How to access private members of a class from it's private constructor

Question

I have following class and here i'm trying to access private members of the class from private constructor.

class House {
private:
    int len;
    int wid;
    House()
    {
    }
public:
    ~House() 
    {
        std::cout << "destructor call" << std::endl;
    }
    static std::shared_ptr<House> house;
    static auto getHouse(const int length, const int width);

    void setlen(int lenth) { len = lenth; }
    void setwid(int width) { wid = width; }
    int getlen() { return len; }
    int getwid() { return wid; }
};

auto House::getHouse(const int length, const int width)
 {
    House::house = std::make_shared<House>();
    if ((House::house->getlen()==length) && (House::house->getwid()== width)) 
    {
        return House::house;
    }
    else
    {
        House::house->setlen(length);
        House::house->setwid(width);

        return House::house;
    }
}

I get the following error message

Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State Error C2248 'House::House': cannot access private member declared in class 'House' TestC++ c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio\2017\community\vc\tools\msvc\14.14.26428\include\memory 1770

May be [the error messages from this MCVE](http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/dc4f541198090f91) are clearer. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Nov 20 '18 at 18:09
The majority of the code you've posted is not relevant to the actual problem. Why do you think `make_shared` should be able to call a private constructor? — Praetorian, Nov 20 '18 at 18:10
@πάνταῥεῖ Clearly clarity is in the eye of the beholder! — TypeIA, Nov 20 '18 at 18:12
@Praetorian here i'm trying to construct the object withing a class and use outside the class using smart pointers problem is clear with shared_ptr here. — Ruchira, Nov 20 '18 at 18:32

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 20 '18 at 18:08

Because House does not have a public constructor, code outside the class is not allowed to construct a House. But you're trying to do exactly that, here:

House::house = std::make_shared<House>();

The implementation of std::make_shared invokes new to construct a new House, but std::make_shared cannot access the private constructor of House. To fix it, you need to construct the House yourself:

House::house.reset(new House);

How to access private members of a class from it's private constructor

1 Answers1