Question

I have the following example code:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

class Event
{
public:
    string type;
    string source;
};

class KeyEvent : public Event
{
public:
    string key;
    string modifier;
};

class MouseEvent : public Event
{
public:
    string button;
    int x;
    int y;
};

void handleEvent(KeyEvent e)
{
    if(e.key == "ENTER")
        cout << "Hello world! The Enter key was pressed ;)" << endl;
}

Event generateEvent()
{
    KeyEvent e;
    e.type = "KEYBOARD_EVENT";
    e.source = "Keyboard0";
    e.key = "SPACEBAR";
    e.modifier = "none";

    return e;
}

int main()
{
    KeyEvent e = generateEvent();

    return 0;
}

I can’t compile it, G++ throws an error of kind:

main.cpp: In function 'int main()':
main.cpp:47:29: error: conversion from 'Event' to non-scalar type 'KeyEvent' requested

I know that the error is obvious for C++ guru’s, but I can’t understand why I can’t do the conversion from base class object to derived one. Can someone suggest me the solution of the problem that I have? Thx in advice

Answer 1

Your function generateEvent does the following:

• creates a KeyEvent
• converts (upcasts) the object into an Event by copying and slicing
• returns that Event object

You then try to take that Event object copy and put it into a KeyEvent again.

You are trying to use polymorphism but are actually just slicing. Consider (with caution!) dynamic allocation:

boost::shared_ptr<Event> generateEvent() {
    KeyEvent* e = new KeyEvent;
    e->type = "KEYBOARD_EVENT";
    e->source = "Keyboard0";
    e->key = "SPACEBAR";
    e->modifier = "none";

    return boost::shared_ptr<Event>(static_cast<Event*>(e));
}

int main() {
    boost::shared_ptr<Event> e = generateEvent();
    // you can now use dynamic_cast and/or virtual
    // function calls to treat e as a pointer-to-KeyEvent
}

Also note that return 0; is implicit in the entrypoint function.