Segmentation fault on returning int - c++

Question

Below I have my two functions which are, when when insertItem calls findIndex producing a segmentation fault. For some reason this happens when the value is returned. (I will include the cout statements so that it is easy to see exactly where this error happens). I am trying to locate the index of a value which is not in the list so -1 should be returned but never does. The output is below.
template <class ItemType>
int SortedList<ItemType>::findIndex(ItemType item) {
cout << "Entering findIndex function" << endl;
int first = 0;
int last = length-1;
int middle;
bool found = false;
while(!found) {
middle = (first+last)/2;
cout << "In findIndex, this is middle: " << middle << " and this is the item: " << item << " and this is the length: " << length << endl;
if(info[middle] == item) {
cout << "In findIndex found is now true" << endl;
found = true;
}
else if(item < info[middle])
last = middle-1;
else// if(item > info[middle])
first = middle+1;
if(first > last)//else// if(first > last)
break;
}
cout << "About to exit and return value from findIndex function" << endl;
if(found == true) {
cout << "findIndex Function: the index of the found value was " << middle << endl;
return middle;
}
else {
cout << "findindex Function: -1 was returned" << endl;
return -1;
}
}
template <class ItemType>
void SortedList<ItemType>::insertItem(ItemType item) {
cout << "Inside insertItem function, length: " << length << endl;
if(findIndex(item) != -1)
cout << "**Item already in the list" << endl;
else if(length == Max_Items)
cout << "**There is no room in the list" << endl;
else {
cout << "before the try" << endl;
try{
cout << "This is length at the start of the insertItem function: " << length << endl;
if(length == 0) {//if the list is empty item becomes the first item in the list \
cout << "This is right after length==0 in insertItem function" << endl;
info[0] = item;//was this->inf...
length++;
cout << "This is length right after incrementing it up" << length << endl;
}
else {//its not the first item in the list
for(int i = 0; i <= length; i++) {
cout << "This is the length and i respectively right inside the for in insertItem" << length << " " << i << endl;
if(i == length) {
cout << "this is where i == length" << endl;
info[i] = item;
length++;
break;
}
if(info[i] < item)
continue;
//inserting the item where it needs to go
for(int p = length; p > i; p--) {//was >=
info[p] = info[p-1];
}
//item = info[i];
info[i] = item;
length++;
break;
}
}
}catch(...) {cout << "**insertItem failed" << endl;}
}
cout << "This is length at the end of the insert item function: " << length << endl;
}
output:
...
Inside insertItem function, length: 0
Entering findIndex function
In findIndex, this is middle: 0 and this is the item: Name: Eman ID: 81012 and this is the length: 0
About to exit and return value from findIndex function
findindex Function: -1 was returned
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
~$:
So even the print saying -1 was returned is hit but nothing ever gets back to the original function. I am not sure as to what could cause a seg fault in this area. Could this return do it?

Answer 1

The following loop:
for(int p = length; p > i; p--) {
info[p] = info[p-1];
probably writes to 1 index past the length of the array, because valid array indexes probably range from 0 to length - 1.
A write to an illegal memory location can corrupt the stack, and this is likely to manifest as a crash when returning from a function.
Still, you really need to start using a debugger.