Declaring struct within another struct and accessing issue when declared as private

Question

I am trying to implement a private struct or class within another struct. Case I works whereas case II is possible after declaration all member variables as public. why so? I am aware that by default all member variables/functions in struct are public and vice versa in a class definition. Now I am a bit confuse why case II don't work? Any thought?

// case I   
struct impl::playlist
{
     struct 
     {
        char name_[30];
     }pod_t;

};

// case II   
struct impl::playlist
{
     class pod_t
     {
        private:
        char name_[30]; // not accessible by impl member func if private 
     };

};

It works if declared as public in case II even declare friend don't seem to work — seccpur, Sep 21 '16 at 10:57
And what are your doubts specifically then? I don't get what you're confused about. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Sep 21 '16 at 10:59
Since pod_t struct /class is declared within struct impl shouldn't its member variables be accessible? It is not accepting even declaring protected or friend class; it works only after declaring all member variables as public which looks absurd. — seccpur, Sep 21 '16 at 11:09
_"Since pod_t struct /class is declared within struct impl shouldn't its member variables be accessible?"_ No. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Sep 21 '16 at 11:10

eerorika · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-21T11:14:19.283

0

Case I works whereas case II is possible after declaration all member variables as public. why so? (not accessible by impl member func if private)

Only public members are accessible outside the class. Since member function of impl is outside the class pod_t, only public members of pod_t are available.

P.S. Your case I and II are different besides the access specifier of the member. In case I you have an object by the name pod_t whose type is an unnamed class. In case II you have a class by the name pod_t and no objects of that class.

edited Sep 21 '16 at 11:14

answered Sep 21 '16 at 11:10

eerorika

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Then why shouldn't declaring impl as friend work then ( I tried it as well)? I have opted for case I however. – seccpur Sep 21 '16 at 11:13
@seccpur you have no friend declaration in your example. – eerorika Sep 21 '16 at 11:13
You nailed it. Accepted as answer – seccpur Sep 21 '16 at 11:15

Declaring struct within another struct and accessing issue when declared as private

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