template<class T>
auto optionalToString(T* obj)
->decltype( obj->toString(), std::string() )
{
     return obj->toString();
}

template<class T>
auto optionalToString(T* obj)
->decltype( std::string() )
{
     throw "Error!";
}

奇怪的是，竟然没有人建议我在这个网站上看到的下面这个漂亮的把戏:

template <class T>
struct has_foo
{
    struct S { void foo(...); };
    struct derived : S, T {};

    template <typename V, V> struct W {};

    template <typename X>
    char (&test(W<void (X::*)(), &X::foo> *))[1];

    template <typename>
    char (&test(...))[2];

    static const bool value = sizeof(test<derived>(0)) == 1;
};

你必须确保T是一个类。查找foo时的模糊性似乎是替换失败。我让它在gcc上工作，但不确定它是否是标准的。

用c++ 20你可以写以下代码:

template<typename T>
concept has_toString = requires(const T& t) {
    t.toString();
};

template<typename T>
std::string optionalToString(const T& obj)
{
    if constexpr (has_toString<T>)
        return obj.toString();
    else
        return "toString not defined";
}

这就是类型特征存在的意义。不幸的是，它们必须手动定义。在你的情况下，想象一下:

template <typename T>
struct response_trait {
    static bool const has_tostring = false;
};

template <>
struct response_trait<your_type_with_tostring> {
    static bool const has_tostring = true;
}

我也遇到过类似的问题:

一个模板类，可以从少数基类派生，其中一些基类具有某个成员，而另一些基类没有。

我解决它类似于“typeof”(Nicola Bonelli)的答案，但使用decltype，所以它在MSVS上编译和正确运行:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

struct Generic {};    
struct HasMember 
{
  HasMember() : _a(1) {};
  int _a;
};    

// SFINAE test
template <typename T>
class S : public T
{
public:
  std::string foo (std::string b)
  {
    return foo2<T>(b,0);
  }

protected:
  template <typename T> std::string foo2 (std::string b, decltype (T::_a))
  {
    return b + std::to_string(T::_a);
  }
  template <typename T> std::string foo2 (std::string b, ...)
  {
    return b + "No";
  }
};

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  S<HasMember> d1;
  S<Generic> d2;

  std::cout << d1.foo("HasMember: ") << std::endl;
  std::cout << d2.foo("Generic: ") << std::endl;
  return 0;
}

泛型模板，用于检查类型是否支持某些“特性”:

#include <type_traits>

template <template <typename> class TypeChecker, typename Type>
struct is_supported
{
    // these structs are used to recognize which version
    // of the two functions was chosen during overload resolution
    struct supported {};
    struct not_supported {};

    // this overload of chk will be ignored by SFINAE principle
    // if TypeChecker<Type_> is invalid type
    template <typename Type_>
    static supported chk(typename std::decay<TypeChecker<Type_>>::type *);

    // ellipsis has the lowest conversion rank, so this overload will be
    // chosen during overload resolution only if the template overload above is ignored
    template <typename Type_>
    static not_supported chk(...);

    // if the template overload of chk is chosen during
    // overload resolution then the feature is supported
    // if the ellipses overload is chosen the the feature is not supported
    static constexpr bool value = std::is_same<decltype(chk<Type>(nullptr)),supported>::value;
};

检查方法foo是否与signature double兼容的模板(const char*)

// if T doesn't have foo method with the signature that allows to compile the bellow
// expression then instantiating this template is Substitution Failure (SF)
// which Is Not An Error (INAE) if this happens during overload resolution
template <typename T>
using has_foo = decltype(double(std::declval<T>().foo(std::declval<const char*>())));

例子

// types that support has_foo
struct struct1 { double foo(const char*); };            // exact signature match
struct struct2 { int    foo(const std::string &str); }; // compatible signature
struct struct3 { float  foo(...); };                    // compatible ellipsis signature
struct struct4 { template <typename T>
                 int    foo(T t); };                    // compatible template signature

// types that do not support has_foo
struct struct5 { void        foo(const char*); }; // returns void
struct struct6 { std::string foo(const char*); }; // std::string can't be converted to double
struct struct7 { double      foo(      int *); }; // const char* can't be converted to int*
struct struct8 { double      bar(const char*); }; // there is no foo method

int main()
{
    std::cout << std::boolalpha;

    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, int    >::value << std::endl; // false
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, double >::value << std::endl; // false

    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct1>::value << std::endl; // true
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct2>::value << std::endl; // true
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct3>::value << std::endl; // true
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct4>::value << std::endl; // true

    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct5>::value << std::endl; // false
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct6>::value << std::endl; // false
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct7>::value << std::endl; // false
    std::cout << is_supported<has_foo, struct8>::value << std::endl; // false

    return 0;
}

http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/83c6a631ed42cea4