Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!ulysses!andante!alice!ark
From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Operator overloading with abstract classes
Message-ID: <9367@alice.UUCP>
Date: 17 May 89 06:15:22 GMT
References: <11468@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Distribution: comp.lang.c++
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Liberty Corner NJ
Lines: 15

In article <11468@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>, sorensen@athena.mit.edu (Alma G. Sorensen) writes:

> I can't do this now because "it is not possible to define an
> operator function that operates exclusively on pointers."
> [Stroustrup, p 172.]  I can't see the right way to use an abstract
> class without pointers, but if I use pointers, I can't do operator
> overloading.  Help!  Is there some way to get both?

Define a pair of classes.  One contains the stuff you're
working with, the other contains only a pointer.  This gives
you a class that you can cause to look almost like a pointer,
and you can overload it as you like.
-- 
				--Andrew Koenig
				  ark@europa.att.com