std:: unreachable_sentinel_t, std:: unreachable_sentinel

From cppreference.com
Iterator library
Iterator concepts
Iterator primitives
Algorithm concepts and utilities
Indirect callable concepts
Common algorithm requirements
(C++20)
(C++20)
(C++20)
Utilities
(C++20)
Iterator adaptors
unreachable_sentinel_t unreachable_sentinel
(C++20) (C++20)
Range access
(C++11) (C++14)
(C++14) (C++14)
(C++11) (C++14)
(C++14) (C++14)
(C++17) (C++20)
(C++17)
(C++17)
Defined in header <iterator>
struct unreachable_sentinel_t ;
(1) (since C++20)
inline constexpr unreachable_sentinel_t unreachable_sentinel { } ;
(2) (since C++20)
1) unreachable_sentinel_t is an empty class type that can be used to denote the “upper bound” of an unbounded interval.
2) unreachable_sentinel is a constant of type unreachable_sentinel_t .

Non-member functions

operator==
(C++20)
compares an unreachable_sentinel_t with a value of any weakly_incrementable type
(function template)

operator== (std::unreachable_sentinel_t)

template < std:: weakly_incrementable I >

friend constexpr bool operator == ( unreachable_sentinel_t, const I & ) noexcept

{ return false ; }
(since C++20)

unreachable_sentinel_t can be compared with any weakly_incrementable type and the result is always false .

This function template is not visible to ordinary unqualified or qualified lookup , and can only be found by argument-dependent lookup when std::unreachable_sentinel_t is an associated class of the arguments.

Example

#include <algorithm>
#include <cstddef>
#include <iostream>
#include <iterator>
 
template<class CharT>
constexpr std::size_t strlen(const CharT* s)
{
    return std::ranges::find(s, std::unreachable_sentinel, CharT{}) - s;
}
 
template<class CharT>
constexpr std::size_t find_first(const CharT* haystack, const CharT* needle)
{
    const char* needle_end = needle + strlen(needle);
    // search(begin, unreachable_sentinel) is usually more efficient than
    // search(begin, end) due to one less comparison per cycle.
    // But "needle" MUST BE PRESENT in the "haystack", otherwise the call
    // is UB (which is a compile-time error in constexpr context).
    auto found = std::ranges::search(haystack, std::unreachable_sentinel,
                                     needle, needle_end);
    return found.begin() - haystack;
}
 
int main()
{
    static_assert(strlen("The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.") == 42);
    static_assert(find_first("unsigned short int", "short") == 9);
//  static_assert(find_first("long int", "float")); // compile-time error
}

See also

a view consisting of a sequence generated by repeatedly incrementing an initial value
(class template) (customization point object)