[class.derived.general] (original) (raw)

A class-or-decltype shall denote a (possibly cv-qualified) class type that is not an incompletely defined class ([class.mem]); any cv-qualifiers are ignored.

The class denoted by the class-or-decltype of a base-specifier is called adirect base classfor the class being defined.

During the lookup for a base class name, non-type names are ignored ([basic.scope.hiding]).

A class B is a base class of a class D if it is a direct base class ofD or a direct base class of one of D's base classes.

A class is an indirect base class of another if it is a base class but not a direct base class.

A class is said to be (directly or indirectly) derived from its (direct or indirect) base classes.

Unless redeclared in the derived class, members of a base class are also considered to be members of the derived class.

Members of a base class other than constructors are said to beinheritedby the derived class.

Constructors of a base class can also be inherited as described in [namespace.udecl].

Inherited members can be referred to in expressions in the same manner as other members of the derived class, unless their names are hidden or ambiguous ([class.member.lookup]).

[Note 2:

The scope resolution operator ​::​ ([expr.prim.id.qual]) can be used to refer to a direct or indirect base member explicitly.

This allows access to a name that has been redeclared in the derived class.

A derived class can itself serve as a base class subject to access control; see [class.access.base].

A pointer to a derived class can be implicitly converted to a pointer to an accessible unambiguous base class ([conv.ptr]).

An lvalue of a derived class type can be bound to a reference to an accessible unambiguous base class ([dcl.init.ref]).

— _end note_]