Hi I have a class defined that has as one of it''s private members

int *nums 

this is later initialized into an array of a certain length. For various reasons, i need to be able to retrieve this raw variable, the array, through a function. Basically what i want to know how to do is make a variable in my main program and through calling the class''s member functions fill this variable out so it''s identical to the nums array. thanks in advance!

Make it public

    class foo{private:   int* nums;public:   int* GetNums()   { return nums; }};int main(){   foo f;   int* p;   p = f.GetNums();}    

[update] Damn! mhkrause beat me by 19 seconds! [/update]

I would say make it public, too. I mean, if you need it outside your class, that's what "public" is for.

But here's what you asked for:


class CYourClass {
int* nums;
public:
int* GetPointer(){ return nums; }
};

main(){
CYourClass yc;
// initialize nums into array
int* g_nums = yc.GetPointer();
}


Edited by - Eric on June 26, 2000 10:21:23 PM

Although it''s possible (using the method the guys in the previous posts stated), it goes against the basic rules of OO programming: data hiding and encapsulation. If you''re gonna do it like that, you''d probably better use plain C...

I suggest you do it like this:

    class foo {private:     int* nums;public:  foo(int size) {    nums = new int [size];  }  ~foo() {    delete [] nums;  }  // Returns read-only array  const int* GetNums() const    { return nums; }  // Element manipulation  void SetNum(int index, int value) {    // Assuming the size of your array is big enough    nums[index] = value;  }  int GetNum(int index) {    return nums[index];  }  // Or using the [] operator  int& operator [] (int index) {    return nums[index];  }};int main() {     foo f(100);  const int* p;     p = f.GetNums();  // Using the [] operator  f[0] = 100;}        

Dormeur