[C++} Not sure if this is even possible - c++

Question

I'm trying to find the average net pay for a payroll program. What I'm wondering is it possible to create an array from the outputted tabular data and use the array to calculate the average? Or do I have to do this a different way? My code thus far:
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
class employee {
ifstream fin;
char employeeid[12];
char employeename[20];
char martialstatus;
int hoursworked, overtime;
double hourlyrate, overtimepay, regularpay, grosspay, taxrate, taxamount, netpay, average;
void calculateGrosspay();
void calculateTax();
void calculateNetpay();
void printHeadings();
void printData();
double findAverage();
void printAverage();
public: employee();
~employee();
void printReport(); };
employee::employee(){
fin.open(payrollData.txt);
}; //Constructor
employee::~employee() {
fin.close(); } //Destructor
void employee::calculateGrosspay() {
if (hoursworked > 40) {
overtime = hoursworked - 40;
regularpay = hoursworked * hourlyrate;
overtimepay = overtime * (hourlyrate * 1.5);
grosspay = regularpay + overtimepay;
}
else grosspay = hoursworked * hourlyrate;
} //Calculate gross pay function
void employee::calculateTax() {
taxrate = .30;
taxamount = grosspay*taxrate;
} // calculate tax function
void employee::calculateNetpay() {
netpay = grosspay - taxamount;
} //Calculate net pay
void employee::printHeadings() {
cout << setw(45) << "-Employee Payroll Report-" << endl;
cout << "____________________________________________________________" << endl;
cout << "NAME ID HW OT RT-PAY OT-PAY Gross Tax NetPay" << endl;
cout << "____________________________________________________________" << endl;
} // print table headings
void employee::printData() {
cout << setprecision(2) << setiosflags(ios::fixed | ios::showpoint);
cout << setw(6) << employeename << setw(12) << employeeid << setw(4) << hoursworked << setw(3) << overtime << setw(8) << regularpay << setw(8)
<< overtimepay << setw(8) << grosspay << setw(8) << taxamount << setw(8) << netpay << endl;
} // print data
void employee::printReport() {
int i = 0;
printHeadings();
while (fin >> employeename >> employeeid >> hoursworked >> hourlyrate) {
calculateGrosspay();
calculateTax();
calculateNetpay();
printData();
i++;
}
}
double employee::findAverage() {
return average;
}
void printAverage() {
cout << endl;
cout << "The average netpay is" << average << endl;
}
void main() {
employee.printReport();
employee.findAverage();
employee.printAverage();
}
So after the program has printed the data to the console I want to find the average of the net pays and print it to the console. Best way to do this?

Answer 1

You'll probably need a vector like Soren mentioned. If you're trying to get some averages for all employees (which that's what I assume you're trying to do), then let's say we're going to try and get an average for gross pay.
You'll need a vector global, like such:
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
vector<double> netPayList;
double globalAverage;
You'll then need to add information to the vector when GrossPay is calculated as such:
void employee::calculateNetpay()
{
netpay = grosspay - taxamount;
netPayList.push_back(netpay);
}
Finally, we can calculate the average in employee::findAverage(), we should also probably use a for loop for this as well, and in my opinion we should ditch the public function of "employee" and switch that over to a traditional function, since we are trying to get the average for many "employee" instances. The average calculation will now look like this:
double findAverage()
{
for (int iterator = 0; iterator < netPayList.size(); iterator++)
{
average += netPayList[iterator];
}
globalAverage /= netPayList.size();
return globalAverage;
}
Anyway, that's basically the gist of it. Keep working on your stuff, but also I would suggest that you title your questions better. Someone with more gumption and SO privileges than I will most likely edit your OP.