C++ Strings In Class Becoming Empty after Construction - c++

Question

I'm creating a program where part of its job is to store class objects labeled Client() in a binary tree.
I create the object within a switch statement with
Client newClient = Client (first, last, iD);
transactionsTree.Insert(newClient);
The switch statement is in a loop that is reading data, so after this case is executed and the program continues, the strings within that class get set to empty "" strings. I found this out in stepping through debugging and as soon as that case block executes the strings change to empty. Any other data that gets put into that class remains but those strings will not. Even if I declare those string names in the Client.h file they are still empty after the switch case where it was created. The code where I create the newClient shown above is in a Transactions.cpp, the transactionsTree is a class object of BSTree.cpp, and there's also Client.cpp, all these classes share a connection but I'm assuming my problem has to do with how I'm inserting the objects into the binary tree.
Here is the code with the switch statement case:
case 'O': // open an account
{
string first = list.front();
list.pop();
string last = list.front();
list.pop();
stringstream getiD(list.front()); // transfer string to int
list.pop();
int iD = 0;
getiD >> iD; // transferring string to int
if (transactionsTree.Retrieve(iD)) // if Client is already in tree, prints error message
{
cout << "ERROR: Account " << iD << " is already open. Transaction refused." << endl;
}
else // else creates new Client
{
Client newClient = Client (first, last, iD);
transactionsTree.Insert(newClient);
}
break;
}
And here is my insert method for the binary tree:
void BSTree::Insert(Client &newClient)
{
if (isEmpty())
{
Node *newNode = new Node(newClient);
this->root = newNode;
}
else
add(this->root, newClient);
}
BSTree::Node* BSTree::add(Node *node, Client &newClient) // helper function for Insert()
{
if (node == nullptr)
{
Node *newNode = new Node(newClient);
return newNode;
}
if (newClient.clientID < node->pClient->clientID)
node->left = add(node->left, newClient);
else
node->right = add(node->right, newClient);
}
edit1: Upon further examination, none of the strings in the class that are declared in the header or constructor hold, although here are string vectors that hold. I also have an array of strings with the whole array declared in the header of Client.cpp but when I try and print out any strings from any Client object it only prints out an address.
edit2: I've isolated my problem to two areas, one where I try to access the Client within the tree using:
Client *ptrClient; // create pointer to access the Client once found
ptrClient = &transactionsTree.getClient(iD);
and two within my getClient method which is within my binary tree class:
Client& BSTree::getClient(int id) // returns a Client object from the tree to process() in Transactions.cpp
{
return getTheClient(this->root, id);
}
Client& BSTree::getTheClient(Node * node, int iD) // helper function for getClient that returns a Client object in the tree
{
// no need for the if condition of iD not being found because I check if the iD is in the tree before this function is executed
if (node->pClient->clientID == iD)
{
cout << node->pClient->firstName << " PRINTED HERE~~~~~~~~~~~~~" << endl;
return *node->pClient; // return client if found
}
if (iD < node->pClient->clientID)
return getTheClient(node->left, iD);
else
return getTheClient(node->right, iD);
}
Does this updated information help you help me solve my problem?

Answer 1

I solved my problem, it was with the two lines:
Client newClient = Client (first, last, iD);
transactionsTree.Insert(newClient);
I changed it to:
Client *newClient = new Client (first, last, iD);
transactionsTree.Insert(*newClient);
This mattered because I was creating a new object in the stack and not the heap.