Question

I have a c++ library that provides an object with complicated logic. During data processing, this object outputs lots of things to std::cout (this is hardcoded now). I would like the processing output not to go to standard output but to a custm widget (some text displaying). I tried to create a std::ostream class member, set it with a parameter (std::cout for console application and some other ostream handled inside GUI application). But the compiler throws me following errors:

[ 14%] Building CXX object src/core/CMakeFiles/PietCore.dir/pvirtualmachine.cpp.o
/usr/include/c++/4.6/ostream: In constructor ‘PVirtualMachine::PVirtualMachine(QString)’:                                                                        
/usr/include/c++/4.6/ostream:363:7: error: ‘std::basic_ostream::basic_ostream() [with _CharT = char, _Traits = std::char_traits]’ is protected
/home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.cpp:33:50: error: within this context
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.6/ios:45:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.6/ostream:40,
                 from /usr/include/c++/4.6/iterator:64,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtCore/qlist.h:50,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtCore/qvector.h:48,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qpolygon.h:45,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qmatrix.h:45,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qtransform.h:44,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qimage.h:45,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/QImage:1,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pcodepointer.h:17,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pblockmanager.h:9,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.h:10,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.cpp:4:
/usr/include/c++/4.6/bits/ios_base.h: In member function ‘std::basic_ios& std::basic_ios::operator=(const std::basic_ios&)’:
/usr/include/c++/4.6/bits/ios_base.h:791:5: error: ‘std::ios_base& std::ios_base::operator=(const std::ios_base&)’ is private
/usr/include/c++/4.6/bits/basic_ios.h:64:11: error: within this context
In file included from /usr/include/c++/4.6/iterator:64:0,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtCore/qlist.h:50,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtCore/qvector.h:48,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qpolygon.h:45,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qmatrix.h:45,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qtransform.h:44,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/qimage.h:45,
                 from /usr/include/qt4/QtGui/QImage:1,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pcodepointer.h:17,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pblockmanager.h:9,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.h:10,
                 from /home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.cpp:4:
/usr/include/c++/4.6/ostream: In member function ‘std::basic_ostream& std::basic_ostream::operator=(const std::basic_ostream&)’:
/usr/include/c++/4.6/ostream:57:11: note: synthesized method ‘std::basic_ios& std::basic_ios::operator=(const std::basic_ios&)’ first required here 
/home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.cpp: In member function ‘void PVirtualMachine::setOutput(std::ostream)’:
/home/tomasz/Development/C++/piet/src/core/pvirtualmachine.cpp:216:11: note: synthesized method ‘std::basic_ostream& std::basic_ostream::operator=(const std::basic_ostream&)’ first required here

I’d be glad if someone pointed me out what is wrong, because I’ve got no idea…

My code looks like this:

• .h file

class PVirtualMachine {
  private:
    std::ostream output;
    [...]
  public:
    void setOutput(std::ostream);
    [...]
};

• .cpp file

void PVirtualMachine::setOutput(std::ostream os)
{
  output = os;
}

Answer 1

You’ve got two options here:

• Use references, or
• Use pointers

You can’t use normal instances because ostream is non-copyable.

Using references (direct reference to an already-instantiated ostream)

class PVirtualMachine {
  private:
    std::ostream & output;
    [...]
  public:
    PVirtualMachine(std::ostream &);  // Reference must be initialized on construction.
    [...]
};

Advantages:

• No pointer syntax.
• Should always refer to a valid instance of std::ostream, as long as the original variable is not deleted.

Disadvantages:

• The PVirtualMachine class must be constructed with the output reference in the initialization list, otherwise it will not compile.
• Cannot change the reference once it has been initialized.
• Cannot work with move-assignment operators (i.e. operator=(PVirtualMachine &&))

Using pointers (optional reference to object)

class PVirtualMachine {
  private:
    std::ostream * output;
    [...]
  public:
    void setOutput(std::ostream *);
    [...]
};

Advantages:

• Can be instantiated as a null pointer.
• Can be passed around easily.
• Can be updated to point to a new std::ostream instance.
• Can be created internally or externally to the PVirtualMachine instance.
• Works with move-assignment operator.

Disadvantages:

• Pointer syntax.
• Must check for null references when accessing the ostream and/or in the constructor.