AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnector AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnector::XercesConnector () XercesConnector Default constructor, which is intentionally declared as private and called only from static method 'StayAlive()'. Therfore, it is called only once in the run of a application! AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnector::~XercesConnector () ~XercesConnector void static void AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnector::StayAlive () StayAlive This method just touches the only instance of the XercesConnector class which is declared as a static local variable.This way we know that Xerces was initialized properly when returning from StayAlive(). And what is more, the local nature of the inner variable prevents us before multiple initializations. Singleton class implementing the key property of the 'AssertXercesIsAlive' class. AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnectorStayAlive AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnectorXercesConnector AssertXercesIsAlive::XercesConnector~XercesConnector