Retrieving values of an object from an array? - c++

Question

Pardon the example but in this case:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
class A {
private:
string theName;
int theAge;
public:
A() : theName(""), theAge(0) { }
A(string name, int age) : theName(name), theAge(age) { }
};
class B {
private:
A theArray[1];
public:
void set(const A value) {theArray[0] = value; }
A get() const { return theArray[0]; }
};
int main()
{
A man("Bob", 25);
B manPlace;
manPlace.set(man);
cout << manPlace.get();
return 0;
}
Is it possible for me to retrieve the contents of the "man" object in main when I call manPlace.get()? My intention is to print both the name (Bob) and the age (25) when I call manPlace.get(). I want to store an object within an array within another class and I can retrieve the contents of said array within the main.

Answer 1

You need to define a ostream::operator<< on your A class to accomplish that - otherwise the format how age and name should be generated as text-output is undefined (and they are private members of your A class).
Take a look at the reference for ostream::operator<<. For your A class, such a operator could be defined like this:
std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream &out, A &a) {
out << "Name: " << a.theName << std::endl;
out << "Age: " << a.theAge << std::endl;
return out;
}
Which would output something like:
Name: XX
Age: YY
So your complete code would be:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
class A {
private:
string theName;
int theAge;
public:
A() : theName(""), theAge(0) { }
A(string name, int age) : theName(name), theAge(age) { }
friend std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream &out, A &a) {
out << "Name: " << a.theName << std::endl;
out << "Age: " << a.theAge << std::endl;
return out;
}
};
class B {
private:
A theArray[1];
public:
void set(const A value) { theArray[0] = value; }
A get() const { return theArray[0]; }
};
int main()
{
A man("Bob", 25);
B manPlace;
manPlace.set(man);
cout << manPlace.get();
return 0;
}
which will output:
Name: Bob
Age: 25