How can I make the map::find operation case insensitive?

Question

Does the map::find method support case insensitive search? I have a map as follows:

map > directory;
<         


        

Answer 1

I'd like to present a short solution without using Boost or templates. Since C++11 you can also provide a lambda expression as custom comparator to your map. For a POSIX-compatible system, the solution could look as follows:

auto comp = [](const std::string& s1, const std::string& s2) {
    return strcasecmp(s1.c_str(), s2.c_str()) < 0;
};
std::map<std::string, std::vector<std::string>, decltype(comp)> directory(comp);

Code on Ideone

For Window, strcasecmp() does not exist, but you can use _stricmp() instead:

auto comp = [](const std::string& s1, const std::string& s2) {
    return _stricmp(s1.c_str(), s2.c_str()) < 0;
};
std::map<std::string, std::vector<std::string>, decltype(comp)> directory(comp);

Note: Depending on your system and whether you have to support Unicode or not, you might need to compare strings in a different way. This Q&A gives a good start.

Answer 2

Implement std::less function and compare by changing both to same case.

Answer 3

Here are some other alternatives, including one which performs significantly faster.

#include    <map>
#include    <string>
#include    <cstring>
#include    <iostream>
#include    <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>

using std::string;
using std::map;
using std::cout;
using std::endl;

using namespace boost::algorithm;

// recommended in Meyers, Effective STL when internationalization and embedded
// NULLs aren't an issue.  Much faster than the STL or Boost lex versions.
struct ciLessLibC : public std::binary_function<string, string, bool> {
    bool operator()(const string &lhs, const string &rhs) const {
        return strcasecmp(lhs.c_str(), rhs.c_str()) < 0 ;
    }
};

// Modification of Manuel's answer
struct ciLessBoost : std::binary_function<std::string, std::string, bool>
{
    bool operator() (const std::string & s1, const std::string & s2) const {
        return lexicographical_compare(s1, s2, is_iless());
    }
};

typedef map< string, int, ciLessLibC> mapLibc_t;
typedef map< string, int, ciLessBoost> mapBoost_t;

int main(void) {
    mapBoost_t cisMap; // change to test other comparitor 

    cisMap["foo"] = 1;
    cisMap["FOO"] = 2;

    cisMap["bar"] = 3;
    cisMap["BAR"] = 4;

    cisMap["baz"] = 5;
    cisMap["BAZ"] = 6;

    cout << "foo == " << cisMap["foo"] << endl;
    cout << "bar == " << cisMap["bar"] << endl;
    cout << "baz == " << cisMap["baz"] << endl;

    return 0;
}

Answer 4

Tested:

template<typename T>
struct ci_less:std::binary_function<T,T,bool>
  { bool operator() (const T& s1,const T& s2) const { return boost::ilexicographical_compare(s1,s2); }};

...

map<string,int,ci_less<string>> x=boost::assign::map_list_of
        ("One",1)
        ("Two",2)
        ("Three",3);

cout << x["one"] << x["TWO"] <<x["thrEE"] << endl;

//Output: 123

Answer 5

I use the following:

bool str_iless(std::string const & a, 
               std::string const & b)
{
    return boost::algorithm::lexicographical_compare(a, b,  
                                                     boost::is_iless());
}
std::map<std::string, std::string, 
         boost::function<bool(std::string const &, 
                              std::string const &)> 
         > case_insensitive_map(&str_iless);

Answer 6

No, you can not do that using find as in that case there will be multiple matches. For example, while inserting lets you have done something like map["A"] = 1 and map["a"] = 2 and now if you want a case insensitive map.find("a") what is the expected return value? The simplest way to solve this would be insert the string into map in only one case (either upper or lower case) and then using the same case while doing the find.