Class Template Member Definitions

The full definition of a class template requires definitions for its function members and static data members. Dynamic (nonstatic) data members are sufficiently defined by the class template declaration.

For Function Members

The definition of a template function member consists of the template parameter specification followed by a function definition. The function identifier is qualified by the class template's class name and the template arguments. The following example shows definitions of two function members of the Array class template, which has a template parameter specification of template <class Elem>. Each function identifier is qualified by the template class name and the template argument, Array<Elem>.

template <class Elem> Array<Elem>::Array( int sz )
    { size = sz; data = new Elem[ size ]; }

template <class Elem> int Array<Elem>::GetSize( )
    { return size; }

This example shows definitions of function members of the String class template.

#include <string.h>
template <unsigned Size> int String<Size>::length( )
    { int len = 0;
      while ( len < Size && data[len] != '\0' ) len++;
      return len; }

template <unsigned Size> String<Size>::String( char *initial )
    { strncpy( data, initial, Size );
      if ( length( ) == Size ) overflow++; }

For Static Data Members

The definition of a template static data member consists of the template parameter specification followed by a variable definition, where the variable identifier is qualified by the class template name and its template actual arguments.

template <unsigned Size> int String<Size>::overflows = 0;