Initializing a struct

How is a field function of a struct allocated in terms of a memory it occupies in a memory segment that's allocated for a struct object?

If I have a struct

Code:

---

Struct A
{
    char* string;
    void Func();
};

---

and if I do

Code:

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A a;
memset(&a ,0, sizeof(A));
a.Func();

---

Would that break the program, because the function pointer stored within the memory space for the struct object is totally nuked by the memset cal?

In other words, does the memory space allocated for a struct look anything like this?

memory for the structure object a
====
memory to store address string points to
-------
memory to store address a function pointer points to the function Func()
====

How is doing

Quote:

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A a = {};

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different from using memset for initialization?

As you suggest, the memory that "string" points to is not a part of the struct in any way, shape, or form. It must be acquired separtely from the struct itself, and de-allocated separately from the struct itself.

No, that would not break your program. In your code, struct A does not contain a function pointer. It just defines a member function that has no implementation. All that code will do is generate a link error (assuming that you haven't implemented Func() somewhere else).

Sorry about the confusion, I thought that people would assume that the function implementation is available. Ok, then what would happen if the function implementation is available? Where does get a function pointer stored then? Is it going to be stored within the chunk of memory assiged to the struct object?

Quote:

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Where does get a function pointer stored then? Is it going to be stored within the chunk of memory assiged to the struct object?

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There is no function pointer. All you have is a member function. The code for this member function is stored in the code segment of your executable, which is nowhere near the memory allocated for the object itself. You can memset to your heart's content, and it will not change the member function. In your example, all the memset does it set the string pointer to zero (or NULL).

besides the fact that you have Struct with a capital, a struct and a class are the same thing in c++ save access controls. Does this make it clearer?

Yes, it does. Thank you for your comments.