Given a class such as:
class Person
{
private:
char *name;
public:
Person()
{
name = new char[20];
}
~Person()
{
delete [] name;
}
}
I want to print to print the name from an instance of this, using a statement like the following:
cout << myPerson << endl;
What do I need to do to define the << output operator for this class?
add this in the class:
friend std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& out, const Person& P);
and then define the operator<< something like this:
std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& out, const Person& P) {
out << P.name;
return out;
}
Define a member function print() that takes an ostream as an argument. Then let the overloaded operator<< call this member function. This way you can avoid using friend. Example:
void YourClass::print(ostream& out) const
{
//implement printing ...
}
ostream& operator<<(ostream& out, const YourClass& m)
{
m.print(out);
return out;
}
Related
My current code is not working.
I am trying to use << operator of Person class in the << operator of Student class. Is that possible?
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Person
{
private:
int EGN;
public:
Person(int e):EGN(e){}
friend ostream& operator <<(ostream& out, const Person& p);
};
ostream& operator <<(ostream& out, const Person& p)
{
out<<p.EGN<<endl;
return out;
}
class Student: public Person
{
private:
int fn;
public:
Student(int e, int f):Person(e)
{
fn=f;
}
friend ostream& operator <<(ostream& out, const Student& p);
};
ostream& operator <<(ostream& out, const Student& p)
{
Person :: operator << (out,p);
out<<p.fn<<endl;
return out;
}
Person's operator << is a friend, not a member, so you can't access it using the :: operator.
Try casting your student to a person to call the right overload:
out << static_cast<const Person &>(p);
The warning is being generated by the ostream & operator<<(ostream &os, A &A0) function.
Here's how the class's defined:
class A
{
public:
friend ostream & operator<<(ostream &os, A &A0);
A& operator=(string strSlot_);
A& operator+(string strSlot_);
A& operator+(const A &B);
A& operator=(const A &B);
string slotReturn();
A(string strSlot_);
A(const A &object);
void slotChange();
void sCout();
~A();
A();
private:
string strSlot;
int n;
};
ostream & operator<<(ostream &os, A &A0)
{
os << "strSlot = \"" << A0.slotReturn() << "\"" << endl;
}
string A::slotReturn()
{
return strSlot;
}
The question is, what is it supposed to return? *this doesn't seem to work (because it's a friend?). (It's merely a warning, but still, I just want to know.)
Also, why can't I pass A &A0 as a const (in which case the error is: "passing 'const A' as 'this' argument of 'std::string A::slotReturn()' discards qualifiers")?
You need to return the std::ostream& itself:
ostream & operator<<(ostream &os, A &A0)
{
return os << "strSlot = \"" << A0.slotReturn() << "\"" << endl;
}
As an aside, the terminology is slightly off. There is no "friend class". The std::ostream& operator<< is the friend here. But it doesn't even need to be a friend, because it just calls a public member function of A. So you can remove the friend declaration.
You should probably also make slotReturn() a const method:
string slotReturn() const;
// ^ const method
and modify the ostream& operator<< to take a const reference:
ostream & operator<<(ostream& os, const A& A0) { .... }
This will allow you to print out temporaries:
std::cout << A("I am a temporary!") << "\n";
I am a beginner trying to learn c++ so probably my question is very basic. Consider the following pice of code:
class pounds
{
private:
int m_p;
int m_cents;
public:
pounds(){m_p = 0; m_cents= 0;}
pounds(int p, int cents)
{
m_p = p;
m_cents = cents;
}
friend ostream& operator << (ostream&, pounds&);
friend istream& operator>>(istream&, pounds&);
};
ostream& operator<< (ostream& op, pounds& p)
{
op<<p.m_p<<"and "<<p.m_cents<<endl;
return op;
}
istream& operator>>(istream& ip, pounds& p)
{
ip>>p.m_p>>p.m_cents;
return ip;
}
This compiles and seems to work but I am not returning a reference to a local variable? Thanks in advance.
It's correct, since there are no local variables, there are references, that will be passed, when operators will be called.
And i suggest you to change signature of operator << to
std::ostream& operator << (ostream& os, const pounds& p);
since, p is not modified in function.
I have a slight problem where my << operator is not being called correctly.
This is what I have:
class SomeInterface
{
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& str, const SomeInterface& data);
protected:
virtual void print(ostream& str) const = 0;
};
inline std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& o, SomeInterface const& b)
{
b.print(o);
return o;
}
}
Calling code looks something like:
SomeInterface* one = new someConcrete ();
cout << one;
The << overloaded function I was hoping would get called on the interface is not, let alone dispatching through to the derived class.
Try:
cout << *one;
Your code is asking to print the pointer, while your operator<< takes a const SomeInterface& reference.
You are calling std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& o, void*);, because the type of one is a pointer.
Try:
cout << *one;
This will call the overload that takes a (reference to) the actual object, not the pointer itself
Which operator do I have to overload if I want to use sth like this?
MyClass C;
cout<< C;
The output of my class would be string.
if you've to overload operator<< as:
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const MyClass & obj)
{
//use out to print members of obj, or whatever you want to print
return out;
}
If this function needs to access private members of MyClass, then you've to make it friend of MyClass, or alternatively, you can delegate the work to some public function of the class.
For example, suppose you've a point class defined as:
struct point
{
double x;
double y;
double z;
};
Then you can overload operator<< as:
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const point & pt)
{
out << "{" << pt.x <<"," << pt.y <<"," << pt.z << "}";
return out;
}
And you can use it as:
point p1 = {10,20,30};
std::cout << p1 << std::endl;
Output:
{10,20,30}
Online demo : http://ideone.com/zjcYd
Hope that helps.
The stream operator: <<
You should declare it as a friend of your class:
class MyClass
{
//class declaration
//....
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const MyClass& mc);
}
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const MyClass& mc)
{
//logic here
}
You should implement operator<< as a free function.