std::set<Key,Compare,Allocator>:: erase
| (1) | ||
| 
           
            iterator erase
            
             (
            
            iterator pos
            
             )
            
            
             ;
            
           
           | (until C++23) | |
| 
           
            iterator erase
            
             (
            
            iterator pos
            
             )
            
             requires ( ! std:: same_as < iterator, const_iterator > ) ; | (since C++23) | |
| 
           
            iterator erase
            
             (
            
            const_iterator pos
            
             )
            
            
             ;
            
           
           | (2) | (since C++11) | 
| (3) | ||
| 
           
            iterator erase
            
             (
            
            iterator first, iterator last
            
             )
            
            
             ;
            
           
           | (until C++11) | |
| 
           
            iterator erase
            
             (
            
            const_iterator first, const_iterator last
            
             )
            
            
             ;
            
           
           | (since C++11) | |
| 
           
            size_type erase
            
             (
            
            
             const
            
            Key
            
             &
            
            key
            
             )
            
            
             ;
            
           
           | (4) | |
| 
           
           
           
            
             template
            
            
             <
            
            
             class
            
            K
            
             >
            
             size_type erase ( K && x ) ; | (5) | (since C++23) | 
Removes specified elements from the container.
          iterator
         
         and
         
          const_iterator
         
         are the same type.
        
        
         
          (since C++11)
         
        
       
      
         [
        
        
         
          first
         
        
        
         ,
        
        
         
          last
         
        
        
         )
        
       
       , which must be a valid range in
       
        
         
          *
         
         this
        
       
       .
      
        iterator
       
       nor
       
        const_iterator
       
       is implicitly convertible from
       
        K
       
       . It allows calling this function without constructing an instance of
       
        Key
       
       .
      References and iterators to the erased elements are invalidated. Other references and iterators are not affected.
The iterator pos must be valid and dereferenceable. Thus the end() iterator (which is valid, but is not dereferenceable) cannot be used as a value for pos .
Parameters
| pos | - | iterator to the element to remove | 
| first, last | - | range of elements to remove | 
| key | - | key value of the elements to remove | 
| x | - | a value of any type that can be transparently compared with a key denoting the elements to remove | 
Return value
Exceptions
        Compare
       
       object.
      Complexity
       Given an instance
       
        
         c
        
       
       of
       
        set
       
       :
      
Notes
| Feature-test macro | Value | Std | Feature | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 
           __cpp_lib_associative_heterogeneous_erasure
           | 202110L | (C++23) | Heterogeneous erasure in associative containers and unordered associative containers ; overload ( 5 ) | 
Example
#include <set> #include <iostream> int main() { std::set<int> c = {1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4}; auto print = [&c] { std::cout << "c = { "; for (int n : c) std::cout << n << ' '; std::cout << "}\n"; }; print(); std::cout << "Erase all odd numbers:\n"; for (auto it = c.begin(); it != c.end();) { if (*it % 2 != 0) it = c.erase(it); else ++it; } print(); std::cout << "Erase 1, erased count: " << c.erase(1) << '\n'; std::cout << "Erase 2, erased count: " << c.erase(2) << '\n'; std::cout << "Erase 2, erased count: " << c.erase(2) << '\n'; print(); }
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 130 | C++98 | the return type of overloads
         
          (1)
         
         and
         
          (3)
         
         was
         
          
           void
          
         
         (it is not consistent with the 
          erase()
         requirement on sequence containers) | corrected to 
          iterator
          | 
| LWG 2059 | C++11 | replacing overload (1) with overload (2) introduced new ambiguity | added overload (1) back | 
See also
| clears the contents (public member function) |