Using TScopedPointer to track an object

A scoped pointer is a pointer that is auto-deleted at the end of the block in which it was declared. Recall that a scope is just a section of code during which a variable is "alive". A scope will last until the first closing brace, }, that occurs.

For example, in the following block, we have two scopes. The outer scope declares an integer variable x (valid for the entire outer block), while the inner scope declares an integer variable y (valid for the inner block, after the line on which it is declared):

{
  int x;
  {
    int y;
  } // scope of y ends
} // scope of x ends

Getting ready

Scoped pointers are useful when it is important that a reference-counted object (which is in danger of going out of scope) is retained for the duration of usage.

How to do it...

To declare a scoped pointer, we simply use the following syntax:

TScopedPointer<AWarrior> warrior(this );

This declares a scoped pointer referencing an object of the type declared within the angle brackets: < AWarrior >.

How it works…

The TScopedPointer variable type automatically adds a reference count to the variable pointed to. This prevents deallocation of the underlying object for at least the life of the scoped pointer.