write out array created as pointer in subclass (C++) - c++

Question

In the main, I'm trying to write out all items that are added to the shopping cart. I posted my whole program for context of what is happening throughout. Currently, the program outputs the memory location of the pointer, but I'm terribly confused on how to de-reference it as nothing I've tried seems to work. Now, I think I'm going about this wrong, but I'm not sure how to simply implement printing out the items in the cart. Thank you so much for any help.
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
class item{
private:
string title;
string description;
float price;
public:
item(string t, string d, float p){
this -> title = t;
this -> description = d;
this -> price = p;
}
//setters
void setTitle(string title){}
void setDescription(string description){}
void setPrice(float price){}
//getters
string getTitle(){
return title;
}
string getDescription(){
return description;
}
float getPrice(){
return price;
}
//virtual print function
virtual void print(){
cout << "Description: " << description << endl;
}
};//end class item____________________________________________________
class book : public item{
private:
int pageCount;
public :
//book();
book(string t, string d, float p, int pageCount) : item(t, d, p){
}
void setPageCount(int pageCount){}
int getPageCount(){
return pageCount;
}
void print(){
cout << "Type: Book \n";
//cout << "Description: " << description << endl;
}
};//end subclass book_________________________________________________________
class movie : public item{
private:
float length;
public:
movie(string t, string d, float p, float length) : item(t, d, p){
}
void setLength(float length){}
float getLength(){
return length;
}
void print(){
cout << "Type: Movie \n";
//cout << "Description: " << d << endl;
}
};//_______________________________________________________________________
class CD : public item{
private:
int trackCount;
public:
CD(string t, string d, float p, int trackCount) : item(t, d, p){
}
void setTrackCount(int trackCount){}
int getTrackCount(){
return trackCount;
}
void print(){
cout << "Type: CD \n";
//cout << "Description: " << description << endl;
}
};//___________________________________________________________________________
class ShoppingCart{
private:
int maxItems;
item** items;
public:
ShoppingCart(int maxItems){
this-> maxItems = maxItems;
this-> items = new item*[maxItems];
for (int i = 0; i < maxItems; i++){
//fills array with nothing, will store all items here
items[i] = nullptr;
}
}
void addItem(item* item){
for (int i = 1; i <= maxItems; i++){
if (this->items[i] == nullptr) {//check for empty spot in array
this->items[i] = item; //adds the item here
break; // exits if
}
}
}
void setMaxItems(int maxItems){}
int getMaxItems(){
return maxItems;
}
int getItemCount(){
int count = 0;
for (int i = 1; i <= maxItems; i++){
if (this->items[i] != nullptr){
count++;
}
}
return count;
}
void listItems(){
for (int i = 1; i < maxItems ; i ++){
if (this->items[i] != nullptr){
cout << "Item " << i <<
": "<< (items[i]) << endl;
}
}
}
item* getItemNum(int num){
return items[num];
}
};//____________________________________________________________
int main(){
book book_dawkins("The Selfish Gene", "Genetics", 8.75, 344);
Jacob.addItem(&book_dawkins);
Jacob.listItems(); //this outputs "Item 1: 0x61fd40"
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Dereferencing the pointer for printing is just a matter of doing cout << *items[i] . However, this will only work once you define the proper overload for printing an item.
First, implement a virtual function for item (and an override in book) that prints this onto an ostream&:
virtual ostream& print(ostream& os) const;
Next, use this in a overload for operator <<:
ostream& operator<<(ostream& os, const item& i) {
return i.print(os);
}
Taking a reference here is crucial, as it allows looking up the correct print method at run-time.