Can I read the value of a private class member directly with its object name?

[raffos]

I can define a class like:

class SpecialInt {
int value;
public:
....
int getValue () { return value; };
SpecialInt& operator=(const int n);
};

SpecialInt& SpecialInt::operator=(const int n) {
value = n; // Do the assignment operation!
return *this; // Return a reference to myself.
}

and I can use it like:

SpecialInt si;
si=100;

but what if I want:

SpecialInt si;
int z;

si=100;
z = si.getValue(); <---- I DON'T WANT TO USE getValue()
z=si; <---- I WANT TO USE ITS OBJECT NAME

Is it possible to read value without using getValue()?

Thanks for help

[jsmith]

You need to write operator int() const { return value; }

However, casting operators are in general evil and lead to headaches.

Why do you want to do this?

[raffos]

Thanks for your help and your warning.

The class is simple, it has only a public member to serialize itself to disk and so I'd like to use the object like any other predefined integer variable.

Thanks again.

[moorecm]

If it only has a method (is that what you meant?) to serialize itself, wouldn't that be better suited as a function?

[raffos]

Yes, but it's only the simplest class and in the program there are different classes more sofisticated and I'd like to know how to do it. I learnt a new thing.

[tummychow]

Casting operators are quite risky. Casts in general are risky. (Whoever came up with const_cast...) But you can write a new operator overload where the first operand is an integer and the second is your class type. That should work fine for you.

[tomararun]

no for private members u will have to return a copy of them. u cannot use directly.. this is special feature added in c++.. why u want to use them directly if yes.. make them public

[tummychow]

This is not a special feature added in C++; it's an inherent concept of OO. (If you mean from C, you may be right, but C was a bit lacking compared to C++ in most respects.) The point is to encapsulate the class; to hide implementation from the user.

[raffos]

tummychow
.... But you can write a new operator overload where the first operand is an integer and the second is your class type. ...

What you mean is what said jsmith?

operator int() const { return value; }

Sorry but I am not very good in c++, I come from delphi.