Adding sprite to a node - c++

Question

I've got a SpritePlayer class, which holds my sprite.
SpritePlayer.h:
class SpritePlayer : public cocos2d::Node
{
public:
SpritePlayer();
CREATE_FUNC(SpritePlayer);
void InitSpritePlayer(std::string pathToSptire);
cocos2d::Sprite *GetSprite();
(...)
private:
cocos2d::Sprite *_sprite;
}
SpritePlayer.cpp:
void SpritePlayer::InitSpritePlayer(std::string pathToSprite)
{
_sprite = cocos2d::Sprite::create(pathToSprite);
}
cocos2d::Sprite *SpritePlayer::GetSprite()
{
return _sprite;
}
(...)
At MainScene.cpp I've got:
for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
playerSpritesList[i] = &SpritePlayer();
playerSpritesList[i]->InitSpritePlayer("ch2.png");
this->addChild(playerSpritesList[i]->GetSprite(), 0);
//SpritePlayersNode->addChild(playerSpritesList[i]->GetSprite())
}
And now the question - how could I add this sprite to a node?
Both bottom lines are causing errors, because I have to pass a Node into addChild() function.

Answer 1

The way you are going about it is introducing a level of abstraction that you do not need to have. The character itself can be a sprite, the way you have it your SpriteCharacter is not actually a sprite, it's a manager for a character sprite. I usually use the following pattern.
Character.h
class Character : public cocos2d::Sprite
{
public:
Character* createCharacterSprite(Vec2 position, std::string fileName);
private:
Character();
}
Character.cpp
Character* Character::createCharacterSprite(Vec2 position, std::string fileName)
{
auto character = new Character();
if(character && character->initWithFile(fileName))
{
character->autorelease();
return character;
}
}
MainScene.cpp
for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
auto character = Character::createCharacterSprite(characterPosition, "filename.png");
this->addChild(character);
}
This way you can manipulate from within CharacterSprite using 'this' instead of a pointer to your actual character sprite. Positioning and animations will also become a lot easier since you won't have another node with a possible different anchor point in between your character and your MainScene layer.

Answer 2

Sprite is a subclass of Node so there's not a problem with using addChild.
This line is suspicious:
playerSpritesList[i] = &SpritePlayer();
I'd remove SpritePlayer() constructor from your code, because CREATE_FUNC(SpritePlayer) creates default one, which manages memory. And then you can call playerSpritesList[i] = SpritePlayer::create();
Also you can write USING_NS_CC; in SpritePlayer (beware of Point struct - you have to write cocos2d::Point, because of namespace conflict on iOS/Mac).
Also for convention function names should start with lower case :)