Accessing Methods in Declaration vs Implementation - c++

Question

I'm having difficulty interpreting some of my results, which I would expect to behave the same but are not.
I am trying to write a method that returns a function pointer getPtrFn
I have a main.c file reading
#include <iostream>
#include "test.hpp"
int main(int argc, char* argv[]){
Test test;
void (*fPtr)(void) = test.getPtrFn();
return 0;
}
A test.hpp file that reads
#ifndef _test_h
#define _test_h
class Test {
private:
void (*ptrFn)(void);
public:
Test(){};
void (*getPtrFn(void))(void){
return ptrFn;
};
~Test();
};
#endif
And a test.cpp file that reads
#include "test.hpp"
Test::~Test(){}
This runs fine. However, when I move the implementation for *getPtrFn(void) to the implementation file (revised files shown below),
test.hpp:
#ifndef _test_h
#define _test_h
class Test {
private:
void (*ptrFn)(void);
public:
Test(){};
void (*getPtrFn(void))(void);
~Test();
};
#endif
test.cpp:
#include "test.hpp"
void (Test::*getPtrFn)(void){
return ptrFn;
};
Test::~Test(){}
I get the compile error
test.cpp:16:9: error: use of undeclared identifier 'ptrFn'
My understanding of the language syntax is that they would be treated the same. So what gives?
-Jeff

Answer 1

You need
void(*Test::getPtrFn(void))(void)
{
return ptrFn;
}
instead of void (Test::*getPtrFn)(void){...}. void (Test::*getPtrFn)(void) is the declaration of getPtrFn as a pointer-to-Test-member-function taking no parameters (void) and returning void, so after you put the braces { ... } you get a compile-time error (its like trying to declare int i{/*some statemets*/}).
Also, and don't forget to keep the declaration
void(*getPtrFn(void))(void);
in your header (right now it seems you don't have it, did you cut/pasted it?).
Quite a horrible thing to look at... So really, use a type alias, it makes your code much cleaner.
using PTRFN = void(*)(void); // or typedef void(*PTRFN)(void);
class Test {
private:
PTRFN ptrFn;
public:
PTRFN getPtrFn(void);
Test(){};
~Test(){};
};
PTRFN Test::getPtrFn(void) // clear an concise
{
return ptrFn;
}
In case you really really want to be able do decipher every kind of pointer declaration you can think of, try looking at the clockwise/spiral rule, I found it extremely useful, clear and easy to understand. Then test your knowledge at cdecl.org.