Struggling to get this push_back() function to work - c++

Question

I'm working on an assignment for my college class, and I'm struggling to figure out why code for my push_front() function works without fail, but my push_back() always gives:
"Exception thrown: read access violation. st was nullptr."
struct NodeDate
{
int day, month, year; //Structure's data
struct NodeDate* nextNode; //Pointer to point to next node
}*start; //Not sure why we do this, but all examples contain it
class LinkedListDate
{
public:
//Prototype of member functions
NodeDate* create_node(NodeDate);
void push_front();
void pop_front();
void remove_front();
void search();
void display();
LinkedListDate();
void push_back();
void remove_back();
void pop_back();
};
LinkedListDate::LinkedListDate()
{
start = NULL; //Our first created pointer will be set to NULL
}
NodeDate* LinkedListDate::create_node(struct NodeDate newDate) //Function that creates a new node and returns said node
{
struct NodeDate* tempNode, *s;
tempNode = new(struct NodeDate); //Reserving memory for our temp node
if (tempNode == NULL) //If the node is empty
{
std::cout << "Memory not allocated " << std::endl;
return 0;
}
else //Otherwise assign parameter node value to temporary node
{
tempNode->day = newDate.day;
tempNode->month = newDate.month;
tempNode->year = newDate.year;
tempNode->nextNode = NULL; //Remember these are all values contained within the date struct
return tempNode; //Return the node
}
}
void LinkedListDate::push_front() //Function that will insert a node at the start of our linkedlist
{
struct NodeDate* tempNode, *st, newNode;
std::cout << "Enter the day: ";
std::cin >> newNode.day;
std::cout << "Enter the month: ";
std::cin >> newNode.month;
std::cout << "Enter the year: ";
std::cin >> newNode.year;
tempNode = create_node(newNode); //Creating a new node for date with the create_node function
if (start == NULL) //Checks if the starting (Head) node is NULL then first node to insert
{
start = tempNode; //Start node points to our temporary node
start->nextNode = NULL; //Assign null to start->next
}
else //Otherwise nodes are already available in the list
{
st = start; //Assign start to st
start = tempNode; //Start points to temporary node
start->nextNode = st; //Start next point to st
}
std::cout << "Element Inserted at beginning" << std::endl;
}
void LinkedListDate::push_back() //Function to insert a new node at the end of the linkedlist
{
struct NodeDate* tempNode, *st, newNode;
std::cout << "Enter the day: ";
std::cin >> newNode.day;
std::cout << "Enter the month: ";
std::cin >> newNode.month;
std::cout << "Enter the year: ";
std::cin >> newNode.year;
tempNode = create_node(newNode); //Creating a new node for date with the create_node function
st = start;
while (st->nextNode != NULL) //Move til we reach end of the list
{
st = st->nextNode; //Move to the next node
}
tempNode->nextNode = NULL; //Assign null to temporary node next
st->nextNode = tempNode; //st next points to temporary node
std::cout << "Element Inserted at last" << std::endl;
}
Again, push_front() works, but push_back() does not work (The program runs, but after inputting the date for the first node I get the exception.
I've been trying a lot of things, but I can't seem to figure out what exactly I'm doing wrong.

Answer 1

struct NodeDate
{
//...
}*start;
is the same is
struct NodeDate
{
//...
};
NodeDate *start;
push_back will fail when the list is empty (i.e. start is null).
void LinkedListDate::push_back()
{
//...
tempNode = create_node(newNode);
tempNode->nextNode = nullptr;
if(start == nullptr)
{
start = tempNode;
}
else
{
st = start;
while (st->nextNode != nullptr) //Move til we reach end of the list
{
st = st->nextNode; //Move to the next node
}
st->nextNode = tempNode;
}
std::cout << "Element Inserted at last" << std::endl;
}