How to: Instantiate Classes and Structs

Reference (ref) types and value types can only be instantiated on the managed heap, not on the stack or on the native heap.

Example

Code

// mcppv2_ref_class2.cpp
// compile with: /clr
ref class MyClass {
public:
   int i;

   // nested class
   ref class MyClass2 {
   public:
      int i;
   };

   // nested interface
   interface struct MyInterface {
      void f();
   };
};

ref class MyClass2 : public MyClass::MyInterface {
public:
   virtual void f() {
      System::Console::WriteLine("test");
   }
};

public value struct MyStruct {
   void f() {
      System::Console::WriteLine("test");
   }   
};

int main() {
   // instantiate ref type on garbage-collected heap
   MyClass ^ p_MyClass = gcnew MyClass;
   p_MyClass -> i = 4;

   // instantiate value type on garbage-collected heap
   MyStruct ^ p_MyStruct = gcnew MyStruct;
   p_MyStruct -> f();

   // instantiate value type on the stack
   MyStruct p_MyStruct2;
   p_MyStruct2.f();

   // instantiate nested ref type on garbage-collected heap
   MyClass::MyClass2 ^ p_MyClass2 = gcnew MyClass::MyClass2;
   p_MyClass2 -> i = 5;
}

Output

test
test

See Also

Concepts

Classes and Structs (Managed)