C++ typeid Operator

This page asks you to use the typeid operator instead of the virtual function you wrote to return the name of a shape as a char* value. The operator typeid() can be applied to a type name or to an expression to determine the exact type of the argument. The operator returns a reference to the class type_info, which is supplied by the system and is defined in the header file type_info.h.

Some possible arguments of typeid() are

1. a reference to a class
2. a pointer argument, dereferenced with *

Note: Borland C++ 4.0 uses typeinfo.h instead of type_info.h.
If you use MSVC, select the Run-Time Type Information (RTTI) option in order to enable the typeinfo.h utilities.
The class type_info provides a name() member function returning a string that is the type name. It also provides overloadedequality operators. Remember to check the local implementation for the complete interface of this class.

Base* bptr;
.....
//print the type name of what bptr currently points at
cout << typeid(bptr).name() << endl;
.....
if (typeid(bptr) == typeid(Derived)) {
//do something appropriate for Derived
.....
}

Click the Exercise link below to use the typeid operator instead of the virtual function you wrote that returns the name of a shape as a char* value.
Typeid Operator - Exercise