I am writing a function that performs some calculation on graphs using the BGL. The way the calculation is done depends on whether the graph is directed or not, but I would like to avoid writing two different functions, one for undirected graphs and one for directed graphs. Both types of graph are defined as follows
using namespace boost;
// Undirected
typedef adjacency_list<listS, vecS, undirectedS> UGraph;
// Directed
typedef adjacency_list<listS, vecS, bidirectionalS> DGraph;
Is there a way to check whether a graph is directed or not from the graph object itself? In other words, is there a way to know, from the graph object, the "directedness" property used (i.e., undirectedS, bidiretionalS or directedS)?
I found the answer while looking at the definition of the function print_graph()
in graph_utility.hpp, which led me to the function is_directed()
defined in graph_traits.hpp.
I suppose there may be a more elegant way to do this, but here is a minimal working example:
#include <iostream>
#include <boost/graph/adjacency_list.hpp>
#include <boost/graph/graph_traits.hpp>
template <typename graph_t>
void print_directedness(graph_t &g)
{
// Typedef of an object whose constructor returns "directedness" of the graph object.
typedef typename boost::graph_traits<graph_t>::directed_category Cat;
// The function boost::detail::is_directed() returns "true" if the graph object is directed.
if(boost::detail::is_directed(Cat()))
std::cout << "The graph is directed." << std::endl;
else
std::cout << "The graph is undirected." << std::endl;
}
int main()
{
// Creates an undirected graph and tests whether it is directed of not.
boost::adjacency_list< boost::setS, boost::vecS, boost::undirectedS > UnGraph;
print_directedness(UnGraph);
// Creates a directed graph and tests whether it is directed of not.
boost::adjacency_list< boost::setS, boost::vecS, boost::directedS > DiGraph;
print_directedness(DiGraph);
// Creates a bidirectional graph and tests whether it is directed of not.
boost::adjacency_list< boost::setS, boost::vecS, boost::bidirectionalS > BidiGraph;
print_directedness(BidiGraph);
return 0;
}
which correctly returns
>> g++ minimal_working_example.cpp -o minimal_working_example
>> ./minimal_working_example
The graph is undirected.
The graph is directed.
The graph is directed.