Shorter Calls/Names Without Using Defines

Question

Hi,

Simple question, how do I shorten a call/name without using defines.

For example, I have a singleton that I have to call that is within a namespace (I cannot use using namespace blabla because it is not allowed) like so:

MyFW::GameRoot::Instance()->DoSomething();

Now I can assign that to a variable, which works somewhat if I am using it multiple times within the same class/function, but using it in many classes/functions it becomes cumbersome. I decided to use #define for it:

#define MyFW::GameRoot::Instance() ROOT //defined in GameRoot.h

ROOT->DoSomething(); //Used where-ever GameRoot.h is included

Much better, and I really like it especially because now wherever I see ROOT (color coded through V-Assist) I know what it is immediately... unless I have a breakpoint there and I need Visual Studio to resolve ROOT to show up in the watch window (or even hover over it to quickly pull up the object in debug), which it cannot do.

Is there any other option? What do you guys do to shorten names? Simply use local/member pointers to store the instance?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Use local references:

MyFW::GameRoot& ROOT = MyFW::GameRoot::Instance();

Do not use defines.

Answer 2

The good way to do this (but never in a header) is

using MyFW::GameRoot;
GameRoot::Instance()->DoSomething;

This is a using declaration and is different from a using directive, which is what you mentioned above.

Answer 3

You can't use using namespace ..., but can you use

namespace root=MyFW::GameRoot;

Then you can type

root::Instance()->DoSomething();

Defining a namespace like that is better than a #define. (I.e it can't get munged up somewhere else by mistake. The compiler knows what you are trying to do.)

Answer 4

If you want to ease access across multiple functions, just use a helper function:

namespace {
    MyFW::GameRoot* root() { return MyFW::GameRoot::Instance(); }
}

// ...
root()->DoSomething();

Two characters more, but it with comes type-safety included.