How to find if a given key exists in a C++ std::map

user_207177 0
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I'm trying to check if a given key is in a map and somewhat can't do it:

typedef map<string,string>::iterator mi;
map<string, string> m;
m.insert(make_pair("f","++--"));
pair<mi,mi> p = m.equal_range("f");//I'm not sure if equal_range does what I want
cout << p.first;//I'm getting error here

so how can I print what is in p?

dictionary stl c++
14 Answers

Use map::find and map::end:

if (m.find("f") == m.end()) {
  // not found
} else {
  // found
}
Admin1

C++20 gives us std::map::contains to do that.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <map>

int main()
{
    std::map<int, std::string> example = {{1, "One"}, {2, "Two"}, 
                                     {3, "Three"}, {42, "Don\'t Panic!!!"}};

    if(example.contains(42)) {
        std::cout << "Found\n";
    } else {
        std::cout << "Not found\n";
    }
}
user_38105100

You can use .find():

map<string,string>::iterator i = m.find("f");

if (i == m.end()) { /* Not found */ }
else { /* Found, i->first is f, i->second is ++-- */ }
user_951350

C++17 simplified this a bit more with an If statement with initializer. This way you can have your cake and eat it too.

if ( auto it{ m.find( "key" ) }; it != std::end( m ) ) 
{
    // Use `structured binding` to get the key
    // and value.
    const auto&[ key, value ] { *it };

    // Grab either the key or value stored in the pair.
    // The key is stored in the 'first' variable and
    // the 'value' is stored in the second.
    const auto& mkey{ it->first };
    const auto& mvalue{ it->second };

    // That or just grab the entire pair pointed
    // to by the iterator.
    const auto& pair{ *it };
} 
else 
{
   // Key was not found..
}
user_33584990 
m.find == m.end() // not found

If you want to use other API, then find go for m.count(c)>0

 if (m.count("f")>0)
      cout << " is an element of m.\n";
    else 
      cout << " is not an element of m.\n";
user_649600

I think you want map::find. If m.find("f") is equal to m.end(), then the key was not found. Otherwise, find returns an iterator pointing at the element found.

The error is because p.first is an iterator, which doesn't work for stream insertion. Change your last line to cout << (p.first)->first;. p is a pair of iterators, p.first is an iterator, p.first->first is the key string.

A map can only ever have one element for a given key, so equal_range isn't very useful. It's defined for map, because it's defined for all associative containers, but it's a lot more interesting for multimap.

onebyonelivejournalcom_130050

I know this question already has some good answers but I think my solution is worth of sharing.

It works for both std::map and std::vector<std::pair<T, U>> and is available from C++11.

template <typename ForwardIterator, typename Key>
bool contains_key(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last, Key const key) {
    using ValueType = typename std::iterator_traits<ForwardIterator>::value_type;

    auto search_result = std::find_if(
        first, last,
        [&key](ValueType const& item) {
            return item.first == key;
        }
    );

    if (search_result == last) {
        return false;
    } else {
        return true;
    }
}
user_55173780
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