std::ranges::search

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Execution support library (C++26)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Algorithm library

Constrained algorithms and algorithms on ranges (C++20)
Constrained algorithms, e.g. ranges::copy, ranges::sort, ...
Execution policies (C++17)
is_execution_policy (C++17)   execution::seqexecution::parexecution::par_unseqexecution::unseq (C++17)    (C++17)(C++17)(C++20)	execution::sequenced_policyexecution::parallel_policyexecution::parallel_unsequenced_policyexecution::parallel_unsequenced (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++20)
Non-modifying sequence operations Batch operations for_each for_each_n (C++17) Search operations all_ofany_ofnone_of (C++11)                (C++11)(C++11) countcount_if mismatch equal findfind_iffind_if_not (C++11) find_end find_first_of adjacent_find search search_n Modifying sequence operations Copy operations copycopy_if (C++11) copy_backward copy_n (C++11) move (C++11) move_backward (C++11) Swap operations swap iter_swap swap_ranges Transformation operations replacereplace_if transform replace_copyreplace_copy_if Generation operations fill fill_n generate generate_n Removing operations removeremove_if unique remove_copyremove_copy_if unique_copy Order-changing operations reverse reverse_copy rotate rotate_copy random_shuffleshuffle (until C++17)(C++11) shift_leftshift_right (C++20)(C++20) Sampling operations sample (C++17)	Sorting and related operations Partitioning operations partition partition_copy (C++11)   stable_partition is_partitioned (C++11) partition_point (C++11) Sorting operations sort stable_sort partial_sort partial_sort_copy is_sorted (C++11) is_sorted_until (C++11) nth_element Binary search operations (on partitioned ranges) lower_bound upper_bound equal_range binary_search Set operations (on sorted ranges) includes set_union set_intersection set_difference set_symmetric_difference Merge operations (on sorted ranges) merge inplace_merge Heap operations push_heap pop_heap make_heap sort_heap is_heap (C++11) is_heap_until (C++11) Minimum/maximum operations max min minmax (C++11) clamp (C++17) max_element min_element minmax_element (C++11) Lexicographical comparison operations lexicographical_compare lexicographical_compare_three_way (C++20) Permutation operations next_permutation prev_permutation is_permutation (C++11) C library qsort bsearch
Numeric operations
iota (C++11) inner_product adjacent_difference    accumulate reduce (C++17) transform_reduce (C++17)	partial_sum inclusive_scan (C++17)    exclusive_scan (C++17) transform_inclusive_scan (C++17) transform_exclusive_scan (C++17)
Operations on uninitialized memory
uninitialized_copy uninitialized_move (C++17)    uninitialized_fill uninitialized_copy_n (C++11) uninitialized_move_n (C++17) uninitialized_fill_n	destroy (C++17) destroy_n (C++17) destroy_at (C++17) construct_at (C++20)       uninitialized_default_construct (C++17) uninitialized_value_construct (C++17) uninitialized_default_construct_n (C++17) uninitialized_value_construct_n (C++17)

 

Constrained algorithms

All names in this menu belong to namespace std::ranges

Non-modifying sequence operations

all_ofany_ofnone_of for_each for_each_n    countcount_if adjacent_find mismatch equal lexicographical_compare    containscontains_subrange (C++23)(C++23) findfind_iffind_if_not find_lastfind_last_iffind_last_if_not (C++23)(C++23)(C++23)   find_end find_first_of search search_n starts_with (C++23) ends_with (C++23)

Modifying sequence operations

copycopy_if copy_n copy_backward    move move_backward shift_leftshift_right (C++23)(C++23)   fill fill_n generate generate_n    transform swap_ranges    shuffle sample removeremove_if replacereplace_if reverse rotate remove_copyremove_copy_if    unique replace_copyreplace_copy_if reverse_copy rotate_copy unique_copy

Partitioning operations

is_partitioned    partition_point    partition    partition_copy    stable_partition

Sorting operations

is_sorted is_sorted_until     sort stable_sort         partial_sort       nth_element partial_sort_copy

Binary search operations (on sorted ranges)

lower_bound         upper_bound         binary_search      equal_range

Set operations (on sorted ranges)

merge inplace_merge       set_difference set_intersection    set_union          includes set_symmetric_difference

Heap operations

is_heap is_heap_until       make_heap           sort_heap push_heap pop_heap

Minimum/maximum operations

max max_element         min min_element         minmax minmax_element     clamp

Permutation operations

is_permutation      next_permutation    prev_permutation

Fold operations

fold_left (C++23) fold_left_first (C++23)   fold_right (C++23) fold_right_last (C++23)   fold_left_with_iter (C++23) fold_left_first_with_iter (C++23)

Numeric operations iota (C++23)             Random number generation generate_random (C++26)

Operations on uninitialized storage

construct_at    destroy destroy_n destroy_at uninitialized_copy    uninitialized_move uninitialized_fill uninitialized_copy_n    uninitialized_move_n uninitialized_fill_n uninitialized_default_construct uninitialized_default_construct_n uninitialized_value_construct uninitialized_value_construct_n

Return types

in_fun_result in_in_result in_found_result    in_out_result in_in_out_result    in_out_out_result    min_max_result out_value_result (C++23) in_value_result (C++23)

 

Defined in header <algorithm>
Call signature
template< std::forward_iterator I1, std::sentinel_for<I1> S1,           std::forward_iterator I2, std::sentinel_for<I2> S2,           class Pred = ranges::equal_to,           class Proj1 = std::identity,           class Proj2 = std::identity > requires std::indirectly_comparable<I1, I2, Pred, Proj1, Proj2> constexpr ranges::subrange<I1>     search( I1 first1, S1 last1, I2 first2, S2 last2, Pred pred = {},             Proj1 proj1 = {}, Proj2 proj2 = {} );	(1)	(since C++20)
template< ranges::forward_range R1, ranges::forward_range R2,           class Pred = ranges::equal_to,           class Proj1 = std::identity,           class Proj2 = std::identity> requires std::indirectly_comparable<ranges::iterator_t<R1>,                                     ranges::iterator_t<R2>, Pred, Proj1, Proj2> constexpr ranges::borrowed_subrange_t<R1>     search( R1&& r1, R2&& r2, Pred pred = {}, Proj1 proj1 = {}, Proj2 proj2 = {} );	(2)	(since C++20)

1) Searches for the first occurrence of the sequence of elements [first2, last2) in the range [first1, last1). Elements are compared using binary predicate pred after being projected with proj2 and proj1, respectively.

2) Same as (1), but uses r1 as the first source range and r2 as the second source range, as if using ranges::begin(r1) as first1, ranges::end(r1) as last1, ranges::begin(r2) as first2, and ranges::end(r2) as last2.

The function-like entities described on this page are niebloids, that is:

• Explicit template argument lists cannot be specified when calling any of them.
• None of them are visible to argument-dependent lookup.
• When any of them are found by normal unqualified lookup as the name to the left of the function-call operator, argument-dependent lookup is inhibited.

In practice, they may be implemented as function objects, or with special compiler extensions.

Parameters

first1, last1	-	the range of elements to examine (aka haystack)
first2, last2	-	the range of elements to search for (aka needle)
r1	-	the range of elements to examine (aka haystack)
r2	-	the range of elements to search for (aka needle)
pred	-	binary predicate to apply to the projected elements
proj1	-	projection to apply to the elements in the first range
proj2	-	projection to apply to the elements in the second range

Return value

1) Returns a ranges::subrange value that is the first occurrence of the sequence [first2, last2) (aka needle) in the range [first1, last1) (aka haystack), after application of the projections proj1 and proj2 to the elements of both sequences respectively with consequencing application of the binary predicate pred to compare projected elements.

If no such occurrence is found, ranges::subrange{last1, last1} is returned.

If the range to search for (aka needle) is empty, that is first2 == last2, then the ranges::subrange{first1, first1} is returned.

2) Same as (1) but the return type is ranges::borrowed_subrange_t<R1>.

Complexity

At most S * N applications of the corresponding predicate and each projection, where
(1) S = ranges::distance(first2, last2) and N = ranges::distance(first1, last1);
(2) S = ranges::distance(r2) and N = ranges::distance(r1).

Possible implementation

struct search_fn { template<std::forward_iterator I1, std::sentinel_for<I1> S1, std::forward_iterator I2, std::sentinel_for<I2> S2, class Pred = ranges::equal_to, class Proj1 = std::identity, class Proj2 = std::identity> requires std::indirectly_comparable<I1, I2, Pred, Proj1, Proj2> constexpr ranges::subrange<I1> operator()(I1 first1, S1 last1, I2 first2, S2 last2, Pred pred = {}, Proj1 proj1 = {}, Proj2 proj2 = {}) const { for (;; ++first1) { I1 it1 = first1; for (I2 it2 = first2;; ++it1, ++it2) { if (it2 == last2) return {first1, it1}; if (it1 == last1) return {it1, it1}; if (!std::invoke(pred, std::invoke(proj1, *it1), std::invoke(proj2, *it2))) break; } } }   template<ranges::forward_range R1, ranges::forward_range R2, class Pred = ranges::equal_to, class Proj1 = std::identity, class Proj2 = std::identity> requires std::indirectly_comparable<ranges::iterator_t<R1>, ranges::iterator_t<R2>, Pred, Proj1, Proj2> constexpr ranges::borrowed_subrange_t<R1> operator()(R1&& r1, R2&& r2, Pred pred = {}, Proj1 proj1 = {}, Proj2 proj2 = {}) const { return (*this)(ranges::begin(r1), ranges::end(r1), ranges::begin(r2), ranges::end(r2), std::move(pred), std::move(proj1), std::move(proj2)); } };   inline constexpr search_fn search {};

Example

Run this code

#include <algorithm>
#include <cctype>
#include <iostream>
#include <iterator>
#include <string_view>
 
using namespace std::literals;
 
void print(int id, const auto& haystack, const auto& needle, const auto& found)
{
    std::cout << id << ") search(\"" << haystack << "\", \"" << needle << "\"); ";
    const auto first = std::distance(haystack.begin(), found.begin());
    const auto last = std::distance(haystack.begin(), found.end());
    if (found.empty())
        std::cout << "not found;";
    else
    {
        std::cout << "found: \"";
        for (const auto x : found)
            std::cout << x;
        std::cout << "\";";
    }
    std::cout << " subrange: {" << first << ", " << last << "}\n";
}
 
int main()
{
    constexpr auto haystack {"abcd abcd"sv};
    constexpr auto needle {"bcd"sv};
 
    // the search uses iterator pairs begin()/end():
    constexpr auto found1 = std::ranges::search(
        haystack.begin(), haystack.end(),
        needle.begin(), needle.end());
    print(1, haystack, needle, found1);
 
    // the search uses ranges r1, r2:
    constexpr auto found2 = std::ranges::search(haystack, needle);
    print(2, haystack, needle, found2);
 
    // 'needle' range is empty:
    constexpr auto none {""sv};
    constexpr auto found3 = std::ranges::search(haystack, none);
    print(3, haystack, none, found3);
 
    // 'needle' will not be found:
    constexpr auto awl {"efg"sv};
    constexpr auto found4 = std::ranges::search(haystack, awl);
    print(4, haystack, awl, found4);
 
    // the search uses custom comparator and projections:
    constexpr auto bodkin {"234"sv};
    auto found5 = std::ranges::search(haystack, bodkin,
        [](const int x, const int y) { return x == y; }, // pred
        [](const int x) { return std::toupper(x); }, // proj1
        [](const int y) { return y + 'A' - '1'; }); // proj2
    print(5, haystack, bodkin, found5);
}

Output:

1) search("abcd abcd", "bcd"); found: "bcd"; subrange: {1, 4}
2) search("abcd abcd", "bcd"); found: "bcd"; subrange: {1, 4}
3) search("abcd abcd", ""); not found; subrange: {0, 0}
4) search("abcd abcd", "efg"); not found; subrange: {9, 9}
5) search("abcd abcd", "234"); found: "bcd"; subrange: {1, 4}

See also

ranges::adjacent_find (C++20)	finds the first two adjacent items that are equal (or satisfy a given predicate) (niebloid)
ranges::findranges::find_ifranges::find_if_not (C++20)(C++20)(C++20)	finds the first element satisfying specific criteria (niebloid)
ranges::find_end (C++20)	finds the last sequence of elements in a certain range (niebloid)
ranges::find_first_of (C++20)	searches for any one of a set of elements (niebloid)
ranges::containsranges::contains_subrange (C++23)(C++23)	checks if the range contains the given element or subrange (niebloid)
ranges::includes (C++20)	returns true if one sequence is a subsequence of another (niebloid)
ranges::mismatch (C++20)	finds the first position where two ranges differ (niebloid)
ranges::search_n (C++20)	searches for the first occurrence of a number consecutive copies of an element in a range (niebloid)
search	searches for the first occurrence of a range of elements (function template)