[c++] C++ static virtual members?

First, the replies are correct that what the OP is requesting is a contradiction in terms: virtual methods depend on the run-time type of an instance; static functions specifically don't depend on an instance -- just on a type. That said, it makes sense to have static functions return something specific to a type. For example, I had a family of MouseTool classes for the State pattern and I started having each one have a static function returning the keyboard modifier that went with it; I used those static functions in the factory function that made the correct MouseTool instance. That function checked the mouse state against MouseToolA::keyboardModifier(), MouseToolB::keyboardModifier(), etc. and then instantiated the appropriate one. Of course later I wanted to check if the state was right so I wanted write something like "if (keyboardModifier == dynamic_type(*state)::keyboardModifier())" (not real C++ syntax), which is what this question is asking.

So, if you find yourself wanting this, you may want to rething your solution. Still, I understand the desire to have static methods and then call them dynamically based on the dynamic type of an instance. I think the Visitor Pattern can give you what you want. It gives you what you want. It's a bit of extra code, but it could be useful for other visitors.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitor_pattern for background.

struct ObjectVisitor;

struct Object
{
     struct TypeInformation;

     static TypeInformation GetTypeInformation();
     virtual void accept(ObjectVisitor& v);
};

struct SomeObject : public Object
{
     static TypeInformation GetTypeInformation();
     virtual void accept(ObjectVisitor& v) const;
};

struct AnotherObject : public Object
{
     static TypeInformation GetTypeInformation();
     virtual void accept(ObjectVisitor& v) const;
};

Then for each concrete Object:

void SomeObject::accept(ObjectVisitor& v) const {
    v.visit(*this); // The compiler statically picks the visit method based on *this being a const SomeObject&.
}
void AnotherObject::accept(ObjectVisitor& v) const {
    v.visit(*this); // Here *this is a const AnotherObject& at compile time.
}

and then define the base visitor:

struct ObjectVisitor {
    virtual ~ObjectVisitor() {}
    virtual void visit(const SomeObject& o) {} // Or = 0, depending what you feel like.
    virtual void visit(const AnotherObject& o) {} // Or = 0, depending what you feel like.
    // More virtual void visit() methods for each Object class.
};

Then the concrete visitor that selects the appropriate static function:

struct ObjectVisitorGetTypeInfo {
    Object::TypeInformation result;
    virtual void visit(const SomeObject& o) {
        result = SomeObject::GetTypeInformation();
    }
    virtual void visit(const AnotherObject& o) {
        result = AnotherObject::GetTypeInformation();
    }
    // Again, an implementation for each concrete Object.
};

finally, use it:

void printInfo(Object& o) {
    ObjectVisitorGetTypeInfo getTypeInfo;
    Object::TypeInformation info = o.accept(getTypeInfo).result;
    std::cout << info << std::endl;
}

Notes:

• Constness left as an exercise.
• You returned a reference from a static. Unless you have a singleton, that's questionable.

If you want to avoid copy-paste errors where one of your visit methods calls the wrong static function, you could use a templated helper function (which can't itself be virtual) t your visitor with a template like this:

struct ObjectVisitorGetTypeInfo {
    Object::TypeInformation result;
    virtual void visit(const SomeObject& o) { doVisit(o); }
    virtual void visit(const AnotherObject& o) { doVisit(o); }
    // Again, an implementation for each concrete Object.

  private:
    template <typename T>
    void doVisit(const T& o) {
        result = T::GetTypeInformation();
    }
};