virtual operator +

From:
 Hunk <santosh.udyavara@gmail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:17:35 -0700
Message-ID:
<1189520255.460777.169020@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com>
Hi

I ws wondering if there is a way to implement operator+ in case of
virtual classes.
Here's the problem. I have to have a base string class from which two
classes (normal char string and a hash string class ) are derived. The
two derived classes are template classes specifying the sizes. The
base class is a non-template class so that it can be used generically
in the interface classes. the design would look like

class Base_string {
          };

template<size>
class Char_string : Base_string {
                                           };

template<size>
class Hash_string: Base_string{
                                        };
So that in the interface class of the application he can use just the
generic Base_string to access the functions and doesnt have to know
whether its a Char or hash string
The issue is in implementing the operator+ . Since all the methods are
virtual in the base class and it should call the desired methods
polymorphically, operator+ is a challenge as it returns a Base_string
object
So if I have something like
Char_string<24> char_string1("Hello");
Char_string<24> char_string2("world");
Char_string<24> char_result;
Base_string* base_a = &char_string1;
Base_string* base_b = &char_string2;
Base_string* base_r = &char_result;

i wouldnt be able to do
*base_r = *base_a + *base_b; as the operator+ would return a
Base_object?
Any soultions to the above issue is most welcome

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