Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari!uflorida!ziggy!usfvax2!tct!chip
From: chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: operator []: ref vs value
Message-ID: <25E5841D.5B4A@tct.uucp>
Date: 23 Feb 90 18:42:36 GMT
References: <5216@brazos.Rice.edu>
Organization: ComDev/TCT, Sarasota, FL
Lines: 17

According to dougm@zamenhof.rice.edu (Doug Moore):
>Unfortunately, I want one behavior when the pseudo-array access occurs
>as an rvalue and another when it appears as an lvalue.  Can I get what
>I want?

You almost had it.  Define a reference_to_missing_array_element type,
and have operator[] return an object of that type.  Then define:

	reference_to_missing_array_element::operator float()

		return 0.0

	reference_to_missing_array_element::operator = (float)

		create the missing array element and assign to it

No sweat.