Access variable from another class (in C++) - c++

Question

This may be a really easy question but... here it goes. (Thanks in advance!)
I am simplifying the code so it is understandable. I want to use a variable calculated inside another class without running everything again.
source.ccp
#include <iostream>
#include "begin.h"
#include "calculation.h"
using namespace std;
int main()
{
beginclass BEGINOBJECT;
BEGINOBJECT.collectdata();
cout << "class " << BEGINOBJECT.test;
calculationclass SHOWRESULT;
SHOWRESULT.multiply();
system("pause");
exit(1);
}
begin.h
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
#ifndef BEGIN_H
#define BEGIN_H
class beginclass
{
public:
void collectdata();
int test;
};
#endif
begin.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include "begin.h"
void beginclass::collectdata()
{
test = 6;
}
calculation.h
#include <iostream>
#include "begin.h"
#ifndef CALCULATION_H
#define CALCULATION_H
class calculationclass
{
public:
void multiply();
};
#endif
calculation.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include "begin.h"
#include "calculation.h"
void calculationclass::multiply()
{
beginclass BEGINOBJECT;
// BEGINOBJECT.collectdata(); // If I uncomment this it works...
int abc = BEGINOBJECT.test * 2;
cout << "\n" << abc << endl;
}

Answer 1

Simply define member function multiply as
void calculationclass::multiply( const beginclass &BEGINOBJECT ) const
{
int abc = BEGINOBJECT.test * 2;
cout << "\n" << abc << endl;
}
And call it as
int main()
{
beginclass BEGINOBJECT;
BEGINOBJECT.collectdata();
cout << "class " << BEGINOBJECT.test;
calculationclass SHOWRESULT;
SHOWRESULT.multiply( BEGINOBJECT );
system("pause");
exit(1);
}

Answer 2

In your code beginclass has no explicit constructor, hence the implicitly defined default constructor will be used, which default constructs all members. Hence, after construction beginclass::test is either 0 or uninitiliased.
What you appear to be wanting is to avoid to call beginclass::collectdata() more than once. For this you would want to set a flag that remembers if beginclass::collectdata() has been called. The member function which returns the data then first checks this flags and, if the flag was not set, calls beginclass::collectdata() first. See also the answer by CashCow.

Answer 3

It looks like you are looking for some kind of lazy evaluation / caching technique whereby a value is calculated the first time it is requested then stored to return it subsequently without having to reevaluate.
In a multi-threaded environment the way to achieve this (using the new standard thread library) is by using std::call_once
If you are in a single-threaded environment, and you just want to get a value out of a class, use a getter for that value. If it isn't calculated in a "lazy" fashion, i.e. the class calculates it instantly, you can put that logic in the class's constructor.
For a "calc_once" example:
class calculation_class
{
std::once_flag flag;
double value;
void do_multiply();
double multiply();
public:
double multiply()
{
std::call_once( flag, do_multiply, this );
return value;
}
};
If you want multiply to be const, you'll need to make do_multiply also const and value and flag mutable.