The following snippet of code:

    class base{};
    class derived : public base{};

    class container{
    private:
     derived* derived__;
    public:
     derived& element();
    };

    derived&
    container::element()
    {
      return *derived__;
    }

    base& ( container::* method ) ( void ) = container::element;

generates the following error on the last line:
  error C2440: 'initializing' : cannot convert from
  'class derived &(__thiscall container::*)(void)' to
  'class base &(__thiscall container::*)(void)'

It appears to me that there is sufficient information available for this to
work. Is there an explanation why this error is generated? Is there a better
way to make this work than to use a cast? (MS VC++ 6 SP3)

John Keenan

On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 21:11:03 -0500, "John Keenan"

Using the cast gives undefined behaviour. Basically, the only
conversion allowed for member function pointers is:

T (Base::*)(params) to T (Derived::*)(params)

The cast you are doing is changing the return type of the function,
and therefore can't work.

Rather than mess around with function pointers, consider using a
callback library like boost.function. See www.boost.org

Tom