Why can't I dynamic_cast this object?

Question

void test() 
{   
    Token test();   
    Actor* check;   
    check = dynamic_cast<Actor*>(test); 
}

This method gives me the following error and underlines the test in the braces with red. The operand of a pointer dynamic_cast must be a pointer to a complete class type

How do i fix this? By the way Actor inherits from Token. Here's the code from Tokens header file.

#pragma once
#include <string>
class Token
{
public:
    Token();
    Token(int x, int y);
    bool IsDead();
    ~Token();
    char Symbol();
    int X, Y;
    bool clear;
    bool indestructable;
    int health;
    int damage, rangeDamage;
    //bool npc;
    char character;
    std::string ToString();
    std::string name;
    bool turnCompleted;
    void SetProfile(char Name);
};

In your code, `test` is a function. It looks like you want it to be a `Token*`. — juanchopanza, Dec 17 '14 at 22:04
why are trying to cast the token function into actor pointer? — Irrational Person, Dec 17 '14 at 22:08

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 17 '14 at 23:23

First of all you are not creating instance of class Token called test but rather declare a function test() that returns Token.

Second you can try to convert pointer to Token, not object instance, so you should take address:

void test()
{
     Token test;
     Actor* check = dynamic_cast<Actor*>(&test);
}

Third, you say that Actor inherits from Token, but Token does not have any virtual functions, so you cannot use dynamic_cast on it. A good candidate in your case is Token's destructor.

Why can't I dynamic_cast this object?

1 Answers1