question about constructor grammar..

[kleinstein]

i'm newbie of C++ Language..

What i habe seen is this..
MemoryFile( char * in_name = NULL )
: name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) {
// <-----------HIER
if( in_name != NULL ) // Copy the input name.
name = in_name;
}

this is a Constructor of some Class..

my Question is....
what is this ---> " : name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) "
is this another Input Arguments ??

normaly i have seen always this form of Constructors..
NameOfClass(Input Arguments){

Some Initialization....

}

thanks to read..

[Ian Collins]

kleinstein wrote:

i'm newbie of C++ Language..

What i habe seen is this..
MemoryFile( char * in_name = NULL )
: name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) {
// <-----------HIER
if( in_name != NULL ) // Copy the input name.
name = in_name;
This is silly, it should be replaced with name(in_name) in the
initialiser list.
}

this is a Constructor of some Class..

my Question is....
what is this ---> " : name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) "
is this another Input Arguments ??

It is an initialiser list, look it up in your C++ book. These are
preferred because they enable the compiler to generate more efficient
code and are more concise than individual assignments in the constructor
body..

--
Ian Collins.

[Andre Kostur]

On Tue, 30 May 2006 20:26:11 +1200, Ian Collins wrote:

kleinstein wrote:

i'm newbie of C++ Language..

What i habe seen is this..
MemoryFile( char * in_name = NULL )
: name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) {
// <-----------HIER
if( in_name != NULL ) // Copy the input name.
name = in_name;

This is silly, it should be replaced with name(in_name) in the initialiser
list.

Depends on what type name is. If it's a std::string, no it shouldn't.
You can't initialize a std::string with NULL.

[Markus Schoder]

Andre Kostur wrote:

On Tue, 30 May 2006 20:26:11 +1200, Ian Collins wrote:

kleinstein wrote:

i'm newbie of C++ Language..

What i habe seen is this..
MemoryFile( char * in_name = NULL )
: name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) {
// <-----------HIER
if( in_name != NULL ) // Copy the input name.
name = in_name;

This is silly, it should be replaced with name(in_name) in the initialiser
list.

Depends on what type name is. If it's a std::string, no it shouldn't.
You can't initialize a std::string with NULL.

Then the original code would be broken as well as it does name(NULL) in
the initialiser list.

It could be a somewhat odd class however that handles constructing with
NULL gracefully but not assigning NULL.

[Andre Kostur]

On Tue, 30 May 2006 06:51:19 -0700, Markus Schoder wrote:

Andre Kostur wrote:

On Tue, 30 May 2006 20:26:11 +1200, Ian Collins wrote:

> kleinstein wrote:
>> i'm newbie of C++ Language..
>>
>> What i habe seen is this..
>>
>>
>> MemoryFile( char * in_name = NULL )
>> : name(NULL), data(NULL), size(0), position(0) {
>> // <-----------HIER
>> if( in_name != NULL ) // Copy the input name.
>> name = in_name;
>
> This is silly, it should be replaced with name(in_name) in the
> initialiser list.

Depends on what type name is. If it's a std::string, no it shouldn't.
You can't initialize a std::string with NULL.

Then the original code would be broken as well as it does name(NULL) in
the initialiser list.

It could be a somewhat odd class however that handles constructing with
NULL gracefully but not assigning NULL.

Yikes! You're right. Missed the initialization of name in the initializer
list.