C++ Operator overloading for << with abstract class - c++

Question

Here are my header files:
//Frame.h
#pragma once
class Frame {
string frameName;
protected:
double fileSize;
vector<Attribute> attributes;
public:
Frame(string f, double size, vector<Attribute> d) :frameName(f), fileSize(size), attributes(d) {}
virtual ~Frame() {}
string& GetFrameName() { return frameName; }
Attribute& operator[](int);
int size() { return attributes.size(); }
virtual void Compress() = 0;
friend ostream& operator<<(ostream&, Frame&);
};
// AudioFrame
#pragma once
class AudioFrame :public Frame {
static const int RATES = 3;
static constexpr double BITRATE[]{128,160,192};
static constexpr double COMPRESSION_RATIO[]{11.1,9.1,7.1};
public:
AudioFrame(string frameName, double fileSize, vector<Attribute> d) :Frame(frameName,fileSize, d) {}
~AudioFrame(){}
void Compress();
friend ostream& operator<<(ostream&, AudioFrame&);
};
//ImageFrame.h
#pragma once
class ImageFrame :public Frame {
static const int BITS = 8;
static constexpr double COMPRESSION_RATIO = 6.0;
static constexpr double BITDEPTH_FACTOR[] {11.1,4.6,3.5,2.4,1.9,1.5,1.2,1.0};
public:
ImageFrame(string fileName, double fileSize, vector<Attribute> d) :Frame(fileName, fileSize, d) {}
~ImageFrame(){}
void Compress();
friend ostream& operator<<(ostream&, ImageFrame&);
};
Each one of them have a **friend ostream& operator<<(ostream&, ImageFrame&);**
But when i do this
ImageFrame test;
cout << test << endl;
Only Frame class's operator << is called. Any solution to this?
Also, professor doesn't want me to change anything from the header files!
EDIT:
here is how i implement the operator <<:
// code from AudioFrame.cpp
ostream& operator<<(ostream& os, AudioFrame& obj) {
os << "AudioFrame" << endl;
os << "Name = " << obj.GetFrameName() << endl;
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < obj.attributes.size(); i++) {
os << "\tBandwidth #" << i << ": " << obj.attributes[i] << endl;
}
return os;
}
// code from ImageFrame.cpp
ostream& operator<<(ostream& os, ImageFrame& obj) {
os << "ImageFrame" << endl;
os << "Name = " << obj.GetFrameName() << endl;
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < obj.attributes.size(); i++) {
os << "\tResolution #" << i << ": " << obj.attributes[i] << endl;
}
return os;
}
// code from Frame.cpp
ostream& operator<<(ostream& os, Frame& obj) {
return os;
}
But when i run the test code, only the code from Frame.cpp is run.
EDIT2:
So i feel like i should also share my real test code:
int type;
deque<Frame*> frames; // all frames are stored here
// user is promoted a console menu for selecting a frame type (ImageFrame or AudioFrame)
if (type == 1)
frames.push_back(new AudioFrame(...));
else
frames.push_back(new ImageFrame(...));
// now when i need to print all frames i do
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < frames.size(); i++)
cout << *(frames[i]) << endl;

Answer 1

If you REALLY want cout << *(frames[i]) << endl; to dispatch polymorphically, and you REALLY cannot alter the headers, then you have no choice but to rely on dynamic typing.
ostream& operator<<(ostream& stream, Frame& frame) {
AudioFrame* as_audio_frame = dynamic_cast<AudioFrame*>(&frame);
ImageFrame* as_image_frame = dynamic_cast<ImageFrame*>(&frame);
if(as_audio_frame) {
return stream << *as_audio_frame;
}
if(as_image_frame) {
return stream << *as_image_frame;
}
//normal frame code
}
However, this is TERRIBLE code, and signals that some reorganizing is severely needed in the headers. So i suspect there is something wrong in your intrepretation of your assignment.
Edit, well, actually, there is a hilariously overengineered alternative...
class FrameAdapterInterface {
public:
virtual ~FrameAdapterInterface() {};
protected:
virtual std::ostream print(std::ostream&) = 0;
friend ostream& operator<<(ostream&, FrameAdapterInterface &);
};
template<typename FRAME_T>
class AdapatedFrameType : public FrameAdapterInterface {
FRAME_T data_;
public:
template<typename... ARGS_T>
AdapatedFrameType(ARGS_T&&... args)
: data_(std::forward<ARGS_T>(args)...) {}
ostream& print(std::ostream& stream) override {
return stream << data_;
}
};
ostream& FrameAdapterInterface::operator<<(ostream& stream, FrameAdapterInterface& frame) {
return frame.print(stream);
}