std:: static_pointer_cast, std:: dynamic_pointer_cast, std:: const_pointer_cast, std:: reinterpret_pointer_cast

Creates a new instance of std::shared_ptr whose stored pointer is obtained from r 's stored pointer using a cast expression.

If r is empty, so is the new shared_ptr (but its stored pointer is not necessarily null). Otherwise, the new shared_ptr will share ownership with the initial value of r , except that it is empty if the dynamic_cast performed by dynamic_pointer_cast returns a null pointer.

Let Y be typename std:: shared_ptr < T > :: element_type , then the resulting std::shared_ptr 's stored pointer will be obtained by evaluating, respectively:

The behavior of these functions is undefined unless the corresponding cast from U* to T* is well formed:

Parameters

Notes

The expressions std:: shared_ptr < T > ( static_cast < T * > ( r. get ( ) ) ) , std:: shared_ptr < T > ( dynamic_cast < T * > ( r. get ( ) ) ) and std:: shared_ptr < T > ( const_cast < T * > ( r. get ( ) ) ) might seem to have the same effect, but they all will likely result in undefined behavior, attempting to delete the same object twice!

Possible implementation

template<class T, class U>
std::shared_ptr<T> static_pointer_cast(const std::shared_ptr<U>& r) noexcept
{
    auto p = static_cast<typename std::shared_ptr<T>::element_type*>(r.get());
    return std::shared_ptr<T>{r, p};
}

template<class T, class U>
std::shared_ptr<T> dynamic_pointer_cast(const std::shared_ptr<U>& r) noexcept
{
    if (auto p = dynamic_cast<typename std::shared_ptr<T>::element_type*>(r.get()))
        return std::shared_ptr<T>{r, p};
    else
        return std::shared_ptr<T>{};
}

template<class T, class U>
std::shared_ptr<T> const_pointer_cast(const std::shared_ptr<U>& r) noexcept
{
    auto p = const_cast<typename std::shared_ptr<T>::element_type*>(r.get());
    return std::shared_ptr<T>{r, p};
}

template<class T, class U>
std::shared_ptr<T> reinterpret_pointer_cast(const std::shared_ptr<U>& r) noexcept
{
    auto p = reinterpret_cast<typename std::shared_ptr<T>::element_type*>(r.get());
    return std::shared_ptr<T>{r, p};
}

Example

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
 
class Base
{
public:
    int a;
    virtual void f() const { std::cout << "I am base!\n"; }
    virtual ~Base() {}
};
 
class Derived : public Base
{
public:
    void f() const override { std::cout << "I am derived!\n"; }
    ~Derived() {}
};
 
int main()
{
    auto basePtr = std::make_shared<Base>();
    std::cout << "Base pointer says: ";
    basePtr->f();
 
    auto derivedPtr = std::make_shared<Derived>();
    std::cout << "Derived pointer says: ";
    derivedPtr->f();
 
    // static_pointer_cast to go up class hierarchy
    basePtr = std::static_pointer_cast<Base>(derivedPtr);
    std::cout << "Base pointer to derived says: ";
    basePtr->f();
 
    // dynamic_pointer_cast to go down/across class hierarchy
    auto downcastedPtr = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<Derived>(basePtr);
    if (downcastedPtr)
    {
        std::cout << "Downcasted pointer says: ";
        downcastedPtr->f();
    }
 
    // All pointers to derived share ownership
    std::cout << "Pointers to underlying derived: "
              << derivedPtr.use_count()
              << '\n';
}

Base pointer says: I am base!
Derived pointer says: I am derived!
Base pointer to derived says: I am derived!
Downcasted pointer says: I am derived!
Pointers to underlying derived: 3

See also