Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!batcomputer!theory.TC.Cornell.EDU!lijewski
From: lijewski@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Mike Lijewski)
Subject: Re: 2 quick questions
Message-ID: <1991Jun12.124618.5166@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
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Organization: Cornell National Supercomputer Facility
References: <1991Jun12.013440.20494@Datap.ab.ca>
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1991 12:46:18 GMT

In article <1991Jun12.013440.20494@Datap.ab.ca> bramwell@covert.UUCP (Bob Bramwell) writes:
>
>These are very short questions.  Maybe the answers will be too :-)
>
>1.  How do I explicitly initialise a private static member variable?
>    For example:
>	class fred {
>		static int fd;		// file descriptor; 0 is legit
>	};
>    I'd like fred::fd to start life as -1 before the first ever
>    constructor invocation on a fred object.  Can this be done?

Here's an example illustrating what you want:

#include <iostream.h>
class fred {
  static int fd;
  public:
  void p() { cout << fd << endl; }
};

int fred::fd = -1;

int main() { fred x; x.p(); return 0; }

>2.  The following pair of statements appears to be legitimate in C,
>    but not in C++:
>	typedef char byte;
>	unsigned byte thing;
>    Obviously what I want is a synonym for char, but C++ doesn't like
>    me trying to make it 'unsigned' as well.  Why not?

This construct is not legal in ANSI C.

>-- 
>Bob Bramwell	Snail:  10th Floor,	|

-- 
Mike Lijewski  (H)607/272-0238 (W)607/254-8686
Cornell National Supercomputer Facility
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