c++ - How can I cleanly specify which arguments I am passing and which remain default?

Question

Asked because of this: Default argument in c++

Say I have a function such as this: void f(int p1=1, int p2=2, int p3=3, int p4=4);

And I want to call it using only some of the arguments - the rest will be the defaults.

Something like this would work:

template<bool P1=true, bool P2=true, bool P3=true, bool P4=true>
void f(int p1=1, int p2=2, int p3=3, int p4=4);
// specialize:
template<>
void f<false, true, false, false>(int p1) {
  f(1, p1);
}
template<>
void f<false, true, true, false>(int p1, int p2) {
  f(1, p1, p2);
}
// ... and so on. 
// Would need a specialization for each combination of arguments
// which is very tedious and error-prone

// Use:
f<false, true, false, false>(5); // passes 5 as p2 argument

But it requires too much code to be practical.

Is there a better way to do this?

Answer 1

Use the Named Parameters Idiom (→ FAQ link).

The Boost.Parameters library (→ link) can also solve this task, but paid for by code verbosity and greatly reduced clarity. It's also deficient in handling constructors. And it requires having the Boost library installed, of course.