Static member variable initialization

Question

As posted below. How would i initialize the alphabet using alphabet's own member function for my static member variable? I need to do the initialization from within the "Text.cpp" implementation file.

Text.h

class Text {
private:

    struct Font {
        enum Enum {
            Arial,
            Menlo,
            Times
        };
    };

    static Alphabet alphabet[3]; // library of letters

}; // class

I need something as seen below, just the correct way of accomplish the task. I also need to initialize the alphabet only once for the duration of my runtime, thus i have made alphabet static. Thank you. ^^

Text.cpp

Alphabet Text::alphabet[Text::Font::Arial].Load("./Alphabet/", "Arial", ".xml"));
Alphabet Text::alphabet[Text::Font::Menlo].Load("./Alphabet/", "Menlo", ".xml"));
Alphabet Text::alphabet[Text::Font::Times].Load("./Alphabet/", "Times", ".xml"));

Answer 1

Assuming that Alphabet has a parametrized constructor, you can do it this way in a single translation unit (in Text.cpp file),

Alphabet Text::alphabet[] = { ("./Alphabet/", "Arial", ".xml"), 
                              ("./Alphabet/", "Menlo", ".xml"),
                              ("./Alphabet/", "Times", ".xml") };

Answer 2

Option 1: All the static variables declared in the class should be redefined in .cpp (implementation file, in your case Text.cpp), you shall initialize the variables in the definition.

Option 2: Add a new static method(function) in class "Text" to initialize the static members. Since your static data member in private section. Declare the method in public section.