How to access variables defined and declared in on

Question

Can anyone tell me how to access variables declared and defined in a function in another function. E.g

void function1()
{
   string abc;
}

void function2()
{
   I want to access abc here.
}

How to do that? I know using parameters we can do that but is there any other way ?

Answer 1

Make it global then both can manipulate it.

string abc;

void function1(){
    abc = "blah";
} 

void function2(){
    abc = "hello";
} 

Answer 2

If you have a variable in function1 that you want to use in function2, then you must either:

1. pass it directly,
2. have a higher scope function that calls both declare the variable and pass it, or
3. declare it a global and then all functions can access it

If your function2 is called from function1, then you can just pass it as an argument to function2.

void function1()  
{  
    std::string abc;  
    function2( abc );  
}  

void function2( std::string &passed )   
{   
    // function1::abc is now aliased as passed and available for general usage.
   cout << passed << " is from function1.";   
}   

If function1 doesn't call function2, but both are called by function3, then have function3 declare the variable and pass it to both function1 and function2 as an argument.

void parentFunction( )
{
    std::string abc;  
    function1( abc );  
    function2( abc );  
}
void function1( std::string &passed )   
{   
   // Parent function's variable abc is now aliased as passed and available for general usage.
   cout << passed << " is from parent function.";   
}   
void function2( std::string &passed )   
{   
    // Parent function's variable abc is now aliased as passed and available for general usage.
   cout << passed << " is from parent function.";   
}    

Finally, if neither function1 nor function2 is called from each other, nor from the same function in code, then declare the variable to be shared as a global, and function1 and function2 will be able to directly use it.

std::string global_abc;  
void function1( )   
{   
   cout << global_abc << " is available everywhere.";   
}   
void function2( )   
{   
   cout << global_abc << " is available everywhere.";   
}    

Answer 3

There is absolutely no way. Variables of the block can be directly accessed ONLY from that block.

Pointers/references to the object can be passed into functions that are called from this block as parameters.

Answer 4

The C++ way is to pass abc by reference to your function:

void function1()
{
    std::string abc;
    function2(abc);
}
void function2(std::string &passed)
{
    passed = "new string";
}

You may also pass your string as a pointer and dereference it in function2. This is more the C-style way of doing things and is not as safe (e.g. a NULL pointer could be passed in, and without good error checking it will cause undefined behavior or crashes.

void function1()
{
    std::string abc;
    function2(&abc);
}
void function2(std::string *passed)
{
    *passed = "new string";
}