import std.range;

int[] numbers = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11];

auto rangeObject = inputRangeObject(numbers);
auto inputRange = cast(InputRange!(int[]))rangeObject;

why does 'inputRange' equal null?

ref2401 wrote:
> import std.range;
>
> int[] numbers = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11];
>
> auto rangeObject = inputRangeObject(numbers);
> auto inputRange = cast(InputRange!(int[]))rangeObject;
>
> why does 'inputRange' equal null?

Because you specified int[] element type and cast operator returns null when objects don't implement requested interface. You need to specify int as element type:

auto inputRange = cast(InputRange!int)rangeObject;

Anyway you don't need to cast to InputRange(E) interface. You can use rangeObject directly.

The short answer is yes, slices satisfy the requirements of InputRange. (And all the other ranges as well.)

There is a distinction between an array and a slice and what you hvae in your code are slices anyway. Dynamic arrays are owned by the runtime. What we get is a slice to the elements of arrays.

In the case of static arrays, no, they are not ranges. Bug again, a slice to the elements of it is a range:

  int[3] sArray;           // static array is not a range
  int[] slice = sArray;    // slice is a range

On 10/05/2012 06:28 AM, ref2401 wrote:
> import std.range;
>
> int[] numbers = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11];
>
> auto rangeObject = inputRangeObject(numbers);
> auto inputRange = cast(InputRange!(int[]))rangeObject;
>
> why does 'inputRange' equal null?
>

They don't have compatible types:

    pragma(msg, typeof(rangeObject));
    pragma(msg, typeof(inputRange));

The output is

InputRangeObject
InputRange

Those two are not in the same class hierarchy and they should not be expected to be so either. InputRange is a concept. We can say isInputRange!Foo but there is no useful type InputRange!Foo.

inputRangeObject on the other hand is a helper function that allows normally incompatible ranges to be use in a compatible way as "a range of a certain element type" as in "a range of ints". For example, two incompatible ranges can both be seen as "a range of ints".

Having said all of that, what are you trying to do? :) You can simply do this:

    auto inputRange = rangeObject;

If you want to ensure that the inputRange variable above satisfy the InputRange concept, do this:

    static assert (isInputRange!(typeof(inputRange)));

Ali

On Friday, 5 October 2012 at 13:39:56 UTC, ref2401 wrote:
> import std.range;
>
> int[] numbers = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11];
>
> auto rangeObject = inputRangeObject(numbers);
> auto inputRange = cast(InputRange!(int[]))rangeObject;
>
> why does 'inputRange' equal null?

On another note to what others said. An array is only a range when std.array has been imported (or passed to a module expecting a range which imports std.array).

A range is only a concept, it can not be be stored in an input range variable. inputRangeObject is rarely needed and I can't give an example of when it would be.

On Friday, 5 October 2012 at 13:39:56 UTC, ref2401 wrote:
> import std.range;
>
> int[] numbers = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11];
>
> auto rangeObject = inputRangeObject(numbers);
> auto inputRange = cast(InputRange!(int[]))rangeObject;
>
> why does 'inputRange' equal null?

Suggested reading:

http://ddili.org/ders/d.en/ranges.html

Forget about the std.range objects.

NMS