How to alphabetize a list on C++ - c++

Question

I have been having some trouble on my code for my final project. I have looked everwhere and I am having a hard time so I thought I would ask on here. I need to make sure that when all the names are listed in this phonebook that they will come out in alphabetical order but as of yet I am unsure how to do that. Here is the program that i currently have! Thank you!
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
struct Contact {
string name, number, notes;
};
Contact contactList[100];
int rec_num = 0;
int num_entries;
string toUpper (string S) {
for (int i= 0; i < S.length(); i++)
S[i] = toupper(S[i]);
return S;
}
void ReadFile () {
string S;
fstream input("PhoneData.txt");
while (!input.eof() && !input.fail()){
input >> contactList[rec_num].name >> contactList[rec_num].number;
getline(input, S);
contactList[rec_num].notes = S;
rec_num++;
}
cout << "Book read." << endl;
num_entries = rec_num;
input.close();
return;
}
// stores phonebook for future runs of the program
void StoreFile () {
fstream F ("PhoneData.txt");
rec_num = 0;
while (rec_num < num_entries){
F << contactList[rec_num].name << " " << contactList[rec_num].number << " " << contactList[rec_num].notes << " " << endl;
rec_num++;
}
cout << "Phonebook stored." << endl;
return;
}
// adds contact
void add_name(string name, string number, string notes){
contactList[num_entries].name = name;
contactList[num_entries].number = number;
contactList[num_entries].notes = notes;
num_entries++;
return;
}
// finds contact
void retrieve_name(string name){
for (int i = 0; i < num_entries; i++){
if (toUpper(contactList[i].name) == toUpper(name)) {
cout << "Phone Number: " << contactList[i].number << endl << "Notes: " << contactList[i].notes << endl;
return;
}
}
cout << "Name not found" << endl;
return;
}
// updates contact info
void update_name(string name){
string new_number;
string new_notes;
cout<<"New Phone Number"<<endl;
cin>> new_number;
cout<<"New Notes"<<endl;
cin>> new_notes;
for (int i = 0; i < num_entries; i++){
if (toUpper(contactList[i].name) == toUpper(name)) {
contactList[i].number = new_number;
contactList[i].notes = new_notes;
return;
}
}
}
// deletes contact
void delete_name(string name){
int INDEX=0;
for (int i = 0; i < num_entries; i++){
if (toUpper(contactList[i].name) == toUpper(name)) {
INDEX=i;
for ( int j=INDEX; j < num_entries; j++ ){
contactList[j].name = contactList[j+1].name;
contactList[j].number = contactList[j+1].number;
contactList[j].notes = contactList[j+1].notes;
}
}
}
return;
}
void listAllContacts() {
int i = 0;
while (i < num_entries) {
cout << "-- " << contactList[i].name << " " << contactList[i].number << endl << "-- " << contactList[i].notes << endl << endl;
i++;
}
}
int main(){
string name, number, notes;
string FileName;
char command;
FileName = "PhoneData.txt";
ReadFile ();
cout << "Use \"e\" for enter, \"f\" for find, \"l\" for list, \"d\" for delete, \"u\" for update, \"s\" for send message, \"q\" to quit." << endl << "Command: ";
cin >> command;
while (command != 'q'){
switch (command){
case 'e': cin >> name; cout << "Enter Number: ";
cin >> number; cout << "Enter Notes: ";
cin.ignore(); getline(cin, notes);
add_name(name, number, notes); break;
case 'f': cin >> name; retrieve_name(name); break;
case 'l':
listAllContacts(); break;
case 'u': cin>> name; update_name (name);break;
case 'd' : cin>> name; delete_name (name); break;
}
cout << "\nCommand: "; cin >> command;
}
StoreFile();
cout << "All set !";
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Given
Contact contactList[100];
int num_entries;
you can use std::sort to sort the list of contacts. std::sort has two forms. In the first form, you can use:
std::sort(contanctList, contactList+num_entries);
if you define operator< for Contact objects.
In the second form, you can use:
std::sort(contanctList, contactList+num_entries, myCompare);
if you define myCompare to be callable object that can compare two Contact objects.
To use the first form, change Contact to:
struct Contact {
string name, number, notes;
bool operator<(Contact const& rhs) const
{
return (this->name < rhs.name);
}
};
If you want to the comparison of names to be case insensitive, convert both names to either uppercase or lowercase and them compare them.