Virtual base classes (Diamond problem)

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The following diagram presents a diamond class hierarchy:
DiamondAs depicted, diamond inheritance denotes when two classes (e.g., CDerived1 and CDerived2), separately extending a common base class (e.g., CBase), are sub classed simultaneously by a fourth class (e.g., CTest).

The following is how one would expect the diagram to be implemented:
#include <stdio.h>
                      
                      class CBase
                      {
                      public:
                      	virtual void test()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::test()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived1 : public CBase
                      {
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived2 : public CBase
                      {
                      };
                      
                      class CTest : public CDerived1, public CDerived2
                      {
                      };
                      
                      int main()
                      {
                      	CTest test;
                      	test.test();
                      	return 0;
                      }

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However, the Microsoft VC+ 2005 .NET compiler gives the following message:
1>------ Build started: Project: vft_test, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
                      1>Compiling...
                      1>main_romb.cpp
                      1>c:\source\vft_test\vft_test\main_romb.cpp(27) : error C2385: ambiguous access of 'test'
                      1>        could be the 'test' in base 'CBase'
                      1>        or could be the 'test' in base 'CBase'
                      1>c:\source\vft_test\vft_test\main_romb.cpp(27) : error C3861: 'test': identifier not found
                      1>Build log was saved at "file://c:\Source\vft_test\vft_test\Debug\BuildLog.htm"
                      1>vft_test - 2 error(s), 0 warning(s)
                      ========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

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Since CDerived1 and CDerived2 can have very different implementations of CBase::test(), the compiler is unsure which CTest derives.  This is the so called "Diamond problem" or even "Dreaded Diamond".

How to deal with this "dread"?

The following code will give you a clue:
#include <stdio.h>
                      
                      class CBase
                      {
                      
                      public:
                      	CBase()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::CBase()");
                      	}
                      
                      	virtual void test()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::test()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived1 : public CBase
                      {
                      
                      public:
                      	CDerived1()
                      	{
                      		printf("CDerived1::CDerived1()");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived2 : public CBase
                      {
                      
                      public:
                      	CDerived2()
                      	{
                      		printf("CDerived1::CDerived1()");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CTest : public CDerived1, public CDerived2
                      {
                      
                      public:
                      	CTest()
                      	{
                      		printf("CTest::CTest()");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      int main()
                      {
                      	CTest test;
                      	return 0;
                      }

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This program is compiled successfully and works:
Object creation process
Of course, you know how CTest object is created.  It derives, firstly, from CDerived1 object, that inherits from CBase, and, secondly, CTest derives from CDerived2 that also inherits from CBase.  So the compiler (probably any compiler) creates CBase object, then CDerived1, and now it needs to create CBase again, ..., etc., we got 2 CBase objects!

The diagram did not show that the CBase class appears twice in the class hierarchy.

C++ provides a technique for such case.  The declaration of the CBase class as virtual solves the situation:
#include <stdio.h>
                      
                      class CBase
                      {
                      public:
                      	CBase()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::CBase()\r\n");
                      	}
                      	virtual void test()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::test()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived1 : virtual public CBase
                      {
                      public:
                      	CDerived1()
                      	{
                      		printf("CDerived1::CDerived1()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived2 : virtual public CBase
                      {
                      public:
                      	CDerived2()
                      	{
                      		printf("CDerived2::CDerived1()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CTest : public CDerived1, public CDerived2
                      {
                      public:
                      	CTest()
                      	{
                      		printf("CTest::CTest()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      int main()
                      {
                      	CTest test;
                      
                      	test.test();
                      
                      	return 0;
                      }

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The application output is shown on the following screen shot:
Virtual classesIn this example CBase is inherited virtually.  CDerived1 and CDerived2 classes share the same implementation of CBase.  The compiler creates only one CBase object.

Of course, it is possible to solve this "Diamond problem" in another way.   For example, you can explicitly specify which of the super class implementations of test() is desired:
#include <stdio.h>
                      
                      class CBase
                      {
                      public:
                      	virtual void test()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::test()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived1 : public CBase
                      {
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived2 : public CBase
                      {
                      };
                      
                      class CTest : public CDerived1, public CDerived2
                      {
                      };
                      
                      int main()
                      {
                      	CTest test;
                      	test.CDerived1::test();
                      	return 0;
                      }

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I think that the best solution is to try to avoid such diamond problems.  That will keep the design simple.

The following source code shows how we can use aggregation instead of the diamond inheritance with our same classes:
#include <stdio.h>
                      
                      class CBase
                      {
                      public:
                      	virtual void test()
                      	{
                      		printf("CBase::test()\r\n");
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived1 : public CBase
                      {
                      };
                      
                      class CDerived2 : public CBase
                      {
                      };
                      
                      class CTest
                      {
                      	CDerived1 m_One;
                      	CDerived2 m_Two;
                      public:
                      	void test()
                      	{
                      		m_One.test();
                      		m_Two.test();
                      		//or just
                      		//m_One.test();
                      	}
                      };
                      
                      int main()
                      {
                      	CTest test;
                      	test.test();
                      	return 0;
                      }

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The caveat to this method, though, is CTest object will be bigger in memory as CTest contains CDerived1 and CDerived2, which will have their own copy of CBase as discussed above.

Hopefully you have found this useful for understanding and overcoming the "Diamond problem", but for more information on the subject please see the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_problem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_inheritance
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Comments (3)

Commented:
Hello , and thank you,

now I understand. It solves a problem in my current project.

Kevin CrossChief Technology Officer
CERTIFIED EXPERT
Most Valuable Expert 2011

Commented:
Good job, pgnatyuk!
You have my vote above.

Commented:
Thanks a lot man, it helped me

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