Correct way to call a singleton object in C++ -

i've build singleton class based on hit posted here.

i've extended getmessage() function, retrive internal dictionary message - dictionary needs loaded once on whole application, reason of singleton.

my code:

singleton.hpp

class singleton {  public:      static singleton& getinstance();     std::string getmessage(std::string code);  private:      singleton() {};      singleton(singleton const&) = delete;     void operator=(singleton const&) = delete; }; 

singleton.cpp

singleton& singleton::getinstance() {     static singleton instance;     return instance; }   std::string singleton::getmessage(std::string code) {     ///     return "code example."; } 

and main code:

main.cpp

int main() {         singleton* my_singleton;         my_singleton = singleton::getinstance(); **<-- error here**          cout << my_singleton->getmessage("a"); << endl  } 

main giving me error: cannot convert 'singleton' 'singleton*' in assignment

what correct way "instantiate" singleton , make use of getmessage function.

thanks lot helping...

what call function this:

singleton::getinstance().getmessage("a"); 

instead of assigning variable.