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From: robert@hslrswi.UUCP (J. Robert Ward)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Ordering of initialisation of static classes in *different* files ?
Keywords: static class initialisation ordering
Message-ID: <734@hslrswi.UUCP>
Date: 14 Jan 88 16:14:03 GMT
Organization: Hasler AG, CH-3000 Berne 14, Switzerland
Lines: 51

Hello C++ Gurus,

It seems to me that there is a (small) defect in the definition of
the C++ language.  Namely, the order in which static objects are
initialised is apparently undefined when more than one source file
is under consideration.

For example, consider the following file:

	# include	<stream.h>

	struct foo {
		ostream		*mystream ;	// Internal value
		foo( ostream& s ) ;		// Constructor with arg
	} ;

	foo::foo (				// The real constructor
		ostream&	s
		)
	{
		mystream = &s ;
		...				// Do something with the arg
	}

	foo	foo1( cout ) ;			// Use the constructor


Question: how can I guarantee that cout is properly initialised
by its constructor before it gets passed as an argument to the
constructor foo::foo() ?  Since both cout and foo1 are global
objects, I presume the order of construction is undefined.	
Or am I missing something here ?

The problem came about in trying to solve question 12 on page 167
of the C++ book. Can this problem really be solved assuming I am
not allowed to change main() in any way ?

Many thanks for any light shed on this problem,
Cheers,
	- Robert.


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