Function overload for string literals lvalue and rvalue reference

Thank you @songyuanyao for your answer, I understand now why test(char*&&) is chosen in the two last cases. I was able to remove ambiguity with template specialization on first overload thanks to @Darklighter answer too.

So I solved my problem such as below :

#include <iostream>

template <unsigned long int N>
void test(const char (&)[N]){
    std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << " //non-empty literal" << std::endl;
}

template <>
void test(const char (&)[1]){
    std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << " //empty literal" << std::endl;
}

void test(char*&&){
    std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << " //string variable" << std::endl;
}

int main(){
    char str1[] = "";
    char str2[] = "test";
    test("");
    test("test");
    test(str1);
    test(str2);
}

Output :

clang++ test.cpp -o test.out && ./test.out
void test(const char (&)[1]) //empty literal
void test(const char (&)[N]) [N = 5] //non-empty literal
void test(char *&&) //string variable
void test(char *&&) //string variable

g++ test.cpp -o test.exe && test.exe
void test(const char (&)[N]) [with long unsigned int N = 1] //empty literal
void test(const char (&)[N]) [with long unsigned int N = 5] //non-empty literal
void test(char*&&) //string variable
void test(char*&&) //string variable

  1. Which compiler is correct ?

GCC is correct.

  1. With clang, why str1 and str2 choose the rvalue overload while they are lvalues ?

Clang is wrong on test(str1);, it should be ambiguous. For test(str2);, str2 could convert to pointer implicitly, i.e. the array-to-pointer decay. The converted char* is an rvalue. For the same reason as #3, the implicit conversion sequences have the same ranking, then non-template function is prefered; test(char*&&) is selected.

  1. With gcc, why call with str1 is ambiguous ?

For test(const char (&)[1]) to be called, qualification conversion from char[1] to const char[1] is required; for test(char*&&) to be called, array-to-pointer conversion is required. Both are qualified as exact match and have the same ranking.

  1. Is there a standard rule for this situation ?

See the ranking of implicit conversion sequences in overload resolution, and implicit conversions.

  1. How to fix the two last calls ?

It depends on your intent.


String literals are not rvalues. (→)

  1. How to fix the two last calls?

You can disambiguate everything with template specializations:

#include <iostream>

template<typename C, std::size_t N>
void test(const C (&)[N]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C>
void test(const C (&)[1]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C, std::size_t N>
void test(const C (&&)[N]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C>
void test(const C (&&)[1]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C, std::size_t N>
void test(C (&)[N]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C>
void test(C (&)[1]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C, std::size_t N>
void test(C (&&)[N]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }
template<typename C>
void test(C (&&)[1]) { std::cout << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << std::endl; }

int main(){
    char str1[] = "";
    char str2[] = "test";
    test("");
    test("test");
    test(str1);
    test(str2);
    test(std::move(str1));
    test(std::move(str2));
    const char str3[] = "";
    const char str4[] = "test";
    test(std::move(str3));
    test(std::move(str4));
}

gives

void test(const C (&)[1]) [with C = char]
void test(const C (&)[N]) [with C = char; long unsigned int N = 5]
void test(C (&)[1]) [with C = char]
void test(C (&)[N]) [with C = char; long unsigned int N = 5]
void test(C (&&)[1]) [with C = char]
void test(C (&&)[N]) [with C = char; long unsigned int N = 5]
void test(const C (&&)[1]) [with C = char]
void test(const C (&&)[N]) [with C = char; long unsigned int N = 5]