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Overview

Simplified (since C++98)

template< class Key, class Value, /* ... */ >
class multimap;

Detailed

Regular (since C++98)

template<
    class Key,
    class Value,
    class Compare = std::less<Key>,
    class Allocator = std::allocator<std::pair<const Key, Value>>
>
class multimap;

Polymorphic (since C++17)

namespace pmr {
    template< class Key, class Value, class Compare = std::less<Key> >
    using multimap = std::multimap<Key, Value, Compare,
                                  std::pmr::polymorphic_allocator<std::pair<const Key, Value>>>;
}

The std::multimap is a container that stores key-value pairs in a specified order. It works almost as std::map, the only difference is that the keys can repeat themselves. If the keys of both elements are the same, they are ordered by their values.

Technical details

Technical definition of a multimap

Multimap is an associative container that contains a sorted list of key-value pairs, while permitting multiple entries with the same key.

Sorting is done according to the comparison function Compare, applied to the keys. Search, insertion, and removal operations have logarithmic complexity.

The order of the key-value pairs whose keys compare equivalent is the order of insertion and does not change. (since C++11)

Everywhere the standard library uses the Compare requirements, equivalence is determined by using the equivalence relation as described on Compare.

In imprecise terms, two objects a and b are considered equivalent if neither compares less than the other: !comp(a, b) && !comp(b, a).

std::multimap

Defined in

map

Template parameters

pub	Key	The type of the stored keys.
pub	Value	The type of the stored values.
pub	Compare	A comparator type satisfying Compare.
pub	Allocator	An allocator type responsible for allocating and deallocating memory. Must satisfy Allocator.

Type names

pub	key_type	Key
pub	mapped_type	Value
pub	value_type	std::pair<const Key, Value>
pub	size_type	Unsigned integer type (usually std::size_t ).
pub	difference_type	Signed integer type (usually std::ptrdiff_t ).
pub	key_compare	Compare
pub	allocator_type	Allocator
pub	reference	value_type&
pub	const_reference	const value_type&
pub	pointer	Allocator::pointer(until C++11) std::allocator_traits<Allocator>::pointer(since C++11)
pub	const_pointer	Allocator::const_pointer(until C++11) std::allocator_traits<Allocator>::const_pointer(since C++11)
pub	iterator	LegacyBidirectionalIterator to value_type
pub	const_iterator	LegacyBidirectionalIterator to const value_type
pub	reverse_iterator	std::reverse_iterator<iterator>
pub	const_reverse_iterator	std::reverse_iterator<const_iterator>
pub	node_type (since C++17)	A specialization of node handle representing a container node.

Member classes

pub

value_compare

Function object that compares two objects of type value_type.

Member functions

pub	(constructors)	Constructs a new multimap.
pub	(destructor)	Destructs a multimap.
pub	operator=	Assigns one multimap to another.
pub	get_allocator	Returns an associated allocator.

Iterators

pub	begin cbegin (since C++11)	Returns an iterator to the beginning.
pub	end cend (since C++11)	Returns an iterator to the end.
pub	rbegin crbegin (since C++11)	Returns a reverse iterator to the beginning.
pub	rend crend (since C++11)	Returns a reverse iterator to the end.

Capacity

pub	empty	Returns true if a multimap is empty, otherwise false.
pub	size	Returns the number of elements in a multimap.
pub	max_size	Returns the maximum possible number of elements.

Modifiers

pub	clear	Clears the contents of a multimap.
pub	insert	Inserts elements or nodes (extracted with .extract()) (since C++17).
pub	emplace (since C++11)	Constructs a new element in place.
pub	emplace_hint (since C++11)	Constructs elements in-place using a hint (iterator).
pub	erase	Erases elements.
pub	swap	Swaps two multimaps.
pub	extract (since C++17)	Extracts nodes from a multimap (can be later inserted somewhere else).
pub	merge (since C++17)	Merges two multimaps together.

Lookup

pub	count	Returns the number of elements matching a specific key.
pub	find	Searches for an element and returns an iterator to it, or end iterator if not found.
pub	contains (since C++20)	Returns true if an element is inside a multimap, otherwise false.
pub	equal_range	Returns a range of elements matching a specific key.
pub	lower_bound	Returns an iterator to the first element not less than the given key.
pub	upper_bound	Returns an iterator to the first element greater than the given key.

Observers

pub	key_comp	Returns an internal function object that compares keys.
pub	value_comp	Returns an internal function object that compares keys in objects of type value_type (std::pair<const Key, Value>).

Non-member functions

pub	operator== operator!= (removed in C++20) operator< (removed in C++20) operator> (removed in C++20) operator<= (removed in C++20) operator>= (removed in C++20) operator<=> (since C++20)	Lexicographically compares the values in a multimap.
pub	std::swap (std::multimap)	An overload for a std::swap algorithm.
pub	std::erase_if (std::multimap) (since C++20)	Overload for a std::erase_if algorithm.

Deduction guides (since C++17)

Click to expand

Deduction guides

// (1)
template< class InputIt, class Alloc >
multimap( InputIt, InputIt, Alloc )
  -> multimap<iter_key_t<InputIt>, iter_val_t<InputIt>,
              std::less<iter_key_t<InputIt>>, Alloc>;

// (2)
template< class InputIt,
          class Comp = std::less<iter_key_t<InputIt>>,
          class Alloc = std::allocator<iter_to_alloc_t<InputIt>> >
multimap( InputIt, InputIt, Comp = Comp(), Alloc = Alloc() )
  -> multimap<iter_key_t<InputIt>, iter_val_t<InputIt>, Comp, Alloc>;

(1) and (2) allow for deduction from an iterator range

// (3)
template< class Key, class T, class Allocator >
multimap( std::initializer_list<std::pair<Key, T>>, Allocator )
  -> multimap<Key, T, std::less<Key>, Allocator>;

// (4)
template< class Key,
          class T,
          class Comp = std::less<Key>,
          class Alloc = std::allocator<std::pair<const Key, T>> >
multimap( std::initializer_list<std::pair<Key, T>>, Comp = Comp(), Alloc = Alloc() )
  -> multimap<Key, T, Comp, Alloc>;

(3) and (4) allow for deduction from a std::initializer_list

Aliases iter_key_t, iter_val_t and iter_to_alloc_t are defined as if follows:

template< class InputIt >
using iter_key_t = std::remove_const_t<
                     typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type::first_type>;

template< class InputIt >
using iter_val_t = typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type::second_type;

template< class InputIt >
using iter_to_alloc_t = std::pair<
  std::add_const_t<typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type::first_type>,
  typename std::iterator_traits<InputIt>::value_type::second_type
>

note

Note that these aliases aren't guaranteed to be found anywhere in the standard library. They are defined solely for presentation purposes of these deduction guides and weren't present in the standard library at the point of writing of this document.

Overload resolution

In order for any of the deduction guides to participate in overload resolution, the folllowing requirements must be met:

• InputIt satisfies LegacyInputIterator
• Alloc satisfies Allocator
• Comp doesn't satisfy Allocator

note

The extent to which the library determines that a type does not satisfy LegacyInputIterator is unspecified, except that as a minimum:

• Integral types do not qualify as input iterators.

Likewise, the extent to which it determines that a type does not satisfy Allocator is unspecified, except that as a minimum:

• The member type Alloc::value_type must exist.
• The expression std::declval<Alloc&>().allocate(std::size_t{}) must be well-formed when treated as an unevaluated operand.

More examples

Basic manipulation

Creating map, inserting pairs, printing it out

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

int main(){
  std::multimap<std::string, int> potions { {"health", 30}, {"mana", 25}, {"mana", 50} };

  potions.emplace("health", 200);
  potions.insert(std::make_pair("speed", 10));

  for (const auto& [key, value] : potions)
    std::cout << key << " " << value << std::endl;

  return 0;
}

Result

health 30
health 200
mana 25
mana 50
speed 10