What is wrong with this reference?

let's say I have this struct:

Code:

---

struct H {
 K mK;
 // ...
};

---

and this class:

Code:

---

class C {
 private:
  K mK;
 public:
  void foo(const H &h);
  // ...
};

void foo(const H &h) {
 mK = h.mK;
}

---

I thought this would assign C's mK to a copy of h.mK, but this is not happening. C's mK is behaving like it's being assigned to newly allocated memory that has been deleted. For example, the value in mK changes at random points in the application without ever explicitly changing the value.

I'm not 100% sure, but it sounds like you want mK to be a reference to h.mK and whenever the external h.mK changes you want the local mK to change too.
If that's what you're asking, then you need to make mK a pointer and assign the pointer values rather than copy by value as you are doing now.

No, when I set C's mK to h.mK, I want C's mK to stay the same value as it was assigned. So, if h.mK changes at a later point, I don't want C's mK to change to that value. I want it to stay the value that it was assigned.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by yahn

No, when I set C's mK to h.mK, I want C's mK to stay the same value as it was assigned. So, if h.mK changes at a later point, I don't want C's mK to change to that value. I want it to stay the value that it was assigned.

---

And it will, assuming that K operates in such a way that it follows the normal ideas of operator =. But we would need to see class K in order to tell this. Why not post the code you're actually using, so that we can see the real issue here?

Code:

---

void foo(const H &h) {

---

should be:

Code:

---

void C::foo(const H &h) {

---

If it is already, then please post the exact code you're using.

Bah, I did it again. That's what I have, but I didn't write the example correct.

Code:

---

template<class T>
struct Quadtree<T>::NodeItem {
        NodeItem(const T *item, const Coord &mCoord);
        const T *mItem;
        Coord mCoord;
};

template<class T>
Quadtree<T>::NodeItem::NodeItem(const T *item, const Coord &coord) : mItem(item), mCoord(coord) {}

template<class T>
void Quadtree<T>::add(const T *item, const Coord &coord) const {
    if (rNode->getSpace().containsCoord(coord)) {
        rNode->traverse(coord)->add(NodeItem(item, coord));
    }
}

---

If you need to see more, let me know.

Thank you

Is Coord H or K in your example earlier?

The actual code looks a lot more complicated than the example, which makes sense since this kind of problem is usually due to a problem with the copying of something in a complicated system.

If you could describe from the real code what is missing and what isn't, that would help. For example, is containsCoord() returning the wrong value? Also, is Coord a simple structure with simple copying?