String & String::Concat(const char Str[]) - c++

Question

I decided to code all assignments from last semesters c++ class over summer in order to better prepare for c++ 3 but I don't understand how to pass through a String class or what steps are even needed in order to concatenate two strings and the display the result in the main cpp file.
In my Main.cpp:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
#include "String.h"
int main()
{
String Str1;
String Str2("this is a test");
String Str3(Str2);
String Str4("bruh");
int result;
cout << "Testing Display: " << endl;
Str2.Display();
cout << endl;
cout << "Testing displayLine: " << endl;
Str2.displayLine();
cout << endl;
result = Str2.Compare(Str3);
if (result < 0)
{
Str2.Display();
cout << " comes before " << endl;
Str3.Display();
cout << endl;
}
else
if (result > 0)
{
Str3.Display();
cout << " comes before " << endl;
Str2.Display();
}
else
{
Str3.Display();
cout << " is equal to " << endl;
Str2.Display();
}
cout << endl;
result = Str2.Compare("wxyz");
Str1.Copy(Str3);
cout << "Str1 contains " << Str1.length() <<" characters"<< endl;
cout << "Concatenation: ";
Str2.Concat(Str4);
cout << endl;
return 0;
}
In my String.cpp:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
#include <string.h>
#include "String.h"
#pragma warning(disable:4996)
String::String()
{
NumChars = 0;
MaxSlots = 0;
pChar = new char[NumChars+1];
pChar[0] = '\0';
}
String::String(const char Str[])
{
NumChars = strlen(Str);
pChar = new char[NumChars + 1];
strcpy(pChar, Str);
}
String::String(const String & Str)
{
NumChars = Str.NumChars;
pChar = new char[NumChars + 1];
strcpy(pChar, Str.pChar);
}
String::~String()
{
delete[] pChar;
}
int String::Compare(const String & Str) const
{
return strcmp(pChar, Str.pChar); //case sensitive
}
int String::Compare(const char Str[]) const
{
return strcmp(pChar, Str); //case sensitive
}
String& String::Copy(const String & Str)
{
if (this != &Str)
{
if (MaxSlots < Str.NumChars)
{
delete[]pChar;
MaxSlots = Str.NumChars;
pChar = new char[NumChars + 1];
}
else;
NumChars = Str.NumChars;
strcpy(pChar, Str.pChar);
}
else;
return *this;
}
String& String::Copy(const char Str[])
{
delete[] pChar;
NumChars = strlen(Str);
MaxSlots = NumChars;
pChar = new char[MaxSlots + 1];
return *this;
}
String& String::Concat(const String & Str)
{
pTemp = new char[NumChars+1];
strcpy(pTemp, pChar);
strcat(pTemp, Str.pChar);
delete[]pChar;
pChar = pTemp;
return *this;
}
String & String::Concat(const char Str[])
{
return *this;
/*
NumChars = strlen(Str);
MaxSlots = NumChars;
delete[] pChar;
MaxSlots = MaxSlots + NumChars;
NumChars = NumChars + strlen(Str);
pChar = new char[MaxSlots + 1]; */
}
void String::Display() const
{
cout << pChar;
}
void String::displayLine() const
{
cout << pChar;
}
In my String.h:
#ifndef STRING_H
#define STRING_H
class String
{
public:
String(); //default constructor
String(const char[]);
String(const String &); //copy constructor
~String();
int Compare(const String &) const;
int Compare(const char[])const;
String& Copy(const String&);
String& Copy(const char[]);
String& Concat(const String&);
String& Concat(const char[]);
void Display()const;
void displayLine() const;
int length() const;
private:
char * pChar;
char *pTemp;
int NumChars;
int MaxSlots;
};
inline int String::length() const
{
return NumChars;
};
#endif

Answer 1

You expect the length of the concatenated string to be the sum of the length of the two strings. Therefore:
String& String::Concat(const String & Str)
{
pTemp = new char[NumChars + Str.NumChars + 1];
strcpy(pTemp, pChar);
strcat(pTemp, Str.pChar);
delete[]pChar;
pChar = pTemp;
return *this;
}
You can optimize this further by not strcat()-ing but strcpy()-ing twice (with an offset added to pTemp second time), as you already know the string length.

Answer 2

I'm not sure to understand the use of your MaxSlots; it's the size of allocated pChar (minus 1)? If so, there are points in your code where you forget to set/update/use.
And I don't understand what do you mean with "how to pass through a String class", but regarding "what steps are even needed in order to concatenate two strings", you've forgotten to take in count the number of chars already present in the object.
First of all, I suggest to create e Reserve() method; something like [caution: code not tested]
String& String::Reserve (int n)
{
if ( n > MaxSlots )
{
MaxSlots = n;
pTemp = new char[MaxSlots+1];
strcpy(pTemp, pChar);
delete[]pChar;
pChar = pTemp;
}
}
Next, rewrite your Concat() methods in this way
String& String::Concat(const String & Str)
{
NumChars += Str.NumChars;
Reserve(NumChars);
strcat(pChar, Str.pChar);
return *this;
}
String & String::Concat(const char * Str)
{
if ( Str )
{
NumChars += strlen(Str);
Reserve(NumChars);
strcat(pChar, Str);
}
return *this;
}
p.s.: sorry for my bad English