How can I check the types of derived classes? (C++ Instanceof)

Question

Let\'s say I have some base abstract class and three different classes that derive and implement its methods. Is there is a \'Type\' object like as in C#? Or in other words, how

Answer 1

You can create instanceof like methods that can detect the type of an object using templates and std::is_base_of (1) or dynamic_cast only for polymorphic objects (2).

1 Live sample

template inline bool instanceof(const T) {
   return is_base_of::value;
}

int main() {
   Module1 module;
   if(instanceof(module)) {
      cout << "Module1" << endl;
   }
   if(instanceof(module)) {
      cout << "Module2" << endl;
   }
   if(instanceof(module)) {
      cout << "ModuleBase" << endl;
   }
}

2 Live sample

class ModuleBase { public: virtual ~ModuleBase(){} };

template inline bool instanceof(const ModuleBase * base) {
   return dynamic_cast(base);
}

int main() {

   Module1* module = new Module1();

   if(instanceof(module)) {
      cout << "Module1" << endl;
   }
   if(instanceof(module)) {
      cout << "Module2" << endl;
   }
   if(instanceof(module)) {
      cout << "ModuleBase" << endl;
   }
}

The object is both of type ModuleBase and Module1. I think with that you can achieve what you need with these.