Connect slot of "wrong" (but derived) class

[JonB]

Gurus' opinions wanted :)

While messing about I deliberately tried this:

class AWidget : public QWidget
{
    void method()
    {
        connect(something, &Something::signal, this, &QPushButton::setEnabled);
    }
}

Note that it is class QWidget but the slot is QPushButton::setEnabled().

This compiles (gcc, I think I am (default) C++11) without warning and works. Because, I guess, QPushButton does not have its own setEnabled() but inherits it directly from QWidget.

At some future date, QPushButton::setEnabled() is given its own override. At which point (I presume) compilation will error and I'll have to change to &QWidget::setEnabled. Which is what I should have written in the first place.

Should C++ compiler warn me about this in the first place, to avoid this? Discuss :)

[Christian Ehrlicher]

See it as an offsetOf() - it finds the offset of QPushButton::setEnabled and uses them - no more checks can be done here by the compiler.

[Christian Ehrlicher]

I don't see how a compiler could warn here. You have to pass a function pointer to an existing function what you're doing here.

[JonB]

@Christian-Ehrlicher

connect(something, &Something::signal, this, &QPushButton::setEnabled);

this is a QWidget. Writing &QPushButton::setEnabled, from my point of view at least, means I am looking for a method of a QPushButton. Which is not suitable for a QWidget!

If I wrote &QPushButton::showMenu it would compile-error. If I could find some method of QWidget which QPushButton overrides, I believe that would error too. It only accepts &QPushButton::setEnabled because there is a &QWidget::setEnabled inherited unchanged by QPushButton.

When this is a QWidget, I don't want to be allowed to specify a method via &QPushButton::anything. Only via &QWidget::something. Safe, right. Can't I have that?

[Christian Ehrlicher]

See it as an offsetOf() - it finds the offset of QPushButton::setEnabled and uses them - no more checks can be done here by the compiler.

[JonB]

@Christian-Ehrlicher
Yep, thanks @Christian-Ehrlicher, at least I know where I am :)
I'll mark yours as solution tomorrow, just in case anyone else finds this worthy of commenting in....