Using a base-class object to represent its derived-class objects - c++

Question

I need a way for a single variable to represent two kinds of objects derived from the same base class.
It's kinda hard to describe but I'll try the best:
Say the base class:
class Rectangle
{
float w;
float h;
const float area() {return w*h;}
};
And the two derived classes:
class Poker : Rectangle
{
int style; // Diamond, Club, ....
int point; // A~10, J, Q, K
};
class BusinessCard : Rectangle
{
string name;
string address;
string phone;
};
Now is it possible to declare an object, which could be either a poker or a business-card?
'cuz the usage below is illegal:
Rectangle* rec;
rec = new Poker();
delete rec;
rec = new BusinessCard();
Polymorphism might be a way but since it's only good for changing base-class' member attributes, I need this object to be able to represent exactly either of the derived objects.
EDIT:
Thanks for the all the answers. The public inheritance , the virtual destructor and even the boost::variant typedef are all fantastic hints.

Answer 1

You can do that. The problem is the inheritance modifier for classes is private. Most of the time, private inheritance is not what you want to use. Instead, declare it explicitly as public:
class Rectangle
{
float w;
float h;
const float area() {return w*h; }; // you missed a semicolon here, btw
virtual ~Rectangle() { } // to make `delete` work correctly
};
class Poker : public Rectangle // note the public keyword
{
int style; // Diamond, Club, ....
int point; // A~10, J, Q, K
};
class BusinessCard : public Rectangle
{
string name;
string address;
string phone;
};
Then your code snippet should work.

Answer 2

You need to change the qualifier for the inheritence to public.
class Poker : public Rectangle
{
int style; // Diamond, Club, ....
int point; // A~10, J, Q, K
};
class BusinessCard : public Rectangle
{
string name;
string address;
string phone;
};
is what you want. Now both classes, BusinessCard and Poker are of type Rectangle.

Answer 3

I need this object to be able to
represent exactly either of the
derived objects.
Don't know if I understand it correct but have a look at boost::variant
typedef boost::variant<Poker, BusinessCard> PokerOrBusinessCard
Now you can access the derived classes with a boost variant visitor class.
Maybe this can be a solution.

Answer 4

I think what you may be looking for is multiple inheritance, where an object can sometimes be a Poker and sometimes a BusinessCard.
See here for a tutorial:
http://www.deitel.com/articles/cplusplus_tutorials/20060225/MultipleInheritance/index.html
Note that you can decide to make it one or the other if you wish, it does not have to be both all of the time, which may satisfy what you need.

Answer 5

Change the subclasses to use public derivation and your code works, with some cleanup. You should also use virtual destructors so the delete works correctly.
class Rectangle
{
float w;
float h;
const float area()
{
return w*h;
}
public:
virtual ~Rectangle(){};
};
class Poker : public Rectangle
{
int style; // Diamond, Club, .... int point; // A~10, J, Q, K
};
class BusinessCard : public Rectangle
{
string name;
string address;
string phone;
};