Re: composite

From:
"Victor Bazarov" <v.Abazarov@comAcast.net>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Tue, 21 Aug 2007 07:39:26 -0400
Message-ID:
<faeitd$kae$1@news.datemas.de>
bob@blah.com wrote:

we are using the composite pattern which simply has a common abstract
base class. Deriving from this class there is a Comp class, and a
CompItem class, say. i.e.

abstractBase

                 \
                  \

v \
Comp CompItem
                     |
                     |
                     V
                     CompItemSubClass

We have also the CompItemSubClass.

Now we can either have pointers to CompItems or CompItemSubClasses. I
want to be able to call the correct function (without dynamic casting
if possible).

e.g.

virtual void toto (CompItem* compItem);
virtual void toto (CompItemSubClass* compItemSubClass);

we have something like this;

CompItem* tmp=someFunc(); // creates either a CompItems
orCompItemSubClass

then I do;

toto(tmp);

which always invokes;

virtual void toto (CompItem* compItem);

Is there any nifty way to have

virtual void toto (CompItemSubClass* compItemSubClass);

called without casting (assuming the tmp contains a pointer to a
CompItemSubClass) ?

Thanks much. Hope that makes sense. I'm rushing here :)


There is no direct way. If you know that the object a pointer to
which you obtained from 'someFunc' is one of the two (and you are
sure of it), using a static cast would be OK. 'dynamic_cast' is
only needed if you're not sure and it also requires for the class
to be polymorphic (I don't think you mentioned whether it was).

A bit better way is to give the choice to the object itself. That
should essentially be an exercise in double dispatch:

    class CompItem : public abstractBase {
        ...
        virtual void callTotoFor(someOtherClass* ptr) {
            ptr->toto(this);
        }
    };

    class CompItemSubClass : public CompItem {
        ...
        virtual void callTotoFor(someOtherClass* ptr) {
            ptr->toto(this);
        }
    };

    ... // inside 'someOtherClass's member function or elsewhere
        CompItem *pItem = someFunc();
        // blah->toto(pItem); -- this doesn't work well, do:
        pItem->callToto(blah);

HTH. Ask more questions as you get them.

V
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