C++ Singleton instantiate with overloaded operator -> possible? - c++

Question

Today I'm working on a singleton test case in c++.
The singleton is working fine but I would like to instantiate the static object when the user try to access a member of it, so if the variable isn't created when we try to access a member of it, it will not crash instead it will simply generate my singleton.
Here's my class.h:
class PDG : public EmployeRH
{
public:
static void Instantiate(std::string nom, std::string prenom);
// Current manual instantiation version of the singleton
PDG* operator->();
// This is the line I just added to overload "->" operator ... But it seems it's never called.
void SePresenter();
static PDG* _instance;
private:
PDG();
~PDG();
PDG(std::string nom, std::string prenom);
int _budget;
};
Methods.cpp
PDG* PDG::_instance=NULL;
PDG::PDG()
{
}
PDG::~PDG()
{
}
PDG::PDG(std::string a_nom, std::string a_prenom):EmployeRH(a_nom,a_prenom)
{
_budget = 100000;
}
void PDG::Instantiate(std::string a_nom, std::string a_prenom)
{
cout << "instantiation pdg" << endl;
if (_instance == NULL)
{
_instance = new PDG(a_nom,a_prenom);
}
}
PDG* PDG::operator->()
{
PDG::Instantiate("Unknown", "Unknown");
return _instance;
}
void PDG::SePresenter()
{
cout << _nom << " " << _prenom << endl;
}
main.cpp
void main()
{
PDG::_instance->SePresenter();
system("pause");
}
The thing is, it goes directly into "SePresenter()" and not into my overloaded operator "->".
If anyone could help it would be greatfull.
Thanks,
Impact

Answer 1

PDG::_instance is a pointer to PDG so -> simply dereferences the pointer and you can't override the behaviour. To override the -> operator you must call it on the class directly not on a pointer: (*PDG::_instance)->SePresenter(). To preserve your desired syntax and to remove the undefined behaviour from dereferencing the null pointer you can change PDG::_instance into a structure which holds your instance pointer.
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
struct EmployeRH {
EmployeRH() {}
EmployeRH(std::string nom, std::string prenom) {}
std::string _nom;
std::string _prenom;
};
class PDG : public EmployeRH {
public:
static PDG* Instantiate(std::string nom, std::string prenom);
// Current manual instantiation version of the singleton
void SePresenter();
static struct Instance {
PDG* operator->()
{
return PDG::Instantiate("Unknown", "Unknown");
}
} _instance;
private:
PDG();
~PDG();
PDG(std::string nom, std::string prenom);
int _budget;
};
PDG::Instance PDG::_instance;
PDG::PDG()
{
}
PDG::~PDG()
{
}
PDG::PDG(std::string a_nom, std::string a_prenom)
: EmployeRH(a_nom, a_prenom)
{
_budget = 100000;
}
PDG* PDG::Instantiate(std::string a_nom, std::string a_prenom)
{
static PDG instance(a_nom, a_prenom);
cout << "instantiation pdg" << endl;
return &instance;
}
void PDG::SePresenter()
{
cout << _nom << " " << _prenom << endl;
}
int main()
{
PDG::_instance->SePresenter();
return 0;
}
I've also changed your singleton to use a function static which makes your code thread safe.