C++ array of pointers pointing to another arrays value - c++

Question

I would like to make an array of words like: "Tom", "Mike","Tamara","Nik"... I would like to make for user to be possible to enter for instance a number 3, and get a random return of words that have the length of 3 so eather ("Tom" or "Nik"). I think this is done with pointers but I don't know how. Words should be stored in different arrays depending on their length. And with pointers you would point to each array ("Tom","Nik" in same array "Tamara" in different array and "Mike" in different array and so on... because their length is not the same). Can someone please help ?
#include<iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
void IzpisPolja(char **polje,int velikost){
int tab[100];
for (int i=0; i<velikost; i++) {
cout<<polje[i]<<endl;
char *zacasni;
tab[i] = strlen(polje[i]);
// cout<<tab[i]<<endl;
}
}
int main(){
const int size = 4;
char* tabelaOseb[size] = {"Tom", "Mike","Tamara","Nik"};
IzpisPolja(tabelaOseb,size);
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Do you want to do it efficiently ? Storing them in separate arrays will increase search time but also increase insertion, deletion complexity.
Otherwise you can just count number of instances of n length words in an array, then generate random number and return the ith of them.
Also suggest using std::vector
const string* getRandNameOfLength(const string* arr,
const int arrlen,
const int length)
{
int num = 0, j, i;
// Counting number of such names
for (i = 0; i < arrlen; ++i)
{
if (arr[i].size() == length)
num++;
}
// No such name found
if (num == 0)
return NULL;
j = rand() % num;
// Returning random entry of given length
for (i = 0; i < arrlen; ++i)
{
if (arr[i].size() == length && j-- == 0)
return &arr[i];
}
// Function shouldn't get here
return NULL;
}

Answer 2

You can use raw pointers to perform your task, of course, but you can also start using some of the many safer facilities that the language (references, iterators and smart pointers) and the C++ standard library can offer.
I'll show you a complete program that can do what you are asking using conteiners (std::vector, std::map) and algorithms (like std::lower_bound) that can really simplify your work once understood.
Note that as a learning exercise (for both of us), I have used as many "new" features as I could, even when maybe wasn't necessary or handy. Read the comments for better understanding.
The words are stored and managed in a class, while the interaction with the user is performed in main().
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <map>
#include <limits>
#include <algorithm>
#include <random> // for mt19937, uniform_int_distribution
#include <chrono> // for high_resolution_clock
size_t random_index( size_t a, size_t b ) {
// Initialize Random Number Generator Engine as a static variable. - Since c++11, You can use those instead of old srand(time(NULL))
static std::mt19937 eng{static_cast<long unsigned int>(std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now().time_since_epoch().count())};
// use the RNG to generate random numbers uniformly distributed in a range
return std::uniform_int_distribution<size_t>(a,b)(eng);
}
using svs_t = std::vector< std::string >; // I store the words with equal length in a std::vector of std::string
// like typedef, I'll use svs_t instead of std::vector<std::string>
auto string_less_then = [] (const std::string & a, const std::string & b) -> bool { return a.compare(b) < 0; };
// A lambda function is a mechanism for specifying a function object, its primary use is to specify a simple
// action to be performed by some function. I'll use it to compare two string and return true only if a<b
class word_table {
std::map< size_t, svs_t > words; // std::map store elements formed by a combination of a key value and a mapped value, sorted by key
// I'll use word's length as a key for svs_t values
public:
word_table() {}
word_table( std::initializer_list<std::string> vs ) {
insert_words(vs);
}
void insert_words( svs_t vs ) {
for ( auto && s : vs ) add_word(s); // loop for each value in vs, "auto" let the compiler infer the right type of the variable
}
bool add_word( std::string s ) { // I choose to keep the vector sorted and with unique elements
size_t sl = s.length();
if ( sl > 0 ) {
auto & v = words[sl]; // If sl doesn't match the key of any element in the map, a new element is created
// lower_bound return an iterator that poins to the first element in range (begin,end)
auto it = std::lower_bound(v.begin(), v.end(), s, string_less_then); // which does not compare less than s
// I pass the compare function as a lambda
if ( it != v.end() && it->compare(s) == 0 ) return false; // Already present, duplicates not allowed
v.insert(it, s); // Not the most efficient way, but you seem focused on the random access part
return true;
}
return false;
}
bool remove_word( std::string s) {
size_t sl = s.length();
if ( sl > 0 ) {
auto itvw = words.find(sl); // first find the right element in the map, using the string length as a key, but if word is found
if ( itvw == words.end() ) return false; // an iterator to the element following the last element of the container is returned
auto & v = itvw->second; // In a map the elements are stored in pairs, first is the key, second the value
auto it = std::lower_bound(v.begin(), v.end(), s, string_less_then);
if ( it != v.end() && it->compare(s) == 0 ) {
v.erase(it);
if ( v.empty() ) words.erase(itvw);
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
std::string get_random_word( size_t length ) {
if ( length == 0 ) return "";
auto itvw = words.find(length);
if ( itvw == words.end() || itvw->second.empty() ) return "";
return itvw->second[random_index(0, itvw->second.size() - 1)];
}
void show_all() {
for ( auto && i : words ) {
std::cout << " ";
for (auto && w : i.second ) {
std::cout << w << ' ';
}
std::cout << '\n';
}
}
};
constexpr size_t ss_max = std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max();
namespace opt {
enum options { wrong = -1, exit, show, random, add, remove, menu };
}
class menu {
std::map<int,std::string> opts;
public:
menu( std::initializer_list<std::pair<int,std::string>> il ) {
for ( auto && i : il ) opts.insert(i);
}
void show() {
std::cout << "\nYou can choose among these options:\n\n";
for ( auto && i : opts ) {
std::cout << " " << i.first << ". " << i.second << ".\n";
}
}
};
int main()
{
word_table names({"Tom", "Mike","Tamara","Robert","Lenny","Nick","Alex","Sue","Irina","Beth","Anastacia","Bo"});
int choise = opt::exit;
menu menu_options { {opt::exit, "Exit program"}, {opt::show, "Show all stored names"},
{opt::random, "Show a random name"}, {opt::add, "Add a new name"},
{opt::remove, "Remove a name"} };
menu_options.show();
do {
std::cout << "\nPlease, enter a number (" << opt::menu << " to show again all options): ";
std::cin >> choise;
if ( std::cin.fail() ) { // the user enter something that is not a number
choise = opt::wrong;
std::cin.clear();
std::cin.ignore(ss_max,'\n');
}
if ( std::cin.eof() ) break; // use only if you are redirecting input from file
std::string str;
switch ( choise ) {
case opt::exit:
std::cout << "\nYou choose to quit, goodbye.\n";
break;
case opt::show:
std::cout << "\nAll the stored names, classified by word\'s length:\n\n";
names.show_all();
break;
case opt::random:
size_t l;
std::cout << "Please, enter the length of the name: ";
std::cin >> l;
if ( std::cin.good() ) {
std::string rs = names.get_random_word(l);
if ( rs == "" ) {
std::cout << "\nNo name of length " << l << " has been found.\n";
} else {
std::cout << "\n " << rs << '\n';
}
}
break;
case opt::add:
std::cout << "Please, enter the name You want to add: ";
std::cin >> str; // read a string from cin, you can write more than a word (separeted by spaces)
std::cin.ignore(ss_max,'\n'); // but only the first is stored
if ( names.add_word(str) ) {
std::cout << "\n The name " << str << " has been successfully added.\n";
} else {
std::cout << "\n No name has been added";
if ( str != "" ) std::cout << ", "<< str << " is already present.\n";
else std::cout << ".\n";
}
break;
case opt::remove:
std::cout << "Please, enter the name You want to remove: ";
std::cin >> str;
if ( names.remove_word(str) ) {
std::cout << "\n " << str << " has been succesfully removed.\n";
} else {
std::cout << "\n No name has been removed";
if ( str != "" ) std::cout << ", " << str << " wasn't found.\n";
else std::cout << ".\n";
}
break;
case opt::menu:
menu_options.show();
break;
default:
std::cout << "\n Sorry, that's not an option.\n";
}
} while ( choise != opt::exit );
return 0;
}
I hope it could help.

Answer 3

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <cstring>
#include <ctime>
#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std;
const char* return_rand_name(const char** names, size_t length)
{
std::vector<size_t> indexes;
for(int i=0; names[i][0] != 0; ++i)
if(strlen(names[i]) == length)
indexes.push_back(i);
if(indexes.size()==0)
return NULL;
return names[indexes[rand()%indexes.size()]];
}
int main()
{
srand(time(NULL));
const char* names[] = {"Alex","Tom","Annie","Steve","Jesus","Leo","Jerry",""};
std::cout << return_rand_name(names, 3) << std::endl;
return 0;
}
And if you want to use functions like strlen etc, include <cstring>, not <string> (which contains class template std::string (which you should use in C++ (instead of char*) ) )