(C++) Pointers to Pointers of objects in different classes - c++

Question

everyone. I'm working on a final project for school and it's coming along great, but I've run into a bit of a problem with trying to use a pointer to a pointer. I'll do my best to explain the problem below:
So I have a class called Player that sort of looks like this:
class Player
{
Player();
int health;
void adjustHealth(int);
};
Player::Player()
{
health = 40;
}
void Player::adjustHealth(int adjust)
{
health += adjust;
}
I have another class called Shelter, that include "Player.h" and looks a little like this:
class Shelter
{
Shelter();
Player* player; // Create a pointer to Player class.
};
In the Shelter header file, I have the following in my default constructor:
Shelter::Shelter()
{
...Other code here.
player = new Player();
}
In the Shelter header file, I use this new player for things like:
player->adjustHealth(-1); // Subtract one health from the player.
Which works great.
The problem I'm facing is with creating another class called Church, that is in a separate header file and acts as a separate location in the game. I want Church to use the same player that Shelter does, so it has all of the same stats, etc, rather than creating a new player in Church (which is what I did in Shelter.h).
Right now, I have something like:
class Church
{
Church();
Shelter **cplayer; // This is supposed to be the pointer to the pointer.
};
The default constructor is where I'm having my problem. I want to use the same player from Shelter, not create a new player like I did in Shelter.
Church::Church
{
What should I do here?
}
I've tried a number of things, but I can't quite get it working. Eventually I want to be able to do something like this:
player->adjustHealth(-1); // Subtract one health from the player.
Only in Church, so that player's stats, like health, are adjusted no matter which location they are in.
I hope my question makes sense. If not, I can try to clarify better. Anyway, thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The problem I'm facing is with creating another class called Church, that is in a separate header file and acts as a separate location in the game. I want Church to use the same player that Shelter does, so it has all of the same stats, etc, rather than creating a new player in Church
This sounds like an ideal situation to use std::shared_ptr.
class Shelter
{
Shelter();
std::shared_ptr<Player> player; // Create a pointer to Player class.
// Provide a public accessor
public:
std::shared_Ptr<Player> getPlayer() const { return player; }
};
and
class Church
{
Church(std::shared_ptr<Player> pl) : player(pl) {}
std::shared_ptr<Player> player;
// You haven't explained in your post why you need this.
// Maybe you don't need it.
// Shelter** shelter;
};