Erase element from std::list using a pointer?

Question

class SororityBeerExpo{
public:

     std::list<LaysCrankdPepChip> m_chipList;

     void destroyChip(LaysCrankdPepChip * target)
     {
         // m_chipList needs to erase that which is pointed at by target but
         // erase() requires an iterator which is not what we got to work with
         // remove() needs a value which is not right either
     }
}

My question, is how would one delete an element in a list, with a pointer that points to that element? I would like to do this without using Iterators in place of pointers.

Answer 1

You can do a [linear] search for the element in the list, comparing the address of each element to your pointer ( std::find_if will fit the bill). Of course, you will still be using an iterator in the end, because that's what list::erase needs.

Answer 2

You can't do it directly (although see Benjamin's answer for an indirect way of doing it). A list node contains more data than just the object being contained (eg pointers to the previous and next nodes), but your raw pointer only points to the contained object.