Passing Methods in C++

It is possible to storage a pointer to a method or function, and pass this as an argument to other methods and functions. This is useful for callback mechanisms.

Pointer-to-Function

To define `fptr` as a pointer-to-function:

bool (*fptr)(void);

To assign it:

fptr = &my_first_test;

To call `fptr`:

result = (*fptr)();

Example in a small application that runs two tests:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

bool my_first_test() {
        return 1 + 1 == 2;
}

class ApplicationTest {
public:
    void run_all_tests()
    {
        run_test(my_first_test, "my first test");
        run_test(my_second_test, "my second test");
    }

    bool run_test(bool (*test_method)(void), std::string test_name)
    {
        std::cout << "Running " << test_name << " ... ";
        bool test_result = (*test_method)();
        std::cout << (test_result ? "success" : "failed") << std::endl;
        return test_result;
    }

    static bool my_second_test() {
        return 6 * 7 == 42;
    }
};

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    ApplicationTest *app = new ApplicationTest();
    app->run_all_tests();
    return 0;
}

Pointer-to-Method

To define `mptr` as a pointer-to-method:

bool (ApplicationTest::*mptr)(void);

To assign it:

mptr = &ApplicationTest::my_first_test;

To call `mptr`:

result = (this->*mptr)();

Example in a small application that runs two tests:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

class ApplicationTest {
public:
    void run_all_tests()
    {
        run_test(&ApplicationTest::my_first_test, "my first test");
        run_test(&ApplicationTest::my_second_test, "my second test");
    }

    bool run_test(bool (ApplicationTest::*test_method)(void), std::string test_name)
    {
        std::cout << "Running " << test_name << " ... ";
        bool test_result = (this->*test_method)();
        std::cout << (test_result ? "success" : "failed") << std::endl;
        return test_result;
    }

    bool my_first_test() {
            return 1 + 1 == 2;
    }

    bool my_second_test() {
        return 6 * 7 == 42;
    }

};

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    ApplicationTest *app = new ApplicationTest();
    app->run_all_tests();
    return 0;
}

Further Reading

For much more technical detail, see C++ Tutorial: Pointer-to-Member Function.

[[Category::C++]]