In C++, initialize a class member with 'this' pointer during construction

Question

I'd like to create a class that is associated to another class in some sort of parent-child relationship. For this the "child" class needs a reference to it's parent.

For example:

template <typename T>
class TEvent {
    private: T* Owner;
    public: TEvent(T* parent) : Owner(parent) {}
};

class Foo {
    private: TEvent<Foo> Froozle; // see below
};

Now the problem is that I can't initialize the Froozle instance directly, nor using the instanciation list of Foo's constructor, because this references are not allowed there. Apart from adding another method setParent(T*) (which I don't like too much because it means that I have to leave the TEvent<> instance in an invalid state), is there a way to achieve this?

Answer 1

It is OK to use this in the initialization list, as long as it is not used to access any members that may not have been initialized yet.