How to use unordered_set that has elements that are vector of pair<int,int>

Question

I wanted to have something like

 unordered_set<vector<pair<int,int>>> us;

but even without pair:

#include <vector>
#include <unordered_set>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    unordered_set<vector<int>> um;
}

it fails:

In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:35:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/unordered_set:47,
                 from prog.cpp:2:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h: In instantiation of ‘struct std::__detail::_Hash_code_base<std::vector<int>, std::vector<int>, std::__detail::_Identity, std::hash<std::vector<int> >, std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing, std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash, true>’:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1402:10:   required from ‘struct std::__detail::_Hashtable_base<std::vector<int>, std::vector<int>, std::__detail::_Identity, std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >, std::hash<std::vector<int> >, std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing, std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash, std::__detail::_Hashtable_traits<true, true, true> >’
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:174:11:   required from ‘class std::_Hashtable<std::vector<int>, std::vector<int>, std::allocator<std::vector<int> >, std::__detail::_Identity, std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >, std::hash<std::vector<int> >, std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing, std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash, std::__detail::_Prime_rehash_policy, std::__detail::_Hashtable_traits<true, true, true> >’
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/unordered_set.h:96:18:   required from ‘class std::unordered_set<std::vector<int> >’
prog.cpp:7:32:   required from here
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1070:12: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct _Hash_code_base<_Key, _Value, _ExtractKey, _H1, _H2,
            ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct hash;
            ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:35:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/unordered_set:47,
                 from prog.cpp:2:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1070:12: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct _Hash_code_base<_Key, _Value, _ExtractKey, _H1, _H2,
            ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct hash;
            ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:35:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/unordered_set:47,
                 from prog.cpp:2:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1082:53: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
       using __ebo_h1 = _Hashtable_ebo_helper<1, _H1>;
                                                     ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct hash;
            ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:35:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/unordered_set:47,
                 from prog.cpp:2:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1082:53: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
       using __ebo_h1 = _Hashtable_ebo_helper<1, _H1>;
                                                     ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct hash;
            ^
prog.cpp: In constructor ‘std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::unordered_set(std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::size_type, const hasher&, const key_equal&, const allocator_type&) [with _Value = std::vector<int>; _Hash = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _Pred = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; _Alloc = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::size_type = unsigned int; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::hasher = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::key_equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::allocator_type = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >]’:
prog.cpp:7:32: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘std::unordered_set<std::vector<int> >::hasher {aka struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >}’
     unordered_set<vector<int>> um;
                                ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘std::unordered_set<std::vector<int> >::hasher {aka struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >}’
     struct hash;
            ^
prog.cpp:7:32: note:   when instantiating default argument for call to std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::unordered_set(std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::size_type, const hasher&, const key_equal&, const allocator_type&) [with _Value = std::vector<int>; _Hash = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _Pred = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; _Alloc = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::size_type = unsigned int; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::hasher = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::key_equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::allocator_type = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >]
     unordered_set<vector<int>> um;
                                ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:35:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/unordered_set:47,
                 from prog.cpp:2:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h: In instantiation of ‘std::__detail::_Hash_code_base<_Key, _Value, _ExtractKey, _H1, _H2, std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash, true>::_Hash_code_base(const _ExtractKey&, const _H1&, const _H2&, const std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash&) [with _Key = std::vector<int>; _Value = std::vector<int>; _ExtractKey = std::__detail::_Identity; _H1 = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _H2 = std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing]’:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1463:65:   required from ‘std::__detail::_Hashtable_base<_Key, _Value, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _Traits>::_Hashtable_base(const _ExtractKey&, const _H1&, const _H2&, const _Hash&, const _Equal&) [with _Key = std::vector<int>; _Value = std::vector<int>; _ExtractKey = std::__detail::_Identity; _Equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; _H1 = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _H2 = std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing; _Hash = std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash; _Traits = std::__detail::_Hashtable_traits<true, true, true>]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:828:24:   required from ‘std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::_Hashtable(std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::size_type, const _H1&, const _H2&, const _Hash&, const _Equal&, const _ExtractKey&, const allocator_type&) [with _Key = std::vector<int>; _Value = std::vector<int>; _Alloc = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >; _ExtractKey = std::__detail::_Identity; _Equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; _H1 = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _H2 = std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing; _Hash = std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash; _RehashPolicy = std::__detail::_Prime_rehash_policy; _Traits = std::__detail::_Hashtable_traits<true, true, true>; std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::size_type = unsigned int; std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::allocator_type = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:397:26:   required from ‘std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::_Hashtable(std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::size_type, const _H1&, const key_equal&, const allocator_type&) [with _Key = std::vector<int>; _Value = std::vector<int>; _Alloc = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >; _ExtractKey = std::__detail::_Identity; _Equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; _H1 = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _H2 = std::__detail::_Mod_range_hashing; _Hash = std::__detail::_Default_ranged_hash; _RehashPolicy = std::__detail::_Prime_rehash_policy; _Traits = std::__detail::_Hashtable_traits<true, true, true>; std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::size_type = unsigned int; std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::key_equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; std::_Hashtable<_Key, _Value, _Alloc, _ExtractKey, _Equal, _H1, _H2, _Hash, _RehashPolicy, _Traits>::allocator_type = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >]’
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/unordered_set.h:136:35:   required from ‘std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::unordered_set(std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::size_type, const hasher&, const key_equal&, const allocator_type&) [with _Value = std::vector<int>; _Hash = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; _Pred = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; _Alloc = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::size_type = unsigned int; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::hasher = std::hash<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::key_equal = std::equal_to<std::vector<int> >; std::unordered_set<_Value, _Hash, _Pred, _Alloc>::allocator_type = std::allocator<std::vector<int> >]’
prog.cpp:7:32:   required from here
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1099:63: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
       : __ebo_extract_key(__ex), __ebo_h1(__h1), __ebo_h2(__h2) { }
                                                               ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct hash;
            ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable.h:35:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/unordered_set:47,
                 from prog.cpp:2:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/hashtable_policy.h:1099:63: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
       : __ebo_extract_key(__ex), __ebo_h1(__h1), __ebo_h2(__h2) { }
                                                               ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/stl_bvector.h:1134:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.8/vector:65,
                 from prog.cpp:1:
/usr/include/c++/4.8/bits/functional_hash.h:58:12: error: declaration of ‘struct std::hash<std::vector<int> >’
     struct hash;
            ^

http://ideone.com/wusr5V

Baldridge

Copy the range-hash code from Boost, it works fine. It's just not part of the C++ standard. – Hatchway

That's not a set of pairs, that's a set of vectors. Those are not allowed unless you specialize std::hash. – Shaeshaef

@larsmans sorry, edited title – Baldridge

@KerrekSB omfg I cant believe they did not put that in... are you 100% sure ? – Baldridge

ah i guess this answers it: https://mcmap.net/q/180166/-how-to-specialize-std-hash-lt-key-gt-operator-for-user-defined-type-in-unordered-containers – Baldridge

thank you boost people, boost hash_range looks nice... will try it later – Baldridge

@Baldridge Then please add the appropriate tag to your question. Thanks. – Chevy

np, ill delete mine... but i dont get how it was compiling for you in any MSVC – Baldridge

Are there any interesting properties you want in your hashing function? For example, given two vectors will the same data but in a different order, do you want them to be considered 'the same'. This question applies both to the 'outer' ordering in the vector, and to the 'inner' ordering (swapping pairs). This should be specified in the question. – Nevermore

@AaronMcDaid order matters, for me, i would expect for other people also – Baldridge

Answer 1

You could implement it like this, based on boost::hash_combine for a sensible calculation of hashes:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <map>
#include <unordered_set>

namespace
{
    // a little helper that should IMHO be standardized
    template<typename T>
    std::size_t make_hash(const T& v)
    {
        return std::hash<T>()(v);
    }

    // adapted from boost::hash_combine
    void hash_combine(std::size_t& h, const std::size_t& v)
    {
        h ^= v + 0x9e3779b9 + (h << 6) + (h >> 2);
    }

    // hash any container
    template<typename T>
    struct hash_container
    {
        size_t operator()(const T& v) const
        {
            size_t h=0;
            for( const auto& e : v ) {
                hash_combine(h, make_hash(e));
            }
            return h;
        }
    };
}

namespace std
{
    // support for pair<T,U> if T and U can be hashed
    template<typename T, typename U>
    struct hash<pair<T, U>>
    {
        size_t operator()(const pair<T,U>& v) const
        {
            size_t h=make_hash(v.first);
            hash_combine(h, make_hash(v.second));
            return h;
        }
    };

    // support for vector<T> if T is hashable
    // (the T... is a required trick if the vector has a non-standard allocator)
    template<typename... T>
    struct hash<vector<T...>> : hash_container<vector<T...>> {};

    // the same for map<T,U> if T and U are hashable
    template<typename... T>
    struct hash<map<T...>> : hash_container<map<T...>> {};

    // simply add more containers as needed
}

int main()
{
    std::unordered_set<std::vector<std::pair<int,int>>> us;
    us.insert(std::vector<std::pair<int,int>>{{{42,0},{17,64}}});
    std::cout << us.size() << std::endl;
    std::cout << us.begin()->size() << std::endl;
    std::cout << us.begin()->begin()->first << std::endl;

    std::unordered_set<std::map<int,int>> usm;
    std::map<int,int> m{{42,0},{17,64}};
    usm.insert(m);
}

Live example

Note that there was a problem when combining Clang with libstdc++ which might affect you when specializing std::hash. It has been fixed with GCC 4.8.2, but it is still visible on Coliru. If this is a problem in your case, you could disable the warning with -Wno-mismatched-tags and Clang will no longer complain.

Ovariectomy

nice answer, but Im not accepting atm in case somebody managers to give more generic answer, aka that works for any container, not just vector. still great A :) – Baldridge

@Baldridge Updated to support more containers. Note that there is no truly generic solution as there is no way to detect (reliably) if a type T is a container or not. There are approximations to this but that is a different question, but at least my solution makes it very simple to add more containers by simply deriving from a base class. – Ovariectomy

Specializations in namespace std that don't depend on a user-defined type -- is that allowed? – Forum

@DyP std::vector is a UDT, even if it happens to be in namespace std. – Ovariectomy

@DanielFrey Well that's confusing o.O Now I wonder what that restriction is for; I thought it was meant to prevent collisions between library-declared specializations and user-of-the-library-declared specializations. – Forum

@DyP Just to be clear (also for other readers): We are talking about 17.6.4.2.1/1. And you ask a good question for which I don't have an answer. Maybe the wording does not reflect the intention? – Ovariectomy

Magic! Thank you very much! By using this code I don't need to use boost to implement std::hash() for user defined classes. – Carisacarissa

One little problem, this code doesn't compile in Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition – Carisacarissa

@Carisacarissa I don't have Windows / Visual Studio, so I can't guess what's wrong. If you can't solve it yourself, maybe ask a new question about this and someone with Visual Studio might be able to help. – Ovariectomy

error C2976: 'std::map': too few template arguments – Carisacarissa

@Carisacarissa Instead of template<typename... T> struct hash<map<T...>> : hash_container<map<T...>> {}; try template<typename K, typename T, typename C, typename A> struct hash<map<K, T, C, A>> : hash_container<map<K, T, C, A>> {};. If that doesn't help, ask a new question about that since I can't help and others won't notice your comments here. – Ovariectomy

It works, awesome! I changed it a little bit and get a cleaner version, template<typename K, typename T> struct hash<map<K, T>> : hash_container<map<K, T>> {}; – Carisacarissa

@Carisacarissa Careful, your simplification will not work with custom comparators or allocators. But I'm happy I could help, and keep using the simplification if you don't need the generalization. :) – Ovariectomy

Answer 2

You should write a hasher for your types, for example:

class MyHash
{
public:
    std::size_t operator()(const vector<pair<int,int>> &v) const
    {
        std::size_t x = 0;

        for (auto &i : v)
            x ^= std::hash<int>()(i.first) ^ std::hash<int>()(i.second);

        return x;
    }
};


int main()
{
    unordered_set<vector<pair<int,int>>, MyHash> um;
}

Note: The hash function that I wrote is just an example, it can be replaced with another and better one.

Feminize

+1 - I much prefer to see an explicit hashing policy than Daniel's implicit global hackery. hash_combine is worthwhile though - with an XOR of the integers' hash values, you're very vulnerable to collisions e.g. any integer that appears in the vector an even number of times will have no net impact on the hash value, and the impact for any odd number of repeats is constant. – Delegacy