std::equal_range

template< class ForwardIt, class T >
std::pair<ForwardIt,ForwardIt> 
    equal_range( ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last,
                 const T& value );

template< class ForwardIt, class T, class Compare >
std::pair<ForwardIt,ForwardIt> 
    equal_range( ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last,
                 const T& value, Compare comp );

Returns a range containing all elements equivalent to value in the range [first, last).

The range [first, last) must be partitioned with respect to comparison with value, i.e. it must satisfy all of the following requirements:

• partitioned with respect to element < value or comp(element, value)
• partitioned with respect to !(value < element) or !comp(value, element)
• for all elements, if element < value or comp(element, value) is true then !(value < element) or !comp(value, element) is also true

A fully-sorted range meets these criteria, as does a range resulting from a call to std::partition.

The returned range is defined by two iterators, one pointing to the first element that is not less than value and another pointing to the first element greater than value. The first iterator may be alternatively obtained with std::lower_bound(), the second - with std::upper_bound().

The first version uses operator< to compare the elements, the second version uses the given comparison function comp.

Parameters

bool cmp(const Type1 &a, const Type2 &b);

Return value

std::pair containing a pair of iterators defining the wanted range, the first pointing to the first element that is not less than value and the second pointing to the first element greater than value.

If there are no elements not less than value, last is returned as the first element. Similarly if there are no elements greater than value, last is returned as the second element.

Complexity

The number of comparisons performed is logarithmic in the distance between first and last (At most 2 * log
2(last - first) + O(1) comparisons). However, for non-RandomAccessIterators, the number of iterator increments is linear.

Possible implementation

template<class ForwardIt, class T>
std::pair<ForwardIt,ForwardIt> 
    equal_range(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last,
                const T& value)
{
    return std::make_pair(std::lower_bound(first, last, value),
                          std::upper_bound(first, last, value));
}

template<class ForwardIt, class T, class Compare>
std::pair<ForwardIt,ForwardIt> 
    equal_range(ForwardIt first, ForwardIt last,
                const T& value, Compare comp);
{
    return std::make_pair(std::lower_bound(first, last, value, comp),
                          std::upper_bound(first, last, value, comp));
}

Example

#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
 
struct S
{
    int number;
    char name;
 
    S ( int number, char name  )
        : number ( number ), name ( name )
    {}
 
    // only the number is relevant with this comparison
    bool operator< ( const S& s ) const
    {
        return number < s.number;
    }
};
 
 
int main()
{
    // note: not ordered, only partitioned w.r.t. S defined below
    std::vector<S> vec = { {1,'A'}, {2,'B'}, {2,'C'}, {2,'D'}, {4,'G'}, {3,'F'} };
 
    S value ( 2, '?' );
 
    auto p = std::equal_range(vec.begin(),vec.end(),value);
 
    for ( auto i = p.first; i != p.second; ++i )
        std::cout << i->name << ' ';
}

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Example With Comparator

#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
 
struct S
{
    int number;
    char name;
 
    S ( int number, char name  )
        : number ( number ), name ( name )
    {}
 
    // only the number is relevant with this comparison
    bool operator< ( const S& s ) const
    {
        return number < s.number;
    }
};
 
struct Comp
{
    bool operator() ( const S& s, int i )
    {
        return s.number < i;
    }
 
    bool operator() ( int i, const S& s )
    {
        return i < s.number;
    }
};
 
int main()
{
    // note: not ordered, only partitioned w.r.t. S defined below
    std::vector<S> vec = { {1,'A'}, {2,'B'}, {2,'C'}, {2,'D'}, {4,'G'}, {3,'F'} };
 
    auto p = std::equal_range(vec.begin(),vec.end(),2,Comp());
 
    for ( auto i = p.first; i != p.second; ++i )
        std::cout << i->name << ' ';
}

B C D

See also