Segmentation fault with dynamically allocated arrays as members of structure in c++? - c++

Question

I am writing a program using an array of structures to store a name, id number, and an array of test scores for a certain amount of students. Both the array of structures and the array of test scores member need to be dynamically allocated. I've gotten down to the function that allows the user to input test scores for each student, however I am having problems with the cin in the last function (getScores function). When using Linux I get a segmentation fault, so I'm assuming it has something to do with the dynamically allocated tests array that is a member of the structure, I just can't see it. I'm wondering how I can go about debugging it and an explanation of why this is actually occurring so I can avoid it in the future.
//Preprocessor Directives
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
//Structure declaration
struct Students
{
string name; //Student name
int idNum; //Student ID number
double *tests; //Pointer to an array of test scores
};
//Function prototypes
Students *getStudents(int &);
double *getTests(int &);
void getInfo(string &, int &, int);
void getScores(double &, string, int);
//Main program section
int main ()
{
int numStudents = 0;
int numTests = 0;
Students *studentFiles = NULL;
//Call the getStudents function
studentFiles = getStudents(numStudents);
//Call the getTests function
studentFiles->tests = getTests(numTests);
for(int i = 0; i < numStudents; i++)
{
//Call the getInfo function
getInfo(studentFiles[i].name, studentFiles[i].idNum, i+1);
}
for(int i = 0; i < numStudents; i++)
{
for(int j = 0; j < numTests; j++)
{
getScores(studentFiles[i].tests[j], studentFiles[i].name, j);
}
}
delete [] studentFiles;
delete [] studentFiels->tests;
return 0;
}
Students *getStudents(int &numStudents)
{
Students *studentFiles = NULL;
//Prompt the user for the number of students
cout<<"Enter the number of students: ";
cin>>numStudents;
//Dynamically allocate an array of structs, one for each student
studentFiles = new Students[numStudents];
return studentFiles;
}
double *getTests(int &numTests)
{
double *tests = NULL;
//Prompt the user for the number of tests
cout<<"Enter the number of tests: ";
cin>>numTests;
cin.ignore();
//Dynamicall allocate an array of integers, one for each test
tests = new double[numTests];
return tests;
}
void getInfo(string &name, int &idNum, int index)
{
//Prompt for each student's name and id number
cout<<"Enter the name of student #"<<index<<": ";
getline(cin, name);
cout<<"Enter the id number of student #"<<index<<": ";
cin>>idNum;
cin.ignore();
}
void getScores(double &test, string name, int numTest)
{
cout<<name<<endl;
cout<<numTest<<endl;
//Prompt for each test score for each student
cout<<"Enter "<<name<<"'s score for test #"<<numTest+1<<": ";
cin>>test;
}

Answer 1

One error is that you access a member of deleted object studentFiles. Reverse the lines to fix that:
delete [] studentFiles->tests;
delete [] studentFiles;
Ideally, use std::vector<> instead of dynamically allocating and releasing memory manually.
Also note, that the code only initializes Student::tests of the first member of the array, the rest of Student objects have this member uninitialized. The result of expression studentFiles[i].tests[j] is undefined and is likely to cause a crash.
You need to initialize Student::tests member of each Student. And when done, deallocate Student::tests of each Student.