Title
Access to nested classes
Status
cd1
Section
11.8.8 [class.access.nest]
Submitter
Daveed Vandevoorde

Created on 1998-09-29.00:00:00 last changed 188 months ago

Messages

Date: 2001-04-15.00:00:00

[Moved to DR at 4/01 meeting.]

Date: 2001-04-15.00:00:00

Proposed Resolution (04/01):

  1. Insert the following as a new paragraph following 11.8 [class.access] paragraph 1:

    A member of a class can also access all names as the class of which it is a member. A local class of a member function may access the same names that the member function itself may access. [Footnote: Access permissions are thus transitive and cumulative to nested and local classes.]
  2. Delete 11.8 [class.access] paragraph 6.

  3. In 11.8.8 [class.access.nest] paragraph 1, change

    The members of a nested class have no special access to members of an enclosing class, nor to classes or functions that have granted friendship to an enclosing class; the usual access rules (11.8 [class.access]) shall be obeyed.

    to

    A nested class is a member and as such has the same access rights as any other member.

    Change

        B b;       // error: E::B is private
    

    to

        B b;       // Okay, E::I can access E::B
    

    Change

        p->x = i;      // error: E::x is private
    

    to

        p->x = i;      // Okay, E::I can access E::x
    
  4. Delete 11.8.8 [class.access.nest] paragraph 2.

(This resolution also resolves issues 8 and 10.

Date: 2022-02-18.07:47:23

Example:

    #include <iostream.h>

    class C {  // entire body is private
        struct Parent {
            Parent() { cout << "C::Parent::Parent()\n"; }
        };

        struct Derived : Parent {
            Derived() { cout << "C::Derived::Derived()\n"; }
        };

        Derived d;
    };

    int main() {
        C c;      //  Prints message from both nested classes
        return 0;
    }
How legal/illegal is this? Paragraphs that seem to apply here are:

11.8 [class.access] paragraph 1:

A member of a class can be
  • private; that is, its name can be used only by members and friends of the class in which it is declared. [...]
and 11.8.8 [class.access.nest] paragraph 1:
The members of a nested class have no special access to members of an enclosing class, nor to classes or functions that have granted friendship to an enclosing class; the usual access rules (11.8 [class.access] ) shall be obeyed. [...]
This makes me think that the ': Parent' part is OK by itself, but that the implicit call of 'Parent::Parent()' by 'Derived::Derived()' is not.

From Mike Miller:

I think it is completely legal, by the reasoning given in the (non-normative) 11.8.8 [class.access.nest] paragraph 2. The use of a private nested class as a base of another nested class is explicitly declared to be acceptable there. I think the rationale in the comments in the example ("// OK because of injection of name A in A") presupposes that public members of the base class will be public members in a (publicly-derived) derived class, regardless of the access of the base class, so the constructor invocation should be okay as well.

I can't find anything normative that explicitly says that, though.

(See also papers J16/99-0009 = WG21 N1186, J16/00-0031 = WG21 N1254, and J16/00-0045 = WG21 N1268.)

History
Date User Action Args
2008-10-05 00:00:00adminsetstatus: wp -> cd1
2003-04-25 00:00:00adminsetstatus: dr -> wp
2002-05-10 00:00:00adminsetmessages: + msg682
2001-05-20 00:00:00adminsetstatus: ready -> dr
2000-11-18 00:00:00adminsetstatus: review -> ready
2000-05-21 00:00:00adminsetmessages: + msg336
2000-05-21 00:00:00adminsetstatus: open -> review
2000-02-23 00:00:00adminsetstatus: drafting -> open
1998-09-29 00:00:00admincreate