Question

I’m currently authoring some WinRT custom controls in c++, and my compiler/intellisense is telling me that static constructors are not allowed.

I need to set up some static data, and I could use a private bool instance flag and on the first instantiation of my class I can create the static data etc.. (effectively achieving the same thing).

However, maybe I’ve missed something, as this seems a bit long-winded.

What is the canonical alternative approach to static construction in WinRT/c++

Thanks

Answer 1

You declare the static members inside the class, but you have to define them outside:

// In header file
class Foo
{
    static int bar;
    static int bar2;

    static int init_bar3() { return 123; }
};

// In source file
int Foo::bar;

// Define and intiailize
int Foo::bar2 = 5;

// For more complicated initialization
int Foo::bar3 = Foo::init_bar3();