Initiating a derived class with specific variable values - c++

For the below code snippet, how do I initialize instances of class Enemy with variables (such as x, y, type)? I have it working correctly, it triggers the instances no matter how many of them I insert... I just need to know the best way of creating an enemy with certain variables that will differ for each of my instances... particularly when some of those variables are in the base class and others are not.
class BaseObject
{
public:
virtual void Render() = 0;
int x;
int y;
};
class Enemy : public BaseObject
{
public:
Enemy() { }
virtual void Render()
{
cout << "Render! Enemy" << endl;
}
typedef std::set<BaseObject *> GAMEOBJECTS;
GAMEOBJECTS g_gameObjects;
int main()
{
g_gameObjects.insert(new Enemy());
g_lootObjects.insert(new Loot());
for(GAMEOBJECTS::iterator it = g_gameObjects.begin();
it != g_gameObjects.end();
it++)
{
(*it)->Render();
}
for(GAMEOBJECTS::iterator it = g_lootObjects.begin();
it != g_lootObjects.end();
it++)
{
(*it)->Render();
}
return 0;
}

Include the arguments in the enemy constructor and Base constructors. You can then use those to initialize the member variables.
class BaseObject
{
public:
BaseObject(int x, int y) : x(x), y(y){ }
virtual void Render() = 0;
int x;
int y;
};
and
class Enemy : public BaseObject
{
public:
Enemy(int x, int y, int foo) : BaseObject(x,y), foo(foo) { }
int foo;
...
};

Related

How to set the value of a variable of derived class by using the base class object?

I need to assign x = 2000 to x of B via object a of A
Here B is the derived class i.e inherits the class A.
class A
{
public:
int x, y;
void print()
{
cout<<endl<<"print() of A";
}
virtual void display()
{
cout<<endl<<"display() of A";
}
};
class B: public A
{
public:
int x, z;
void display()
{
cout<<endl<<"display() of B";
}
void print()
{
cout<<endl<<"print() of B";
}
};
Found the answer by doing the following:
((B *)aptr)->x = 2000;
In C++, polymorphism is implemented via virtual functions. If you need to change something in a derived class through a pointer or reference to its base type, you need a virtual function. (Well, technically, you don't; you could cast to the derived type, but that's an admission of design failure).
It can be done by creating virtual function in base class which effect to call function of derive class for initialization.
#include<iostream>
#include<stdio.h>
using namespace std;
class A
{
public:
int x, y;
void print()
{
cout<<endl<<"print() of A";
}
virtual void display()
{
cout<<endl<<"display() of A";
}
virtual void setX(int a)
{
}
};
class B: public A
{
public:
int x, z;
void display()
{
cout<<endl<<"display() of B";
}
void print()
{
cout<<endl<<"print() of B";
}
void setX(int a)
{
x=a;
}
};
int main()
{
A *ptr;
B b;
ptr=&b;
ptr->setX(2000); ///using pointer object of class A
cout<<b.x;
}
I think it will help you :)

Generic way to set particular parameters of a polymorphic member variable

Sorry for the convoluted title of my question, conceptually it is quite simple but I can't find any good design to do it.
I have a base class accessible by the end user :
class A {
private:
// m is a functor
Base* m;
};
class Base {
public:
virtual void someInterface();
};
class DerivedT1 : public Base {
public:
virtual void someInterface()
{
some_parameter++;
}
private:
int some_parameter; // how to set?
};
class DerivedT2 : public Base {
public:
virtual void someInterface()
{
some_other_parameter += a_third_parameter;
}
private:
double some_other_parameter; // how to set?
double a_third_parameter; // how to set?
};
And I am trying to find the most generic way to set some_parameter and some_other_parameter from A's public interface.
I have thought of giving a number to my parameters but this sounds really ugly.
Is there any beautiful, object-oriented way to do this ?
you want to use A's public interface to set derived class parameters:
you can define a public function In A, which have a Base* parameter:
class A
{
public:
void setter(const Base *p);
{
m = p;
}
};
if you want to set Drived1 you can define a object of Derived1, can pass it to setter;
I think you want to pass value using A's public function, you must know the type of pointer of Base*,so you can pass value by the constructor of Derived1 or Derived2!
I nothing else works, you could always use a dynamic cast:
DerivedT1 *d1 = dynamic_cast<DerivedT1>(m);
if (d1 != nullptr)
{
// do something with derived 1
}
else
{
DerivedT2 *d2 = dynamic_cast<DerivedT2>(m);
if (d2 != nullptr)
{
// do something with derived 2
}
}
But if you need that, it's usually a sign that there is something wrong with your design.
If you want to do something along these lines
A a; a.setAlgorithmFamily(Algorithm::Type1);
a.getAlgorithmImplementation().setSomeParameter(34);
This is a quick and kind of dirty example of how you could do it. A::setAlgorithmType is basically a factory pattern in it's simplest form.
nclude <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Algorithm {
public:
virtual void setParameter(int value) = 0;
};
class AlgoX : public Algorithm {
int mX;
public:
void setParameter(int value) {
cout <<"Setting X to " <<value <<endl;
mX = value;
}
};
class AlgoY : public Algorithm {
int mY;
public:
void setParameter(int value) {
cout <<"Setting Y to " <<value <<endl;
mY = value;
}
};
class A {
public:
void setAlgorithmType(std::string type) {
cout <<"Now using algorithm " <<type <<endl;
if(type == "X")
mAlgorithm = new AlgoX();
else if(type == "Y")
mAlgorithm = new AlgoY();
}
Algorithm* getAlgorithmImplementation() { return mAlgorithm; }
private:
Algorithm* mAlgorithm;
};
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
A a;
a.setAlgorithmType("X");
a.getAlgorithmImplementation()->setParameter(5);
return 0;
}
This gives:
Now using algorithm X
Setting X to 5

cpp store the objects in an array of pointer

I am trying to do something like this with c++.
void showContensofArray(void *data[])
{
//In this function have to display the values of respective objects.
// Any ideas how do I do it?
}
int main(){
A phew(xxx,abcdefg); //object of class A
B ball(90),ball2(88); //object of class B
void *dataArray[2];
dataArray[0] = &ph1;
dataArray[1] = &ball;
showContentsofArray(dataArray); //function
}
If you want to treat the objects in the data[] generically (i.e by calling a common function on them to extract a description or values) then define a class hirachy for your objects and in your showContentsofArray function call virtual methods on your (common base class) object pointers.
This is a textbook example of Polymorphism:
"polymorphism allows values of different data types to be handled using a uniform interface."
In the example below the base class BaseObject defines the uniform interface.
class BaseObject {
virtual string description() { return "Base object"; }
virtual bool bounces() { return false; }
}
class B : public BaseObject {
string description() { return "Im a B object" }
bool bounces() { return true; }
}
class A : public BaseObject {
string description() { return "Im an A object" }
}
void showContensofArray(BaseObject* data[], int size) {
for (int i=0; i<size; i++) {
cout << data[i]->description();
if (data[i]->bounces())
cout << "I bounce!";
}
}
int main() {
A phew(xxx,abcdefg); //object of class A
B ball(90),ball2(88); //object of class B
BaseObject* dataArray[2];
dataArray[0] = &ph1;
dataArray[1] = &ball;
showContentsofArray(dataArray);
}
Will output:
Im an A object
Im a B object
I bounce!
void showContensofArray(void *data[], int len)
{
int i;
for(i=0;i<len;i++){
((Base*)(data[i]))->print();
}
}
And every Class should have an implementation of the method print() that knows how to print its values.
You could also use inheritance.
EDIT:
#Ricibob's answer is correct, but if you need to do the casting inside the function, you need to do something like this:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Base{
public:
virtual void print()=0;
};
class A: public Base{
public:
void print(){
cout<<"Object A"<<endl;
}
};
class B: public Base{
public:
void print(){
cout<<"Object B"<<endl;
}
};
void showContensofArray(void* data[], int len)
{
int i;
for(i=0;i<len;i++){
((Base*)(data[i]))->print();
}
}
int main(){
A a;
B b;
void* v[2];
v[0]= &a;
v[1] = &b;
showContensofArray(v,2);
return 0;
}
You can't evade inheritance.
Just cast back to the original type:
A* p1 = static_cast<A*>(data[0]);
B* p2 = static_cast<B*>(data[1]);

C++: Calling a base class constructor with a computed argument

This simple example demonstrates the C++ syntax for calling base class constructors - as far as I understand it as a C++ learner:
class BaseClass {
protected:
int i;
public:
BaseClass(int x) {
i = x;
}
};
class DerivedClass: public BaseClass {
int j;
public:
DerivedClass(int x, int y): BaseClass(y) {
j = x;
}
Here, the base class constructor can take named arguments to the derived class constructor as input.
Now, what if I want to call BaseClass() constructor with an input value that is not a direct input to DerivedClass()? Basically, I'd like to do some multiline work with x and y within DerivedClass(), then pass a calculated value to BaseClass(). Can this be done with constructors? Should this be done with some kind of initializer method instead?
You can do that, yes:
class BaseClass
{
public:
BaseClass(int x) : i(x) {}
private:
int i;
};
class DerivedClass: public BaseClass
{
public:
DerivedClass(int x, int y):
BaseClass(compute(x, y)), // Neither i or j are initialized here yet
j(x)
{}
private:
static int compute(int a, int b) { return a + b; } // Or whatever
int j;
};
Note that you can even make compute() a non-static method but be aware that DerivedClass or BaseClass members won't be initialized at the time of the call. So you won't be able to rely on their values.
If you're using C++11 or newer you can also use lambda expressions:
class BaseClass
{
public:
BaseClass(int x) : i(x) {}
private:
int i;
};
class DerivedClass: public BaseClass
{
public:
DerivedClass(int x, int y): BaseClass(
[=]()->int
{
int sum = 0;
for(int i = 0; i < x; ++i)
{
sum += y + i * x;
}
return sum;
}()), j(x)
{}
private:
int j;
};
Then you can do this:
DerivedClass(int x, int y): BaseClass(compute(x,y)), j(y) {
//j = x; //use member-initialization-list ---> ^^^^
}
int compute(int x, int y)
{
//your code
}

class design woes

I'd like to get some advice on designing classes in a situation similar to the example below. B and C objects may or may not have a number component. The problem is that there is no way to selectively call a NumberComponent constructor. Is there a better way to design this?
class NumberComponent
{
public:
//Objects which don't have a number component just store a null pointer.
//Any time we do anything here, we have to make sure p_int isn't null.
NumberComponent() : p_int(0) { }
NumberComponent(int x) { p_int = new int(x); }
~NumberComponent() { delete p_int; }
void DoSomething() { if(p_int) ++(*p_int); }
//In real situation, this will be another complex class object.
//Using an int* here to keep this class simple for example.
int* p_int;
};
//B objects may or may not have a number component.
class B : public NumberComponent
{
public:
//If hasNumberComponent is false, we'd like to call the default constructor.
//If hasNumberComponent is true, we'd like to call NumberComponent(int) constructor.
B(int x, bool hasNumberComponent) {}
int value;
};
//C objects may or may not have a number component.
class C : public NumberComponent
{
public:
//If hasNumberComponent is false, we'd like to call the default constructor.
//If hasNumberComponent is true, we'd like to call NumberComponent(int) constructor.
C(int x, bool hasNumberComponent) {}
int value;
};
int main()
{
//myList contains NumberComponent* to B and C objects
std::list<NumberComponent*> myList;
myList.push_back(new B(5, true));
myList.push_back(new C(3, true));
for(std::list<NumberComponent*>::iterator i = myList.begin(); i != myList.end(); ++i)
(*i)->DoSomething();
//These objects don't have a Number component.
B b(2, false);
C c(1, false);
return 0;
}
Although there are better designs, you can solve your immediate problem like this:
class NumberComponent
{
public:
NumberComponent(int x,bool hasNumberComponent)
: p_int(hasNumberComponent ? new int(x) : 0) { }
~NumberComponent() { delete p_int; }
void DoSomething() { if(p_int) ++(*p_int); }
//In real situation, this will be another complex class object.
//Using an int* here to keep this class simple for example.
int* p_int;
};
//B objects may or may not have a number component.
class B : public NumberComponent
{
public:
B(int x, bool hasNumberComponent) : NumberComponent(x,hasNumberComponent) {}
int value;
};
//C objects may or may not have a number component.
class C : public NumberComponent
{
public:
C(int x, bool hasNumberComponent) : NumberComponent(x,hasNumberComponent) {}
int value;
};
There's a lot of bad design here. Have you considered to use inheritance for what it was invented for:
class B
{
public:
B(int x):
m_val(x)
{
}
virtual void doSomething()
{
//something
}
private: //might be protected as well
m_val;
};
class BWithNumberComponent : public B
{
public:
BWithNumberComponent(int x):
B(x),
m_numberComponent(x)
{
}
virtual void doSomething()
{
//something else
}
private:
NumberComponent m_numberComponent;
};