Reference to class objects

[now]

Hi all.

Is it possible with generic c++ code to return pointers to all current objects of a certain class within a program?

[helios]

Sort of.
You'd need something like this:

class A{
	static std::set<A *> instances;
	A::A(){
		A::instances.insert(this);
	}
	A::~A(){
		A::instances.erase(this);
	}
};

std::vector<A *> A::instances();

[now]

Thanks for your reply.

Could you explain how this works though please :)
I'm still somewhat a beginner and i don't recognize lines 2 and 11.
Thanks for your help.

[helios]

A static member is shared by all instances of a class. Think of it like a global object bound to the type.
Line 2 declares the member, line 11 defines it. Undefined static members produce linker errors.