Assignment Operator with auto_ptr

[Chummaid]

Hello All,
Can somebody please explain why the following is not supported ?

class A{};

A* a = new A();

auto_ptr <A> aptr = *a;// Not supported

// though this is supported.

auto_ptr <A> aptr(a);

Thanks in advance
CID

 

[Donovan Rebbechi]

Hello All,
Can somebody please explain why the following is not supported ?

class A{};

A* a = new A();

auto_ptr <A> aptr = *a;// Not supported

// though this is supported.

auto_ptr <A> aptr(a);

The constructor is declared explicit to disallow implicit conversions. This
is usually done when implicit conversion is potentially harmful/destructive.

In this case, the "conversion" results in the pointer getting deleted, so it
is potentially harmful, can lead to obscure bugs

Cheersm