Is it valid to set a member variable of Singleton Class directly? - c++

I wonder the following code is valid, or not.
In main function, the 'testValue' of the member on 'testClass' will be set.
If printed by calling 'showTestValue()' method, the variable must be updated?
Or the variable may be not updated in some cases ?
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
class testClass {
public:
int testValue;
static testClass* getInstance();
void showTestValue();
private:
testClass();
};
testClass*
testClass::getInstance()
{
static testClass ins;
return &ins;
}
testClass::testClass()
{
testValue = 55;
}
void
testClass::showTestValue()
{
printf("testVal is :%d\n", this->testValue);
}
int main(void)
{
for(int i = 0; i < 100; ++i)
{
testClass::getInstance()->testValue = i;
testClass::getInstance()->showTestValue();
}
exit(13);
}

A Singleton can be defined as:
Singleton is a creational design pattern that lets you ensure that a class has only one instance, while providing a global access point to this instance.
Refactoring Guru
It defines instantiation of the class, not the usage. So, technically it's ok to access and modify values.
That doesn't necessarily make it good practice, i.e. What if your instance is used in a multithreaded environment? How are you controlling atomicity of the value?
Once you've thought about those questions, consider an accessor method or operator instead of direct access, that way you can control how the value is set and react to the change.

Related

Declare class member variables inside class member functions

Is there any technique or compiler extension keyword to declare class member variables inside class member functions? Something like
struct test_t{
void operator ()(){
instance_local int i = 0;
}
};
The best that came in my mind was using thread_local and then executing the member function inside another thread, but this would be too ugly to be useful.
EDIT: example
Well I'm really sorry for the following probably confusing example (it is related to my question yesterday Is there any problem in jumping into if(false) block?). I really tried to make a less confusing up...
#include <iostream>
#define instance_local thread_local
struct A{
A(int i) :
i(i)
{
}
void dosomethinguseful(){
std::cout << i << std::endl;
}
int i;
};
struct task1{
int part;
task1() : part(0){}
void operator ()(){
int result_of_calculation;
switch (part) {
case 0:{
//DO SOME CALCULATION
result_of_calculation = 5;
instance_local A a(result_of_calculation);
if(false)
case 1:{ a.dosomethinguseful();}
part++;
}
default:
break;
}
}
};
int main(){
task1 t;
t();
t();
return 0;
}
instance_local A a(result_of_calculation); that is what i could get from such a keyword instead of making a smart pointer for a.
You're describing a coroutine. Here a rough draft of what it could look like (I'm not an expert in coroutine)
auto task1() -> some_awaitable_type {
result_of_calculation = 5;
A a(result_of_calculation);
co_yield;
a.dosomethinguseful();
}
This could be called like this:
some_awaitable_type maybe_do_something = task1();
// calculation done here
// dosomethinguseful called here
co_await maybe_do_something();
There is not. The compiler needs to know the structure of the class without compiling all the method implementations. If you could slip instance_local int foo into a method body, that would make the size of the data structure 4 bytes larger.
On a more principled level, it's not good to hide data. The equivalent feature for global variables that you might be thinking of, static local variables, is a carryover from C that is widely considered to be an anti-pattern:
Why are static variables considered evil?
Not directly, no.
You could define a:
static std::map<test_t*, int> is;
…where the first part of each element is a this pointer.
But, why?
Make a member variable.

Static member function pointer to hold non static member function

This has defeated me. I want to have a static class variable which is a pointer to a (non-static) member function. I've tried all sorts of ways, but with no luck (including using typedefs, which just seemed to give me a different set of errors). In the code below I have the static class function pointer funcptr, and I can call it successfully from outside the class, but not from within the member function CallFuncptr - which is what I want to do. Any suggestions?
#include <stdio.h>
class A
{
public:
static int (A::*funcptr)();
int Four() { return 4;};
int CallFuncptr() { return (this->*funcptr)(); }
// doesn't link - undefined reference to `A::funcptr'
};
int (A::*funcptr)() = &A::Four;
int main()
{
A fred;
printf("four? %d\n", (fred.*funcptr)()); // This works
printf("four? %d\n", fred.CallFuncptr()); // But this is the way I want to call it
}
Try this instead:
#include <iostream>
class A {
public:
typedef int (A::*AMemFn)();
static AMemFn funcptr;
int Four() { return 4; }
int CallFuncptr() { return (this->*funcptr)(); }
};
A::AMemFn A::funcptr = &A::Four;
int main()
{
A fred;
std::cout << "four? " << fred.CallFuncptr() << std::endl;
}
jweyrich has a nice looking work around (and I suggest you use it), but I thought I'd elaborate on what the real problem in the code is:
Your problem is this line:
int (A::*funcptr)() = &A::Four;
This is defining a global variable called funcptr that is of the right type, rather than A::funcptr.
What you need is this mess:
int (A::*(A::funcptr))() = &A::Four;
This ugly mess is why I suggest you go down the typedef path to get a nice looking version like jweyrich's solution.
A static variable is not a member of a particular object -- it can only be accessed through the classes namespace. CallFuncptr should be rewritten:
int CallFuncptr() { return (*funcptr)();
which I think should work, since this function can access functions in A's namespace without specifying it.
Also, function pointers are more of a C construct than C++. You can access the static variable outside the class with the code:
A::CallFuncptr
since CallFunctptr just resides in A's namespace

Working with objectives and calling methods?

I've probably become a bit to used to Java and am finding this harder than it should be. Heres what I have.
myObject[0] = new item1(this);
class item1
{
private:
int x;
int y;
public:
item1( passedPointer* pOne )
{
x = 5;
y = 5;
}
int returnX() { return x; }
int returnY() { return y; }
}
Then in another method I thought I could just say:
void check()
{
int y = item1.returnY();
int x = item1.returnX();
}
But I am getting the common error: a nonstatic member reference must be relative to a specific object.
There is only one instance of this class item1, what would be the best way to do this? This is just a simplified fragment of what I'm actually doing, not the actual code.
Item1 is a class. You have to create an instance of it before you can access its non-static members. Try looking here for some basic information.
void check(){
int y = item1.returnY;
int x = item1.returnX;
}
This would also be incorrect in Java, since neither returnX nor returnY are statics, you need an object on which to apply the operation, and you also need the parenthesis of the method call:
void check() {
item1 i;
int y = i.returnY();
int x = i.returnX();
}
Perhaps implementing the Singleton pattern would not do you harm, since you want only one instance of the object. You could declare the object as global or static to a function too, then get the values.
Then again, you could also declare the functions as static, and add another one to initialize the static values of the variables which need to be returned by those methods. There are a lot of solutions to this depending on your situation which can not be fully grasped by the short amount of code you have pasted.
You created an instance of class item1 with the line
myObject[0] = new item1(this);
Unlike JAVA, in C++ there are pointers and new returns a pointer to the object (so myObject[0] is a pointer to the instance) so you need the -> operator. To activate the method you should write:
myObject[0]->returnX();
If you wish to have only one instance than implement the class as a singleton.

Is it possible to pass a variable out of a class without creating a new object in C++

I have a variable, which is a member of one of my classes, that another is in need of, but I'm not sure how to effectively pass the value between them without using a global variable, which is something I'd like to avoid if at all possible. I know I could create an object, but that would invoke the constructor of the originating class which would execute a number of functions and write the needless results to memory, which would be wasteful of system resources.
Is there an easy way to pass this value between the two functions?
Update: The class that is in need of the variable, called no_of_existing_devices. The purpose of class Initialise is to open up a file and count the number of lines of test it contains, and place that number in the variable int no_of_existing_devices, which is then used by the Device::Device() to create an object for each
class Device
{
public:
void view_attribute_list();
void set_attribute();
Device();
};
Device::Device()
{
for (int count = 0; count < no_of_existing_devices; count ++)
{
// Create an object for each iteration, up to a maximum of no_of_existing_devices
}
}
The class of which this variable is a member
class Initialise
{
public:
int no_of_existing_devices;
bool initialisation;
string existing_device_list[100];
void initialise_existing_devices();
Initialise();
};
Initialise::Initialise()
{
no_of_existing_devices = 0;
}
void Initialise::initialise_existing_devices()
{
string line;
ifstream DeviceList;
DeviceList.open("devices/device_list");
while (true)
{
getline(DeviceList, line, '\n');
if (DeviceList.eof())
{
break;
}
++ no_of_existing_devices;
}
DeviceList.close();
DeviceList.open("devices/device_list");
for (int i = 0; i < no_of_existing_devices; i ++)
{
getline(DeviceList, line, '\n');
existing_device_list[i] = line;
}
Device existing_devices[no_of_existing_devices];
!initialisation; // Existing devices are now initialised
}
Okay, from what I understand:
You don't want to have a global
You don't want to have a static
You don't want to introduce a dependency between Device and Initialise
There is one other option, assuming something owns Device and Initialise, move the no_of_existing_devices up to there, then construct both Device and Initialise with a reference to this variable...
In a similar circumstance I was just passing the pointer to the member --- I had to invoke a member function then, so it was a pointer to the member function, http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/pointers-to-members.html
It's a bit messy, but it works :-).
If the variable in the originating class can hold a value without an instance of the class I would assume that the variable is static. If not create a public static member of the class. And use it in the target class.
Something like:
// .h file
class A
{
public:
static int a;
}
// .cpp file
int A::a = 123;
// .cpp file of class B
void B::foo()
{
cout << A::a;
}
If it is a class attribute (internal variable), then you can obtain a reference through a get method. Otherwise, you can use the friend keyword on the class you want to access the attribtue from the other For example, if you declare friend class B; on class A, the attributes of the class B will be accessible on the class A.
I suggest you use the first method in order to maintain your code OO pure ;)
Edit: of course, if you access through a reference there are no resources wasted :)
Edit 2: use a static method on Initialise class that returns the no_of_existing_devices and call Initialise::NoOfExistingDevices() on the Device class. If you want to resources use a pointer like this:
public static int* Initialise::NoOfExistingDevices() {
return &no_of_existing_devices;
}
By the way, I advise you to turn the variable private.

Partially initialize variable defined in other module

I'm considering a certain solution where I would like to initialize a cell of an array that is defined in other module (there will be many modules initializing one table). The array won't be read before running main (so there is not problem with static initialization order).
My approach:
/* secondary module */
extern int i[10]; // the array
const struct Initialize {
Initialize() { i[0] = 12345; }
} init;
/* main module */
#include <stdio.h>
int i[10];
int main()
{
printf("%d\n", i[0]); // check if the value is initialized
}
Compiler won't strip out init constant because constructor has side effects. Am I right? Is the mechanism OK? On GCC (-O3) everything is fine.
//EDIT
In a real world there will be many modules. I want to avoid an extra module, a central place that will gathered all minor initialization routines (for better scalability). So this is important that each module triggers its own initialization.
This works with MSVC compilers but with GNU C++ does not (at least for me). GNU linker will strip all the symbol not used outside your compilation unit. I know only one way to guarantee such initialization - "init once" idiom. For examle:
init_once.h:
template <typename T>
class InitOnce
{
T *instance;
static unsigned refs;
public:
InitOnce() {
if (!refs++) {
instance = new T();
}
}
~InitOnce() {
if (!--refs) {
delete instance;
}
}
};
template <typename T> unsigned InitOnce<T>::refs(0);
unit.h:
#include "init_once.h"
class Init : public InitOnce<Init>
{
public:
Init();
~Init();
};
static Init module_init_;
secondary.cpp:
#include "unit.h"
extern int i[10]; // the array
Init::Init()
{
i[0] = 12345;
}
...
I don't think you want the extern int i[10]; in your main module, though, adf88.
EDIT
/*secondary module (secondary.cpp) */
int i[10];
void func()
{
i[0]=1;
}
.
/*main module (main.cpp)*/
#include<iostream>
extern int i[];
void func();
int main()
{
func();
std::cout<<i[0]; //prints 1
}
Compile, link and create and executable using g++ secondary.cpp main.cpp -o myfile
In general constructors are used(and should be used) for initializing members of a class only.
This might work, but it's dangerous. Globals/statics construction order within a single module is undefined, and so is module loading order (unless you're managing it explicitly). For example, you assume that during secondary.c Initialize() ctor run, i is already present. You'd have to be very careful not to have two modules initialize the same common data, or have two modules carry out initializations with overlapping side effects.
I think a cleaner design to tackle such a need is to have the owner of the common data (your main module) expose it as a global singleton, with an interface to carry out whichever data initializations needed. You'd have a central place to control init-order, and maybe even control concurrent access (using critical sections or other concurrency primitives). Along the lines of your simplified example, that might be -
/main module (main.c)/
#include
class CommonDat
{
int i;
public:
const int GetI() { return i;}
void SetI(int newI) { i = newI; }
void incI()
{
AcquireSomeLock();
i++;
ReleaseTheLock();
}
}
CommonDat g_CommonDat;
CommonDat* getCommonDat() { return &g_CommonDat; }
int main(void)
{
printf("%d",getCommonDat()->GetI());
}
It's also preferable to have the secondary modules call these interfaces at controlled times in runtime (and not during the global c'tors pass).
(NOTE: you named the files as C files, but tagged the question as c++. The suggested code is c++, of course).
May I ask why you use an array (running the risk of getting out of bounds) when you could use a std::vector ?
std::vector<int>& globalArray()
{
static std::vector<int> V;
return V;
}
bool const push_back(std::vector<int>& vec, int v)
{
vec.push_back(v);
return true; // dummy return for static init
}
This array is lazily initialized on the first call to the function.
You can use it like such:
// module1.cpp
static bool const dummy = push_back(globalArray(), 1);
// module2.cpp
static bool const dummy = push_back(globalArray(), 2);
It seems much easier and less error-prone. It's not multithread compliant until C++0x though.