C++ syntax for interaction between classes and struct - c++

Question

I'm working on an assignment in my first semester of C++ and I just can't figure out working syntax for it. I need to pass a struct as a parameter to a class function using a pointer. This code I've copied is my best attempt, and it will compile but it crashes when it asks for the first name. When I try variations in the syntax, I get errors about incomplete struct, undefined variables (warrior was or invalid operators. What am I doing wrong?
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class StarWars
{
public:
int totalNumber;
struct data_clone
{
int ID, timeCounter;
string name;
};
data_clone *warrior;
void createClone()
{
cout << "How many clone warriors do you want to create in total?" << endl;
cin >> totalNumber;
}
void input(struct data_clone *pointer, int total)
{
for(int i = 1; i <= total; i++)
{
cout << "For warrior number " << i << ":" << endl;
cout << "What is the warrior's name?" << endl;
cin >> pointer[i].name;
cout << "What is the warrior's ID number?" << endl;
cin >> pointer[i].ID;
cout << "What is the warrior's time counter?" << endl;
cin >> pointer[i].timeCounter;
}
}
void lifeSpan(struct data_clone *pointer, int total)
{
for(int i = 1; i <= total; i++)
{
cout << "Warrior number " << pointer[i].name << ": " << endl;
while(pointer[i].timeCounter > 0)
{
cout << "Warrior name: " << pointer[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << pointer[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << pointer[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is alive." << endl;
pointer[i].timeCounter--;
}
cout << "Warrior name: " << pointer[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << pointer[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << pointer[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is dead." << endl;
}
}
};
int main(void)
{
StarWars clones;
clones.createClone();
clones.input(clones.warrior, clones.totalNumber);
clones.lifeSpan(clones.warrior, clones.totalNumber);
}

Answer 1

You don't initialise the memory warrior points to, so you're working with uninitiailised memory - always a bad thing. There's two things to keep in mind here:
When working with pointers, always initialise the memory behind them first. Prefer using RAII concepts like std::unique_ptr / std::shared_ptr
void DoStuff(Widget* w);
std::unique_ptr<Widget> pw = std::make_unique<Widget>();
DoStuff(w.get());
When working with normal variables, use the dereference / reference operators to take a pointer to the variable.
void DoStuff(Widget* w);
Widget widget;
DoStuff(&w);

Answer 2

struct data_clone
{
int ID, timeCounter;
string name;
};
class StarWars
{
private:
data_clone *warrior;
int totalNumber;
public:
StarWars()
{
}
~StarWars()
{
delete[] warrior; // clean up
}
void createClone();
void input();
void lifeSpan();
};
void StarWars::createClone()
{
cout << "How many clone warriors do you want to create in total?" << endl;
cin >> totalNumber;
// construct structure baased on input
warrior = new data_clone[totalNumber];
}
void StarWars::input()
{
for(int i = 0; i < totalNumber; i++)
{
cout << "For warrior number " << i+1 << ":" << endl;
cout << "What is the warrior's name?" << endl;
cin >> warrior[i].name;
cout << "What is the warrior's ID number?" << endl;
cin >> warrior[i].ID;
cout << "What is the warrior's time counter?" << endl;
cin >> warrior[i].timeCounter;
}
}
void StarWars::lifeSpan()
{
std::cout<<"**********Print data**********\n";
for(int i = 0; i < totalNumber; i++)
{
cout << "Warrior number " << warrior[i].name << ": " << endl;
while(warrior[i].timeCounter > 0)
{
cout << "Warrior name: " << warrior[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << warrior[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << warrior[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is alive." << endl;
warrior[i].timeCounter--;
}
cout << "Warrior name: " << warrior[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << warrior[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << warrior[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is dead." << endl;
}
}
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
StarWars clones;
clones.createClone();
clones.input();
clones.lifeSpan();
return 0;
}

Answer 3

You never created your clones, you only read how many there should be.
Allocate space for them:
void createClone()
{
cout << "How many clone warriors do you want to create in total?" << endl;
cin >> totalNumber;
warrior = new data_clone[totalNumber];
}
Your array indexes are also off - an array of size N is indexed from 0 to N - 1.
But the more common way of handling this is to pass the amount to the constructor and let the object handle its own members:
class StarWars
{
public:
StarWars(int clones)
: totalNumber(clones),
warrior(new data_clone[clones])
{
}
void input()
{
for(int i = 0; i < totalNumber; i++)
{
cout << "For warrior number " << i << ":" << endl;
cout << "What is the warrior's name?" << endl;
cin >> warrior[i].name;
cout << "What is the warrior's ID number?" << endl;
cin >> warrior[i].ID;
cout << "What is the warrior's time counter?" << endl;
cin >> warrior[i].timeCounter;
}
}
void lifeSpan()
{
for(int i = 0; i < totalNumber; i++)
{
cout << "Warrior number " << i << ": " << endl;
while(warrior[i].timeCounter > 0)
{
cout << "Warrior name: " << warrior[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << warrior[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << warrior[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is alive." << endl;
warrior[i].timeCounter--;
}
cout << "Warrior name: " << warrior[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << warrior[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << warrior[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is dead." << endl;
}
}
private:
int totalNumber;
struct data_clone
{
int ID, timeCounter;
string name;
};
data_clone *warrior;
};
int main()
{
int number = 0;
cout << "How many clone warriors do you want to create in total?" << endl;
cin >> number;
StarWars clones(number);
clones.input();
clones.lifeSpan();
}
Note that you need to handle the destructor, the copy constructor, and the assignment operator properly as well (left as an exercise).

Answer 4

class StarWars
{
private:
struct data_clone
{
int ID, timeCounter;
string name;
};
public:
StarWars()
{
warrior = new data_clone[4];
}
~StarWars()
{
delete[] warrior;
}
int totalNumber;
data_clone *warrior;
void createClone()
{
cout << "How many clone warriors do you want to create in total?" << endl;
cin >> totalNumber;
}
void input(struct data_clone *pointer, int total)
{
for(int i = 0; i < total; i++)
{
cout << "For warrior number " << i << ":" << endl;
cout << "What is the warrior's name?" << endl;
cin >> pointer[i].name;
cout << "What is the warrior's ID number?" << endl;
cin >> pointer[i].ID;
cout << "What is the warrior's time counter?" << endl;
cin >> pointer[i].timeCounter;
}
}
void lifeSpan(struct data_clone *pointer, int total)
{
for(int i = 0; i < total; i++)
{
cout << "Warrior number " << pointer[i].name << ": " << endl;
while(pointer[i].timeCounter > 0)
{
cout << "Warrior name: " << pointer[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << pointer[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << pointer[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is alive." << endl;
pointer[i].timeCounter--;
}
cout << "Warrior name: " << pointer[i].name << endl;
cout << "Warrior ID number: " << pointer[i].ID << endl;
cout << "Warrior time counter: " << pointer[i].timeCounter << endl;
cout << "Clone is dead." << endl;
}
}
};
Note: I just hardcoded it which is not the correct way, it force you to enter only 4 tyeps of dataclone
"warrior = new data_clone[4];"
you will at least get your result