How to declare a static const char* in your header file?

Question

I\'d like to define a constant char* in my header file for my .cpp file to use. So I\'ve tried this:

private:
    static const char *SOMETHING = \"sommething\";         


        

Answer 1

Constant initializer allowed by C++ Standard only for integral or enumeration types. See 9.4.2/4 for details:

If a static data member is of const integral or const enumeration type, its declaration in the class definition can specify a constant-initializer which shall be an integral constant expression (5.19). In that case, the member can appear in integral constant expressions. The member shall still be defined in a name- space scope if it is used in the program and the namespace scope definition shall not contain an initializer.

And 9.4.2/7:

Static data members are initialized and destroyed exactly like non-local objects (3.6.2, 3.6.3).

So you should write somewhere in cpp file:

const char* SomeClass::SOMETHING = "sommething";