bugprone-compare-pointer-to-member-virtual-function

Detects unspecified behavior about equality comparison between pointer to member virtual function and anything other than null-pointer-constant.

struct A {
  void f1();
  void f2();
  virtual void f3();
  virtual void f4();

  void g1(int);
};

void fn() {
  bool r1 = (&A::f1 == &A::f2);  // ok
  bool r2 = (&A::f1 == &A::f3);  // bugprone
  bool r3 = (&A::f1 != &A::f3);  // bugprone
  bool r4 = (&A::f3 == nullptr); // ok
  bool r5 = (&A::f3 == &A::f4);  // bugprone

  void (A::*v1)() = &A::f3;
  bool r6 = (v1 == &A::f1); // bugprone
  bool r6 = (v1 == nullptr); // ok

  void (A::*v2)() = &A::f2;
  bool r7 = (v2 == &A::f1); // false positive, but potential risk if assigning other value to v2.

  void (A::*v3)(int) = &A::g1;
  bool r8 = (v3 == &A::g1); // ok, no virtual function match void(A::*)(int) signature.
}

Provide warnings on equality comparisons involve pointers to member virtual function or variables which is potential pointer to member virtual function and any entity other than a null-pointer constant.

In certain compilers, virtual function addresses are not conventional pointers but instead consist of offsets and indexes within a virtual function table (vtable). Consequently, these pointers may vary between base and derived classes, leading to unpredictable behavior when compared directly. This issue becomes particularly challenging when dealing with pointers to pure virtual functions, as they may not even have a valid address, further complicating comparisons.

Instead, it is recommended to utilize the typeid operator or other appropriate mechanisms for comparing objects to ensure robust and predictable behavior in your codebase. By heeding this detection and adopting a more reliable comparison method, you can mitigate potential issues related to unspecified behavior, especially when dealing with pointers to member virtual functions or pure virtual functions, thereby improving the overall stability and maintainability of your code. In scenarios involving pointers to member virtual functions, it’s only advisable to employ nullptr for comparisons.

Limitations

Does not analyze values stored in a variable. For variable, only analyze all virtual methods in the same class or struct and diagnose when assigning a pointer to member virtual function to this variable is possible.