You could define a creation function that handles the exception for you, with a sensible default value to return in case of an exception, for example:
struct A
{
A() : data("Default")
{
std::cout << "In A()" << std::endl;
}
A(const A& other) : data(other.data)
{
std::cout << "In A(A)" << std::endl;
}
A(bool param)
{
std::cout << "In A(bool)" << std::endl;
if(param)
throw std::runtime_error("Failed");
data = "Hello";
}
std::string data;
};
A createA(bool param, A& def_a)
try
{
return A(param);
}
catch (...) {
//...
return def_a;
}
Then you can initiate your actual A with the return value of this function. Due to RVO, no copy will be performed if the creation is successful, only if it fails (as it will have to then copy the default value):
int main(int argc, char**args)
{
A defA;
A a1 = createA(true, defA);
A a2 = createA(false, defA);
std::cout << "A1: " << a1.data << std::endl;
std::cout << "A2: " << a2.data << std::endl;
return 0;
}
The output of this is:
In A()
In A(bool)
In A(A)
In A(bool)
A1: Default
A2: Hello
The first constructor is the default value. Then you can see after the first A(bool) call (which throws), a copy constructor call is made to return the default value. The second call, which doesn't fail, has no copy constructor call (due to RVO). After this you end up with a default A and a successfully created A which you can use thereafter.
Of course, if the copy constructor can also throw, then you might have an exception escape createA - if this is the case you would have to modify this design somewhat.
ain thetryblock?