Use a reference with typeid : typeid « Development « C++ Tutorial

1. C++ Tutorial
2. Development
3. typeid

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

class Base {
public:
  virtual bool lays_eggs() { return false; } // Base is polymorphic

};

class Derived1: public Base {
public:

};

class Derived2: public Base {
public:
  bool lays_eggs() { return true; }

};

void WhatBase(Base &ob)
{
  cout << "ob is referencing an object of type ";
  cout << typeid(ob).name() << endl;
}

int main()
{
  Base AnyBase;
  Derived1 Derived1;
  Derived2 Derived2;

  WhatBase(AnyBase);
  WhatBase(Derived1);
  WhatBase(Derived2);

  return 0;
}

ob is referencing an object of type 4Base
ob is referencing an object of type 8Derived1
ob is referencing an object of type 8Derived2