Force a Derived Class to use the Constructor of the Base Class

Question

Is there a way to force a derived class to use the constructor of the abstract base class? It must not be a real constructor, I have an open mind about creative solutions.

Answer 1

As suggested by other users, you must call the base class constructor into the initializer list of derived class constructor.

But there's another cool solution bringed up by C++11: the inherited constructors:

class Base
{
    Base(int Member, string Text) { };
};

class Derived : public Base
{
    using Base::Base; // <-- Brings to derived the Base's constructor.
};

But you must assure that your compiler can use C++11 features; and of course, study if the inherited constructor conforms to your requirements instead of using it just because it's cool.

Answer 2

Use initializer list of the derived class' constructor.

class Base
{
    Base(int Member, string Text) { //...
    }
};

class Derived : public Base
{
    Derived(int Member, string Text) : Base(Member, Text) {
                                    // ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        // ...
    }
};