Calling overloaded operator () from object pointer

Question

Consider the following:

class MyClass {
public:
   int operator ()(int a, int b);
};

When having:

MyClass* m = new MyClass();

I want to access the operator() method, so I could:

(*m)(1,2);

But can I do this?

m->(1,2);

`mydummy` one second, `T` the next? – Asherah Jun 27 '12 at 07:46 — Asherah, Jun 27 '12 at 07:46

score 77 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 27 '12 at 07:45

77

Not with that syntax, but you can do

 m->operator()(1,2);

answered Jun 27 '12 at 07:45

Luchian Grigore

3

But note that if you find yourself needing to do this a lot, it may be easier and more readable to just define a normal member function. e.g. `m->do_it(1,2);` – David C. Apr 10 '18 at 21:00
Yeah I hate this syntax. @DavidC. you might not this option when working with 3rd party code. I prefer the syntax (*m)(1,3) -- either way it is ugly. – wcochran Jan 08 '23 at 18:53

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 20 '17 at 18:20

8

If you won't change m (what it points to), you can substitute (*m) by a reference:

MyClass *m = new MyClass();
MyClass &r = *m;
r(1, 2);

See this answer for more details.

answered Sep 20 '17 at 18:20

KinGamer

2 Answers2