C++ class pointer without giving template parameters

Question

Hello dear people of the underworld called the internet.

Lets say we have a class called X with the template parameters(Y):

template
c         


        

Answer 1

X is not a type without its template argument so no, unfortunately not. You could achieve what you want if X had a base class which defined the interface you wanted to use though.

For example,

struct Interface
{
    Interface() {}
    virtual ~Interface(){}

    virtual void doSomething() = 0;
};

template <class Y>
class X : public Interface
{
    //...
    virtual void doSomething() override;
};

std::unique_ptr<Interface> myClass;

//....
myClass.reset(new X<variable>());
myClass->doSomething();

Answer 2

No. A pointer points to a type, and X is not a type.

Answer 3

Not with X*. Consider this alternative:

class BaseX { 
    //...
};

template<class Y>
class X : public BaseX
{
    //...
};

Since BaseX is a complete type, you can have BaseX* that references some X<Y> once you've defined it.