Restricting string length and issues with string not being outputted - c++

Question

So first off here is my code so far
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
class Car
{
public:
void setUp(string, int, string, bool, string);
void output();
private:
string reportingMark;
int carNumber;
string kind;
bool loaded;
string destination;
};
void input (Car *ptr);
int main()
{
Car *ptrCar = new Car;
string reportingMark = " ";
int carNumber=0;
string kind ="business";
bool loaded= true;
string destination =" ";
Car *ptr = new Car;
input(ptr);
ptr->setUp(reportingMark, carNumber, kind, loaded, destination);
ptr->output();
}
void input (Car *ptr)
{
string reportingMark;
int carNumber;
string kind;
bool loaded;
string destination;
cout << "Please input your AAR reporting mark" << endl;
cin >> reportingMark;
do
{
if (reportingMark.length() <2 || reportingMark.length() >4);
{
cout << "Invalid. Please try again."<< endl;
cout << reportingMark.length();
cin >> reportingMark;
}
}while(reportingMark.length() >= 2 || reportingMark.length() <= 4);
cout<< reportingMark << endl;
cout<< "Please input your car number." << endl;
cin >> carNumber;
cout << carNumber<<endl;
cout << "What kind of car is it?" << endl;
cin.ignore();
getline(cin,kind);
cout << kind << endl;
cout <<"Is your car loaded? (1 - yes or 0 - no)" <<endl;
cin >> loaded;
cout << loaded << endl;
if(loaded == 0)
{
cout << "Do you have a destination? If so, where? If not, type NONE" << endl;
cin.ignore();
getline(cin,destination);
}else if (loaded == 1)
{
cout << "Where is your destination?" << endl;
cin.ignore();
getline(cin,destination);
cout << destination << endl;
}
}
void Car::setUp(string rMark, int cNumber, string cKind, bool cLoaded,
string dest)
{
reportingMark = rMark;
carNumber = cNumber;
kind = cKind;
loaded = cLoaded;
destination = dest;
}
void Car::output()
{
cout << "AAR Reporting Mark:" << reportingMark << endl;
cout << "Car Number:" << carNumber << endl;
cout << "Kind:" << kind << endl;
cout << "Your car is:" << loaded << endl;
cout << "Destination:" << destination << endl;
}
What I'm struggling with is specifically that my lab asks for
A string named reportingMark to contain two to four characters
Every input I enter keeps giving me the invalid option when the number of characters in the string isn't 2-4. Even when I try inputs of 2-4 characters.
My other issue is "destination" The input I give isn't outputting my input correctly, it just appears to what I have in int main which is blank space.

Answer 1

You have couple of errors in the do-while loop.
do
{
if (reportingMark.length() <2 || reportingMark.length() >4);
// The ; in the above line is the end of the if statment.
// The following block of code gets executed no matter what
{
cout << "Invalid. Please try again."<< endl;
cout << reportingMark.length();
cin >> reportingMark;
}
}while(reportingMark.length() >= 2 || reportingMark.length() <= 4);
The conditional in while is not right either. It should be the same as the one in the if statement.
}while(reportingMark.length() < 2 || reportingMark.length() > 4);
You can remove the duplicate code by using:
while ( true )
{
cin >> reportingMark;
// The length is used many times. Might as well use a variable.
size_t length = reportingMark.length();
if (length >= 2 && length <= 4)
{
break;
}
cout << "Invalid length. Please try again."<< endl;
cout << length << endl;
}