Question

I have a class like this:

template<char _character>
class Foo
{
    ...
public:
    static const char character = _character;
};

Is there a way I can access the _character parameter outside the class, without the static to forward it? Something like Foo::_character.

Answer 1

Short answer is no, you can’t.

_character is the template parameter, and is unknown until you instantiate the template.

After instantiation _character is no longer a member of your concrete instantiation, but rather the
char you passed in is.

By creating static const char character = _character; you are creating a char data member which is dependent on the template parameter used to instantiate your class template.

You can now access said data member from an instantiated class template:

typedef Foo<'c'> CFoo;
std::cout << CFoo::character << std::endl;

Once you instantiate the class template, Foo<'c'>::_character doesn’t exist.