theoretical problem

i haven't gotten rest (or any c++ coding done) in days so this is probably real easy, look at the following psuedo-code:


class cppclass{
private:
int *b;
public:
cppclass(int * passedpointer);
};


//global pointer
int *a;

int main(void)
{
cppclass foobar;
...
a = functionthatsetsa(); //now a is set
...
foobar(a); //so now foobar contains a member (b) which is a
}




//any calls to foobar.b fail, several runs through the program show that a is set and that somehow my constructor isn't setting b to point to the same thing that a is



(hey and by the way, i haven't been on the boards in a while because school just started and i started dating this girl and i haven't had an ounce of time to myself until now)

the constructor basically does this:

cppclass::cppclass(int * passedpointer)
{
b = passedpointer;
}

You have no default constructor, but you have tried to call one and you can't use the constructor once the class instance has already been constructed. If you want to compile what you've done you'll have to provide a default argument and overload the () operator -

Code:

---

class cppclass{
private:
    int *b;

public:
    cppclass(int * passedpointer=0){b = passedpointer;}
    void operator ()(int* &c){b=c;}
};


//global pointer
    int *a;

int main(void)
{
    cppclass foobar;

    int b =10;
    a =&b;
 
    foobar(a); //so now foobar contains a member (b) which is a

    return 0;
}


---

haha sorry about that, bad psuedocode, as i said im tired. but what i was doing was actually

cppclass foobar(a); where i had written cppclass foobar;

sorry about that, i'm thinking in like 3 languages at once here and sometimes stuff that's wrong in all of them comes out.

i should also the problem is at run time so it isn't any sort of obvious error like that, it has something to do with my pointer copying.

be sure to write a copy constructor as well ... if you don't write a copy constructor, i don't think the compiler will provide you with one. if you're passing by value to a function, you're essentially making a copy of the value you pass to a function; if there is not a copy constructor defined, you can't make a copy, and the compiler chokes. however, if you pass by reference, you don't need a copy constructor. but, then you run the risk of modifying the actual value unintentionally.

Quote:

---

however, if you pass by reference, you don't need a copy constructor. but, then you run the risk of modifying the actual value unintentionally.

---

you can get the best of both worlds by passing a const reference.

i have a pointer that is built to modify a "surface" (actually a matrix but it's not needed to know for this) and i want a class to also modify this surface, so that class has to have the same pointer to modify the surface, how do i do this?

I'm not sure where you're having problems but if you want the pointer in your class to be a reference to your global pointer, then you'll have to have the reference to a pointer in your class. This way if your global pointer is set to point at anything else, so will your class pointer -

Code:

---

class cppclass{
private:
    int *&b;

public:
    cppclass(int *&passedpointer):b(passedpointer){}
   
};


//global pointer
    int *a;

int main(void)
{
    int b =10;
    a =&b;
    cppclass foobar(a);
       
    int c = 50;
    a=&c;  //foobar::b now points to int c


    return 0;
}

---

and sorry about my lack of ability to explain, i am extremely worn out by the time i get to this board :o