Union with pointer to array

Question

In C++ I want to declare an array of pointers that are either unsigned char or unsigned short, depending on some input. So it would like either

unsigned char *data = new unsigned char[N];

or

unsigned short *data = new unsigned short[N];

What's the best way to go about this?

Is it an option two maintain two arrays and work with a pointer that will then be casted to the coresponding type? — Matthias
– Matthias, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 18:02
"What's the best way to go about this?" make it a template. — πάντα ῥεῖ
– πάντα ῥεῖ, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 18:03
How about allocating per input type, and always casting down to unsigned char*, and then go about reading values from that array based on the input (cast to short later if necessary) — Yam Marcovic
– Yam Marcovic, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 18:05
You want array of pointers or array of unsigned chars/shorts? Your description is in conflict with code — Slava
– Slava, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 18:07

πάντα ῥεῖ · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 18:06:16Z

3

"What's the best way to go about this?"

Make the context templated, e.g.

template<typename T, size_t N>
struct MyStuff {
    std::array<T,N> data;
}

or

template<typename T, size_t N>
struct MyStuff {
    std::vector<T> data;

    MyStuff() {
        data.resize(N);
    }
}

if you really need dynamic allocation

answered Oct 13, 2014 at 18:06

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