Accessing Classes in Classes

In a nutshell, I am trying to access a private data member of a class, which is in a class (yes, a class in a class)
I want Phonebook::display() to show Phonebook.addr.house

I get an error telling me I can't access it because it's private. So... do I have to put that display() function inside Address?

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>

class Address
{
 private:
    unsigned int house;
    unsigned int street;
 public:
    Address(unsigned int h = 0, unsigned int s = 0)
      {house = h; street = s;}
};

class Phonebook
{
 private:
        unsigned int fax;
        unsigned int phone;
        Address addr;

 public:
  Phonebook(unsigned int f = 0, unsigned int p = 0, Address a = 0)
    {fax = f; phone = p; addr = a;}
  void display();
};

void Phonebook::display()
{
 std::cout << addr.house;
}

int main()
{
 Phonebook brian(5821945, 5827052, (8724, 87));
 brian.display();
 
 system("pause");
 return 0;
}

you probably shouldn't do that. private is for a good reason. But you could certainly make it public. On the other hand you could make Phonebook a friend of Address. Whatever. I don't care

one thing I can see is you're trying to make a class equal 0. You can't make a class equal a number, unless you memset() it or something.

Originally posted by frenchfry164
one thing I can see is you're trying to make a class equal 0. You can't make a class equal a number, unless you memset() it or something.

I dun get any errors though *shrug*.

I want to get this right though. I have here a simple example of what I am trying to do.

Code:

class Date
{
 private:
   int day, month, year;
};

class Employee
{
 private:
   int id;
   Date datehired;
 
 public:
   Employee(int i = 0, Date d /*what goes here*/)
     {id = i; datehired = d;}
};

int main()
{
 Employee brian(0, (7, 29, 02));
 
 return 0;
}

What would go in the Employee constructor parameter? Where type Date is specified.

You dont have to have anything there, just put that parameter first.

Code:

Employee::Employee( Date d, int i = 0 )
{
   id = i; 
   datehired = d;
}

Date briansdate( 1, 2, 3 );
Employee brian( 100, briansdate );

You might want to include some error handling first though, to ensure a valid date.

Is there a way to put it in the Employee destructor though? i really need it in there for what I am doing.

There is no reason to have private data if it cannot be accessed!
There must be a mechanism to do so:

Code:

class Date
{
 private:
   
  int day, month, year;

  public:

  void SetDate(int _day, int _month, int year)
  { day = _day; //...etc..}

  int GetDay(){ return day; }
};

However, for now you should completely abandon private utilization till you actually need it. Mostly it is used to protect members you don't want changed from programmers who don't have access to the source, or to foolproof the class, etc.
Here's a good example:

Code:

class Foo {

private:

time_t moment_of_creation; //..time this instance was created...

public:

time_t get_time_of_creation() { return moment_of_creation;  }

Foo() { moment_of_creation = clock(); }

};

As you can see, if this code were in a compiled lib, and a programmer using the objects tried to do this:

Foo bar;

//...code...

bar.moment_of_creation -= some_adjustment;

As you can see, he cannot do so. These types of reasons were part of the driving force of such mechanisms, but in most applications, using private is really unnecesary...hope that helps.

What?

I'm trying to put a class as a data member in a different class. For example, the Date class in the Employee class. I want to be able to initialize an employee object like this:
Employee brian(0, 17, (7,29,02));
Where 0 and 17 are private data members of the Employee class, and 7, 29, and 02 are data members of the Date class inside the employee class.

How would I set up the constructors to do so?

You can't do it like that.... use spacing in the argument list instead

Code:

class Date;
class Employee
{
public:
	Employee(int a, int b, int c, int d, int e)
	{
		x = a;
		y = b;
		Date(c, d, e);
	}
	class Date
	{
	public:
		Date(int c, int d, int e)
		{
			x = c;
			y = d;
			z = e;
		}
	private:
		int x,y,z;
	};
private:
	int x,y;
};

Like Employee brian(0,17, 7,29,02)

wow, i think that is what i'm looking for d00by.
can you explain why you put the class declaration thingy inside the other class? advanatages/disadvantages/necessary/why? all that good stuff.

Here's one way to do it: since only the class itself can access it's private members, let it display them itself...

Code:

//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//
//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//


class Date {

int day, month, year;

public:


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//


Date(int _day = 0, int _month = 0, int _year = 0): day(_day), month(_month), year(_year){}


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//



void SetDate(int _day = 0, int _month = 0, int _year = 0)
 {
  day = _day, month = _month, year = _year;
 }


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//


void Display(){ cout << day << "/" << month << "/" << year << endl; }


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//

};


//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//
//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//
//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//
//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//




class Employee {

public:

char name[100];

Date date_of_hire;


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//



Employee(char *_name = "Unknown", int day = 0, int month = 0, int year = 0)
 {
  strcpy(name, _name);

  date_of_hire.SetDate(day, month, year);
 }


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//



 Employee(char *_name, Date today)
 {
  strcpy(name, _name);

  date_of_hire = today;
 }


//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//


void Display()
 {
  cout << "Employee: " << name << endl << "Date Of Hire: ";

  date_of_hire.Display();

  getch();
 }

//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//

};

//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//
//>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>//
//<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<//



int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  Date tuesday( 7, 30, 2002 );

  Employee jack("Jack", tuesday);

  Employee jill("Jill", 7, 28, 2001);

  Employee anonymous;

  jack.Display();
  jill.Display();
  anonymous.Display();

  return 0;
}

Also note the beauty of C++ is that
Date a(1, 10, 98);
Date b;
b = a;

'b' now contains an exact copy of a.

yes, that is what i'm trying to do. i'm not sure i understand your syntax though.

Date(int _day = 0, int _month = 0, int _year = 0): day(_day), month(_month), year(_year){}

this can be summed up in 1 word: WHAT?

Also, is it necessary to have that setdate member function? why not let the Date constructor do it? Like Date(7, 30, 02); ?

Maybe I need a new book that teaches classes. OOO i konw! i'll go to Barnes' and Noble and read all the C++ books there. ahaa i genious*

Perhaps I'm off a bit being a newbie but why not make the contained class protected.

hey sebasatiani! i think that code of yours is going to work! thanks!!.

i dont know what protected means, so im gonna ignore it and hope i never need it =)) (spoken like a true n00b)