
}
— end example
 ]
If a lambda-expression m2 captures an entity and that entity is captured by an immediately enclosing lambda-expression m1, then m2's capture is transformed as follows:
  • if m1 captures the entity by copy, m2 captures the corresponding non-static data member of m1's closure type;
  • if m1 captures the entity by reference, m2 captures the same entity captured by m1.
Example
:
The nested lambda-expressions and invocations below will output 123234.
int a = 1, b = 1, c = 1;
auto m1 = [a, &b, &c]() mutable {
  auto m2 = [a, b, &c]() mutable {
    std::cout << a << b << c;
    a = 4; b = 4; c = 4;
  };
  a = 3; b = 3; c = 3;
  m2();
};
a = 2; b = 2; c = 2;
m1();
std::cout << a << b << c;
— end example
 ]
When the lambda-expression is evaluated, the entities that are captured by copy are used to direct-initialize each corresponding non-static data member of the resulting closure object, and the non-static data members corresponding to the init-captures are initialized as indicated by the corresponding initializer (which may be copy- or direct-initialization).
(For array members, the array elements are direct-initialized in increasing subscript order.)
These initializations are performed in the (unspecified) order in which the non-static data members are declared.
Note
:
This ensures that the destructions will occur in the reverse order of the constructions.
— end note
 ]
Note
:
If a non-reference entity is implicitly or explicitly captured by reference, invoking the function call operator of the corresponding lambda-expression after the lifetime of the entity has ended is likely to result in undefined behavior.
— end note
 ]
A simple-capture containing an ellipsis is a pack expansion ([temp.variadic]).
An init-capture containing an ellipsis is a pack expansion that introduces an init-capture pack ([temp.variadic]) whose declarative region is the lambda-expression's compound-statement.
Example
:
template<class... Args>
void f(Args... args) {
  auto lm = [&, args...] { return g(args...); };
  lm();

  auto lm2 = [...xs=std::move(args)] { return g(xs...); };
  lm2();
}
— end example
 ]