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typeid for polymorphic types

Tags:

c++

typeid

I expected this code to print 'Same 1' and 'Same2', but it prints only 'Same1':

#include <iostream>
#include <typeinfo>
using namespace std;

struct C{virtual ~C(){}};
struct D : C{};
int main(){
   D d;
   C c, &cr1 = d;
   if(typeid(cr1) == typeid(D)) cout << "Same1";
   if(typeid(&cr1) == typeid(D*)) cout << "Same2";
}

Both §5.2.8/2 and §5.3.1/3 seem to suggest to me that 'Same2' should be printed.

What and where is the catch?

like image 914
Chubsdad Avatar asked Nov 17 '10 09:11

Chubsdad


1 Answers

Pointers aren't polymorphic types. They don't have virtual members. In fact, they have no members whatsoever. They also cannot derive from other types, nor be used as base classes. Hence, the static and dynamic type of a T* is always T*.

In your "Same2" line, you're comparing the typeid of a pointer, not the pointed-to object. The compiler therefore only looks at the static types C* and D*. They're obviously not the same, and must have distinct type_info objects.

like image 125
MSalters Avatar answered Oct 23 '22 03:10

MSalters