Multipath Inheritance in C++

Reading time: 20 minutes | coding time: 2 minutes

• Here class D is derived from class B and C.
• Class B and C are child of class A.
• From the above two points,we can say class D is indirectly derived from class A.

Example Code

#include <iostream>
#include <conio>
using namespace std;

class person
{
    public:
    char name[100];
    int code;
    void input()
    {
        cout<<"\nEnter the name of the person : ";
        cin>>name;
        cout<<endl<<"Enter the code of the person : ";
        cin>>code;
    }
    void display()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Name of the person : "<<name;
        cout<<endl<<"Code of the person : "<<code;
    }
};
 
class account:virtual public person
{
    public:
    float pay;
    void getpay()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Enter the pay : ";
        cin>>pay;

    }
    void display()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Pay : "<<pay;
    }
};
 
class admin:virtual public person
{
    public:
    int experience;
    void getexp()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Enter the experience : ";
        cin>>experience;

    }
    void display()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Experience : "<<experience;
    }
};
class master:public account,public admin
{
    public:
    char n[100];
    void gettotal()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Enter the company name : ";
        cin>>n;
    }
    void display()
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Company name : "<<n;
    }
};
 
int main()
{
    master m1;
    m1.input();
    m1.getpay();
    m1.getexp();
    m1.gettotal();
    m1.person::display();
    m1.account::display();
    m1.admin::display();
    m1.display();
    return 0;
}

Note: virtual keyword is used so that the grandchild class will get only one copy of parent class data members and functions.

Output:

Enter the name of the person : Chetali
Enter the code of the person : 1224
Enter the pay : 20000
Enter the experience : 2
Enter the company name : Hitech
Name of the person : Chetali
Code of the person : 1224
Pay : 20000
Experience : 2
Company name : Hitech

Limitations

1. If virtual keyword is not used then the grandchild class will get two copies of data members from parent class.
2. This type of inheritance is very ambiguous.