🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello,
I've got this class, Object. It looks like this (well, it's more
complicated, but you'll get the essence):

class Object {
    public:
        int id;
        Object(int idnum) {
            id = idnum;
            ptr = this;            // Let the pointer point to the newly
created instance
        }
};

And ptr is supposed to be a global varible declared like "Object *ptr". The
problem is that I can't declare it before the class definition, cause then
my old Borland 4.51 doesn't know what an "Object" is. But I can't declare it
after the class definition either, cause then I've already used the pointer
in the class without telling C++.
The only way I've been able to get through this problem is to do like this:

class Object {
    public:
        int id;
        Object(int);
};

Object *ptr;            // Here C++ knows what an Object is, and I haven't
used ptr yet

Object::Object(int idnum) {
    id = idnum;
    ptr = this;
}

which isn't a very smooth solution, since I might be needing more variables
and classes like this. I thought it didn't matter where in the code I
declare variables and so on, but apparently it does. Is my compiler too old,
or is there a better way to solve the problem?

thanks,
Magnus Hult
hult.holmstrom@swipnet.se
http://www.ovenproof.com