Can I call a base class's virtual function if I'm overriding it?

c++ virtual-functions overriding
Alex picture Alex · Mar 23, 2009 · Viewed 246.5k times · Source

Say I have classes Foo and Bar set up like this:

class Foo
{
public:
    int x;

    virtual void printStuff()
    {
        std::cout << x << std::endl;
    }
};

class Bar : public Foo
{
public:
    int y;

    void printStuff()
    {
        // I would like to call Foo.printStuff() here...
        std::cout << y << std::endl;
    }
};

As annotated in the code, I'd like to be able to call the base class's function that I'm overriding. In Java there's the super.funcname() syntax. Is this possible in C++?

Answer

sth picture sth · Mar 23, 2009

The C++ syntax is like this:

class Bar : public Foo {
  // ...

  void printStuff() {
    Foo::printStuff(); // calls base class' function
  }
};

Related questions

Safely override C++ virtual functions

I have a base class with a virtual function and I want to override that function in a derived class. Is there some way to make the compiler check if the function I declared in the derived class actually overrides …

Read More
Calling virtual functions inside constructors

Suppose I have two C++ classes: class A { public: A() { fn(); } virtual void fn() { _n = 1; } int getn() { return _n; } protected: int _n; }; class B : public A { public: B() : A() {} virtual void fn() { _n = 2; } }; If I write the following code: int …

Read More
C++ "virtual" keyword for functions in derived classes. Is it necessary?

With the struct definition given below... struct A { virtual void hello() = 0; }; Approach #1: struct B : public A { virtual void hello() { ... } }; Approach #2: struct B : public A { void hello() { ... } }; Is there any difference between these two ways to override the hello function?

Read More