Pls help : Function declaration outside structure definition.

Dear all,

I am following an opensource project and came across following code segment

Code:

struct MState
{
  uint8_t sVert;
  uint8_t sHorz;
  static uint8_t event;
  void init(){sVert=sHorz=0;};
  
  void checkExit(uint8_t event,bool immediate=false);
  //!/ schltet horiz weiter zum naechsten menu. 
  //!/ entry    initialisiert, 
  //!/ key_exit schaltet in zwei stufen zurueck zuerst sub=0, dann popmenu
  void checkChain( uint8_t curr, MenuFuncP *menuTab, uint8_t size);
  //!/ schltet vertik weiter zum naechsten submenu. 
  //!/ entry    initialisiert, 
  //!/ keine reaktion auf exit
  uint8_t checkVert( uint8_t maxVert);
  //!/ schltet horiz weiter zum naechsten subsubmenu. 
  //!/ entry    initialisiert, 
  //!/ keine reaktion auf exit
  uint8_t checkHorz( uint8_t myVert, uint8_t maxHoriz);
};
uint8_t MState::event;

what i dont understand is since the function "MState::event" is not declared in the structure itself why its declared outside. ? assuming that "MState::event" refers to a function not the "static uint8_t event" variable declared in the structure.

If this is a common practice please let me know the exact name for this kind of work..

Thanks a lot in advance and I'm really sorry if I'm driving you guys nuts asking silly question because of my lack of knowledge.

This is C++, not C. We'll have it moved (don't post it there, someone will move it).


Quzah.