Creating and clearing an array of structures - c++

Question

I've been trying to write a short program allowing the user to add entries to a "database", listing the entries they have put in, and the ability to clear all the entries without ending the program. Here's what i've got
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
struct BIRTH
{int month; int year;};
struct ID
{string name; bool vip; float score;
struct BIRTH date;} ;
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
ID **ptrarr;
ptrarr = new ID * [10];
for (int r=0; r<10; r++)
{ptrarr[r] = new ID[1] ;}
int counter = 0;
while(counter<100){
cout << "Type add to create a new entry" << endl;
cout << "Type list to see all entries" << endl;
cout << "Type clear to delete all entries" << endl;
cout << "Type exit to terminate" << endl;
string command = "0";
getline (cin,command);
if(command=="add")
{
cout << "Enter name" << endl;
getline (cin,ptrarr[counter][1].name);
cout << "VIP? 1 for yes, 0 for no" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][1].vip;
cout << "Enter score" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][1].score;
cout << "Month of birth" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][1].date.month;
cout << "Year of birth" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][1].date.year;
counter++;
}
else if(command=="list")
{
for (int i=0; i<counter; i++)
{int n=i+1;
cout << n << " "
<< ptrarr[i][1].name << " ";
if (ptrarr[i][1].vip)
{cout << "VIP ";}
cout << "Score: " << ptrarr[i][1].score << " "
<< "Born: " << ptrarr[i][1].date.month << "/" << ptrarr[i][1].date.year << endl;
}
}
else if(command=="clear")
{delete[] ptrarr;
cout << "Entries cleared" << endl;}
else if(command=="exit")
{return 0;}
else
cout << "try again" << endl;
}
return 0;
}
Now here's the deal: the following code successfully compiles, but when I type in the "add" command, the program crashes (achievement unlocked, didn't think it's possible to obtain with such a short code). The most important thing is that the array is made of a multitype structure and that the "clear" command wipes out all the entries in the array.
NOTE: I understand that there are thousand better ways to write this piece of code, but I'm writing it to practice the things I have covered so far regarding C++. So unless it is absolutely necessary for the code to run, please do not introduce any new gimmicks =)

Answer 1

Replace all ptrarr[counter][1] with ptrarr[counter][0] fixes the problem.
Further advices:
I. This code has redundancy:
ID **ptrarr;
ptrarr = new ID * [10];
for (int r=0; r<10; r++)
{ptrarr[r] = new ID[1] ;}
Replace it with:
ID *ptrarr;
ptrarr = new ID [10];
Then you do not need extra [0] at the end of each ptrarr[counter]
II. functions make your code more readable:
if(command=="add")
add();
else if(command=="list")
list();
else if(command=="clear")
clear();
else if(command=="exit")
return 0;
else
cout << "try again" << endl;
Then decisions are made in a smaller area (Good practice for large programs.)
III. There is another mistake in your code:
else if(command=="clear")
{delete[] ptrarr;
cout << "Entries cleared" << endl;}
Here you should reset the counter. Also if you regard my point (I) this part is fine. Otherwise, if you use new with a for loop, I am afraid that you need to delete with a for loop too. Merely removing the root of the array tree brings you memory leak!
Also, if you cleared the list by delete, wont you need to store data in the list anymore? Using delete in linked lists is a good idea, but it does not apply here. Just reseting the counter does the job and it does not show IDs in the list anymore. The for inside the list does only count up to the counter.
If you exit the program don't you free the memory?
I say
delete [] ptrarr;
is good for being at exit.

Answer 2

You are creating an an array of pointers, each one of which points to one element:
ptrarr[r] = new ID[1] ;
The maximum index that you can use with ptrarr[r] is 0. Since you are using ptrarr[counter][1], you are accessing memory that is out of bounds. This leads to undefined behavior. Crashing is one such undefined behavior.
There are other issues with your code that you may want to fix.
More out of bounds memory access
You are using:
int counter = 0;
while(counter<100){
...
getline (cin,ptrarr[counter][1].name);
That is again going to lead to undefined behavior if counter > 10 since you allocated only 10 pointers for ptrarr.
Deleting the contents
You are using:
else if(command=="clear")
{
delete[] ptrarr;
cout << "Entries cleared" << endl;
}
There are couple of problems with this:
You have memory leak. You never call delete [] on what ptrarr[0] - ptrarr[9] point to. You'll have to use:
else if(command=="clear")
{
for ( int i = 0; i < 10; ++i )
{
delete [] ptrarr[i];
}
delete[] ptrarr;
cout << "Entries cleared" << endl;
}
Remember that every allocation must have a corresponding deallocation. Otherwise, you are leaking memory.
Once you call delete [] ptrarr;, it points to dangling memory. I don't see any code that reallocates memory for ptrarr while you continue to use it.
You need to reallocate memory and reset counter to 0 when the user chooses "clear".
My suggestion
You don't two levels of pointers. You just need something like:
int const MAX_ITEMS = 100;
ID* IDarr = new ID[MAX_ITEMS];
Instead of ptrarr[counter][1], use IDarr[counter].
Use MAX_ITEMS in the expression of the while statement instead of the magic number 100.
int counter = 0;
while(counter<MAX_ITEMS){
When processing "clear", you don't need to deallocate or allocate memory. Just reset counter.
else if(command=="clear")
{
counter = 0;
cout << "Entries cleared" << endl;
}
Make sure to deallocate memory before returning from main.
Here's the complete main function with the changes:
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
const int MAX_ITEMS = 100;
ID* IDarr = new ID[MAX_ITEMS];
int counter = 0;
while(counter < MAX_ITEMS){
cout << "Type add to create a new entry" << endl;
cout << "Type list to see all entries" << endl;
cout << "Type clear to delete all entries" << endl;
cout << "Type exit to terminate" << endl;
string command = "0";
getline (cin,command);
if(command=="add")
{
cout << "Enter name" << endl;
getline (cin, IDarr[counter].name);
cout << "VIP? 1 for yes, 0 for no" << endl;
cin >> IDarr[counter].vip;
cout << "Enter score" << endl;
cin >> IDarr[counter].score;
cout << "Month of birth" << endl;
cin >> IDarr[counter].date.month;
cout << "Year of birth" << endl;
cin >> IDarr[counter].date.year;
counter++;
}
else if(command=="list")
{
for (int i=0; i<counter; i++)
{
int n=i+1;
cout << n << " " << IDarr[i].name << " ";
if (IDarr[i].vip)
{
cout << "VIP ";
}
cout
<< "Score: " << IDarr[i].score << " "
<< "Born: " << IDarr[i].date.month << "/" << IDarr[i].date.year << endl;
}
}
else if(command=="clear")
{
counter = 0;
cout << "Entries cleared" << endl;
}
else if(command=="exit")
{
// Don't use return 0;
// Just break out of the while loop so that memory
// can be deallocated at the end of this function.
break;
}
else
cout << "try again" << endl;
}
delete [] IDarr;
return 0;
}

Answer 3

Array indices start at 0.
ptrarr[counter][1] refers to the second element of ptrarr[counter]. ptrarr[counter] points to an array of one element.

Answer 4

try this :
if(command=="add") {
cout << "Enter name" << endl;
getline (cin,ptrarr[counter][0].name);
cout << "VIP? 1 for yes, 0 for no" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][0].vip;
cout << "Enter score" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][0].score;
cout << "Month of birth" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][0].date.month;
cout << "Year of birth" << endl;
cin >> ptrarr[counter][0].date.year;
counter++;
}
else if(command=="list") {
for (int i=0; i<counter; i++){
int n=i+1;
cout << n << " "<< ptrarr[i][0].name << " ";
if (ptrarr[i][0].vip){
cout << "VIP ";
}
cout << "Score: " << ptrarr[i][0].score << " "
<< "Born: " << ptrarr[i][0].date.month << "/" << ptrarr[i][0].date.year << endl;
}
}
Conclusion :
Just as you initialized counter with 0 you should have used 0 index to access the first element;
Same goes while listing.
Arrays are 0 index based.