Error using string::erase in C++ - c++

Question

I'm having an error while compiling my C++ program. Below is my code!
#include <pthread.h>
#include "Path.h"
#include "Maze.h"
#include "SubmitMazeSoln.h"
#include "Assignm3_Utils.h"
#include "Assignm3.h"
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
srand(time(NULL));
string random = "0123";
for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
int x = (rand () % random.size());
char y = random[x];
random.erase(remove(random.begin(), random.end() + y), random.end());
int temp;
if (threadData.threadIDArrayIndex == 0)
{
temp = i;
}
else
{
temp = y - '0';
}
}
The error when I compile my program.
myprog.cpp: In function ‘void* exploreMaze(void*)’:
myprog.cpp:108:56: error: cannot convert ‘std::basic_string<char>::iterator {aka __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char*, std::basic_string<char> >}’ to ‘const char*’ for argument ‘1’ to ‘int remove(const char*)’
random.erase(remove(random.begin(), random.end() + y), random.end());
Sorry guys help is deeply appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

As DaveB says,
remove(random.begin(), random.end() + y)
should be
remove(random.begin(), random.end(), y)
The error message is confusing because random.end() + y is a valid expression, although it produces an iterator that's way off the end of the container. So the compiler sees a call to the function remove with two arguments, and tries to make sense of it. The compiler sees a function with the signature remove(const char*), and guesses that that's what you meant, then complains that it can't convert the first argument to type const char*.
This confusion wouldn't have happened if you used proper C++ standard library names such as std::remove. using namespace std; strikes again!