Class pointer (newbie question)

Code:

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QLabel  *label=  new  QLabel("HelloQt!"); //this works

QLabel  label=  new  QLabel("HelloQt!"); //Error: Cannot convert QLabel* to QLabel

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When this is possible. I mean, what must be class declaration of QLabel so that this thing can happen.

And how can I see class declaration of QLabel in Qt?

new always returns a pointer. you cannot assign a stack object from a pointer, unless it has an overloaded assignment operator that accepts a pointer as its right hand side parameter.

When should I use

Code:

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Classname Object;
Object.a;

And,

Classname *Object = new Object();
Object->a;

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In case 1, the object is on he stack and will be destroyed at the end of the block.
The second one creates an object on the heap, which you have to 'delete' yourself to destroy.

I mean when the second case is useful?

From what I know that stack size is assigned at compile time and heap is allocated in runtime. Hence using stack increases exe size. Is this the primary reason or there are any other?

1.The stack space is very much limited. So, for bigger objects, the heap is needed.
2. You can dynamically allocated heap memory, unlike in stack.
(well, you can using some os specific functions.. but it is not very useful, generally.)
3. When you want to create something which will exist until you explicitly delete it.
(you wouldn't want a window to disappear just because you returned from a function, would you ?)
4. // I can't think of any more, atm. I'm sure someone will expand on this .

in GUI systems like Qt, you don't want your window to disappear as soon as the function that created it returns... so you allocate it on the heap and hang on to a pointer to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freiza

Hence using stack increases exe size.

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Completely wrong. The stack size has nothing to do with the size of the compiled executable.

There are plenty of resources online about what heap allocation is for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freiza

Code:

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QLabel  *label=  new  QLabel("HelloQt!"); //this works

QLabel  label=  new  QLabel("HelloQt!"); //Error: Cannot convert QLabel* to QLabel

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When this is possible. I mean, what must be class declaration of QLabel so that this thing can happen.

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To answer the original question (which I'm not sure anyone has done so far) the second form would require QLabel to support a non-explicit constructor and (preferably, in interests of completeness) assignment operator that accepts a pointer to QLabel.

To avoid memory leaks, the implementation of those functions (and of other member functions of the class) would need to ensure cleanup of the dynamically allocated objects.

Getting those things correct can be non-trivial which is why, in practice, such tricks are often a bad idea.

The effect is probably not what you intend either. It will certainly not give behaviour that is possible in Java or C# in similar circumstances (at least, not without a lot of effort).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freiza

And how can I see class declaration of QLabel in Qt?

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Seriously? How would you go about finding the class definition for any class that you have created?

Find the header file that declares it, open that header file in a text editor, and scroll down to find the class definition of QLabel.