Writing information in a structure to a file - c++

Alright so i have these two structures, Im sending them down to a function to be saved to a txt file.
struct Cost
{
double hours;
double cost;
double costFood;
double costSupplies;
};
struct Creatures
{
char name[50];
char description[200];
double length;
double height;
char location[100];
bool dangerous;
Cost management;
};
This is the part of the function im confused on, i don't know how to take each line of this structure and write it to the file. Can someone explain to me how to do this?
file.open(fileName, ios::out);
if (!file)
{
cout << fileName << " could not be opened." << endl << endl;
}
else
{
fileName << c.name
<< c.description
<< c.lenght
<< c.height
<< c.location
<< c.dangerious
<< c.management.hours
<< c.management.cost
<< c.management.costFood
<< c.management.costSupplies;
file.close();
cout << "Your creatures where successfully save to the " << fileName << " file." << endl << endl
<< "GOODBYE!" << endl << endl;
}
}

If you want a solution like what you wrote in your question all you need to do is put and end line after each attribute you write out.
fileName << c.name << std::endl
<< c.description << std::endl
...
As long as the information you were trying to output is all that is going in the file this should work.
Then you can read them back in in the order you wrote them. Just be careful when reading back in strings which might have spaces in them.

You need to write the overloaded operator << for your defined classes Cost and Creatures.
class Cost {
public:
friend std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& o, const Cost& c);
// ...
private:
// data member of Cost class
};
std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& o, const Cost& c)
{
return o << c.hours<<"\t"<<c.cost<<"\t"<<c.costFood<<"\t"<<c.costSupplies<<std""endl;
}
Now you can use it as follows:
Cost c;
std::cout<<c<<"\n";
For detailed information about this concept, you can refer the ISOCPP FAQ link on this
http://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/input-output#output-operator

Related

How do I go about printing a vector of objects?

I'm guessing I might have to use pointers, but haven't gone in depth too much on them in class yet to try and implement them in my program. I have this so far, the printing function is towards the middle of the program. I'm not quite sure on how to print out the elements from the vector as my approach didn't work.
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
class rolodex
{
string name;
string street, town, state;
string zip;
string phone;
vector <rolodex> entries;
public:
rolodex();
void getmenu();
void add_entry();
void set_name();
void set_address();
void set_phone();
void printinfo();
};
rolodex :: rolodex() : name(""), street(""), town(""), state(""), zip(""),
phone(""), entries()
{
}
void rolodex :: getmenu()
{
cout << "\n\n1)Add Entry";
cout << "\n5)Print All Entries";
cout << "\n6)Exit" << endl;
}
void rolodex :: add_entry()
{
rolodex temp;
cout << "\n\nEnter Name: ";
temp.set_name();
temp.set_address();
cout << "\n\nEnter Your Phone Number: ";
temp.set_phone();
entries.push_back(temp);
}
void rolodex :: set_name()
{
cin.ignore();
getline(cin, name);
}
void rolodex :: set_address()
{
cout << "\n\nNow we'll enter address information.";
cout << "\n\nStreet: ";
getline(cin, street);
cout << "\n\nTown: ";
getline(cin, town);
cout << "\n\nState: ";
getline(cin, state);
cout << "\n\nZip: ";
getline(cin, zip);
}
void rolodex :: set_phone()
{
getline(cin, phone);
}
void rolodex :: printinfo()
{
for(unsigned int i = 0; i < entries.size(); i++)
{
cout << entries[i] << endl; //This is where I'm stuck since I've only
//worked with vectors of non-object data
//type
}
}
int main()
{
rolodex person, menu;
short choice;
bool done = false;
do
{
menu.getmenu();
cout << "\n\nEnter a choice: ";
cin >> choice;
switch(choice)
{
case 1:
person.add_entry();
break;
case 5:
person.printinfo();
break;
case 6:
done = true;
break;
default:
cout << "\n\nInvalid Entry." << endl << endl;
}
} while(!done && isdigit(choice));
return 0;
}
πάντα ῥεῖ is right, but to add a little more detail...
You need to specify how you want the stream to handle your object. This is done by by adding a << operator. For example:
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& s, const rolodex& r){
// Or however you want to format it.
s << "Name: " << r.name << " : ";
s << "Street: " << r.street << " : ";
s << "Town: " << r.town << " : ";
s << "State: " << r.state << " : ";
s << "Zip: " << r.zip << "\n";
}
Unfortunately, the function above tries to access the private fields of your class, which it can't because it is not part of the class definition.
An easy way to address that is to declare this function a "friend" inside of the class definition, like such:
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream&, const rolodex&);
...And since you might appreciate it, one big copy-pasteable chunk that you can use directly that should make your function work:
class rolodex
{
string name;
string street, town, state;
string zip;
string phone;
vector <rolodex> entries;
public:
rolodex();
void getmenu();
void add_entry();
void set_name();
void set_address();
void set_phone();
void printinfo();
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream&, const rolodex&);
};
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& s, const rolodex& r){
// Or however you want to format it.
s << "Name: " << r.name << " : ";
s << "Street: " << r.street << " : ";
s << "Town: " << r.town << " : ";
s << "State: " << r.state << " : ";
s << "Zip: " << r.zip << "\n";
}
Following up on πάντα ῥεῖ's suggestion, here's one way of doing that, changing your design as little as possible:
1) Create a non-member overloaded operator<< for your rolodex class:
std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& os, const rolodex& rol)
{
os << rol.name << ":" << std::endl
<< "\t" << rol.street << std::endl
<< "\t" << rol.town << std::endl
<< "\t" << rol.state << std::endl
<< "\t" << rol.zip << std::endl
<< "\t" << rol.phone << std::endl;
return os;
}
.. but the compiler will chide you for attempting to access private members (by default, members are private) from outside the class, so you would have to relax the rules a bit:
class rolodex
{
...
public:
...
friend std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& os, const rolodex& rol);
};
You can't have the operator<< inside the class itself, see does-overloading-operator-works-inside-the-class.
However, it is almost always better design to add getter functions to your public interface anyway. You would have get_name() etc in the public: section of your class def, those functions would initially just return the values of the private member variables, and then your operator<< can use them instead of trying to access the private members. You then no longer require the friend declaration.
I upvoted Some programmer dude's remark about your design
The code for letting the use input the data really shouldn't be inside the rolodex class, because it makes the class hard to reuse. Image wanting to re-use the rolodex from a graphical interface, for example, and it's not such a good idea to have the rolodex contain instances of itself inside the vector.
I would suggest a
1) Person class containing all the person's attributes, with public getters get_name() and setters set_name() that don't use a specific entry method, just take the data as arguments e.g. set_name(std::string& name).
2) an non-member operator<< to output a person to an output stream
3) a Rolodex class with a private std::vector<Person> and methods to add a person, write all the persons to an output stream, etc..
Good luck & enjoy :-)
Edit: the menu structure on the terminal should IMHO be left inside the main() function or encapsulated into another class. But certainly don't leave it in Rolodex or worse, Person.

operator << of enum type uses the overloaded operator or not?

I hope this time my question is better formulated and formatted.
Here's the code that produces two separate outputs when I think it should not since I use everytime (I think) the overloaded operator<< for an enum type.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
enum Etat { Intact = 5 };
class Ship {
public:
Etat etat_;
Ship ( Etat t = Intact) : etat_(t) {}
~ Ship() {}
ostream& description ( ) const { return cout << "Etat: " << etat_ << " --- ";}
//---------------------------------------ˆˆˆˆ----
};
ostream& operator<< ( ostream& s, const Etat& etat_ )
{
switch ( etat_ )
{
case Intact: s << "intact"; break;
default: s << "unknown state";
}
return s;
}
ostream& operator<< ( ostream& s, Ship n ) { return s << "Etat: " << n.etat_ ; }
int main()
{
Etat etat_ = Intact;
cout << endl << endl << "Etat: "
<< etat_ << " \"cout << etat_\"" << endl << endl;
cout << Ship(etat_)
<< " \"cout << Ship(etat_)\"" << endl << endl;
cout << Ship(etat_).description()
<< " \"cout << Ship(etat_).description()\"" << endl << endl;
return 0;
}
This is what I get in the terminal:
Etat: intact "cout << etat_"
Etat: intact "cout << Ship(etat_)"
Etat: 5 --- 1 "cout << Ship(etat_).description()"
Can anyone explain to me why, in the last case, not only it takes the integer value of the enum attribut, but also adds a "1" after the test string " --- "???
The only thing I can think of is because I used an unorthodox return method in description(), ie 'return cout << ..", but it seems to work since the test string appears.
Is there a way to force the use of the operator<< overload in description()?
Thanks
In the description() function you are returning a reference to std::cout and use it in the std::cout call in main function. There is a reason why operator<< takes an ostream reference as it's first argument. You should modify your function like this and all should work:
ostream& description(ostream& os) const {
return os << "Etat: " << etat_ << " --- ";
}
The random "1" printed out there is caused likely due to the ostream in your example trying to print out reference to itself.

Writing void into a file with c++

i have the following code
void print(int & a, double & b, string & c)
{
cout << setprecision(2) << fixed;
const double GPA = a/b;
if(c == "Y")
{
cout << "\n\nTotal number of credit hours: " << a << endl;
}
else
{
cout << "\n*** Grades are being held for not paying the tuition. ***"
}
}
How can I write the cout in print(int, double, string) into a text file without tampering with print(int, double, string);? I tried something like this
ofstream file;
file.open("file.txt");
file << print(a,b,c);
file.close();
cout << "file created" << endl;
but this doesn't compile. Why not, and how do I fix it?
The way you've written it, your print() function is not capable of outputting to any given stream. This is because it hard-codes the stream that it writes to as cout.
If you want it to be able to write to any given stream, you have to parameterize the stream as another function parameter. For (1) convenience and (2) compatibility with existing code that assumes print() only takes three arguments and writes to cout, you can make the new parameter optional by defaulting it to cout:
void print(int& a, double& b, string& c, ofstream& os=cout) {
os << setprecision(2) << fixed;
const double GPA = a/b;
if (c == "Y") {
os << "\n\nTotal number of credit hours: " << a << endl;
} else {
os << "\n*** Grades are being held for not paying the tuition. ***";
}
}
Then you can call it as follows:
print(a,b,c,file);
The reason why your code doesn't compile is that you cannot pass void as a function argument or operator operand. When a function is declared as returning void, that means it does not return anything at all. There is no data returned by print() to stream to the ofstream. The streaming takes place inside the function, so it is only there that you can select the stream to which the output will be written.
bgoldst's answer solves the problem as asked, but I recommend a completely different solution. Stick your data in a class that has operator<< overloaded.
struct class_results {
int credits;
double GP_total;
bool tuition_paid;
};
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& out, const class_results& c) {
if (c.tuition_paid) {
const double GPA = c.credits/c.GP_total;
out << "Total number of credit hours: ";
out << setprecision(2) << fixed << c.credits<< '\n';
} else
out << "\n*** Grades are being held for not paying the tuition. ***"
return out;
}
Then usage is slightly more normal:
class_results results = {num_credits,GPTottal,tuition};
ofstream file;
file.open("file.txt");
file << results;
file.close();
cout << "file created" << endl;
How can I write the cout in print(int, double, string) into a text file without tampering with print(int, double, string);?
You can't.
The function print is broken and you can't do what you want without fixing it.

Data doesn't load into c++ vector correctly

I am trying to load a text file and import the contents into a vector of structs.
Here are my definitions
typedef struct
{
string pcName, pcUsername, pcPassword, pcMessage, pcAdvertisement; //I know that
//this is incorrect convention. It was originally a char*
}
ENTRY;
vector<ENTRY> entries;
fstream data;
Here is my display data function
void DisplayData()
{
std::cout << (int)(entries.size() / 5) <<" entries" << endl;
for(int i = 1; i <=(int)entries.size()/5; i++)
{
cout << endl << "Entry " << i << ":" << endl
<< "Name: " << entries[i].pcName << endl
<< "Username: " << entries[i].pcUsername << endl
<< "Password: " << entries[i].pcPassword << endl
<< "Message: " << entries[i].pcMessage << endl
<< "Advertisement: " << entries[i].pcAdvertisement << endl;
}
}
and here is my Load Data function
bool LoadData(const char* filepath)
{
std::string lineData ;
int linenumber = 1 ;
data.open(filepath, ios::in);
ENTRY entry_temp;
if(!data.is_open())
{
cerr << "Error loading file" << endl;
return false;
}
while(getline(data, lineData))
{
if(linenumber==1) {entry_temp.pcName = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==2) {entry_temp.pcUsername = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==3) {entry_temp.pcPassword = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==4) {entry_temp.pcMessage = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==5) {entry_temp.pcAdvertisement = lineData;}
entries.push_back(entry_temp);
if(linenumber == 5)
{
linenumber = 0;
}
linenumber++;
}
data.close();
puts("Database Loaded");
return true;
}
Here is the text file I am loading:
Name1
Username1
Password1
Message1
Ad1
And here is the result of the display data function after calling load data:
1 entries
Entry 1:
Name: Name1
Username Username1
Password:
Message:
Advertisement:
As you can see, the first two load but the last three don't. When I did this with an array instead of a vector, it worked fine so I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks.
I suggest that you read each line directly into the data field where it goes:
getline(data, entry_temp.pcName);
getline(data, entry_temp.pcUsername);
getline(data, entry_temp.pcPassword);
getline(data, entry_temp.pcMessage);
getline(data, entry_temp.pcAdvertisement);
entries.push_back(entry_temp);
This makes your intent much clearer than your current while loop. It also creates a single entry for all 4 input lines rather than one for each input line (with the other three blank). Now you can read several "entries" by using a while loop that checks if you have reached the end of the file.
Doing this will also make printing out the data much easier since the vector will have exactly the number of entries rather than five times as many as you expect (which also eats up a lot more memory than you need to).
Your DisplayData function is a little weird, and so is your LoadData.
Your LoadData pushes back a new copy of the current ENTRIES entry with every line. Your DisplayData starts at 1 (which is not the beginning of any vector or array), and iterates only up to the 1/5th entry of the entire vector.
This needs a heavy rework.
First, the size() member of any standard container returns the number of elements that it contains, and will not take the number of fields in a contained struct into account.
For future reference, you'll want to post your question in a complete, standalone example that we can immediately compile to help. (see http://sscce.org/)
Try this modified data, which runs correctly, and see if you can tell what is being done differently:
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
typedef struct
{
string pcName, pcUsername, pcPassword, pcMessage, pcAdvertisement;
}
ENTRY;
vector<ENTRY> entries;
fstream data;
bool LoadData(const char* filepath)
{
std::string lineData ;
int linenumber = 1 ;
data.open(filepath, ios::in);
ENTRY entry_temp;
if(!data.is_open())
{
cerr << "Error loading file" << endl;
return false;
}
while(getline(data, lineData))
{
if(linenumber==1) {entry_temp.pcName = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==2) {entry_temp.pcUsername = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==3) {entry_temp.pcPassword = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==4) {entry_temp.pcMessage = lineData;}
else if(linenumber==5) {entry_temp.pcAdvertisement = lineData;}
if(linenumber == 5)
{
entries.push_back(entry_temp);
linenumber = 0;
}
linenumber++;
}
data.close();
puts("Database Loaded");
return true;
}
void DisplayData()
{
std::cout << entries.size() <<" entries" << endl;
for(int i = 0; i < entries.size(); i++)
{
cout << endl << "Entry " << i << ":" << endl
<< "Name: " << entries[i].pcName << endl
<< "Username: " << entries[i].pcUsername << endl
<< "Password: " << entries[i].pcPassword << endl
<< "Message: " << entries[i].pcMessage << endl
<< "Advertisement: " << entries[i].pcAdvertisement << endl;
}
}
int main()
{
LoadData("/tmp/testdata");
DisplayData();
return (0);
}
While I think #code-guru has the right idea, I'd take the same idea just a little further, and make your code work a little more closely with the standard library. I'd do that by reading a data item with a stream extractor, and displaying it with stream inserter. So, the extractor would look something like this:
std::istream &operator>>(std::istream &is, ENTRY &e) {
getline(is, e.pcName);
getline(is, e.pcUsername);
getline(is, e.pcPassword);
getline(is, e.pcMessage);
getline(is, e.pcAdvertisement);
return is;
}
..and the inserter would look something like this:
std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, ENTRY const &e) {
os << e.pcName << "\n";
os << e.pcUsername << "\n";
os << e.pcPassword << "\n";
os << e.pcMessage << "\n";
os << e.pcAdvertisement << "\n";
return os;
}
With those in place, loading and displaying the data becomes fairly straightforward.
Load the data:
std::ifstream in("yourfile.txt");
std::vector<ENTRY> data((std::istream_iterator<ENTRY>(in)),
std::istream_iterator<ENTRY>());
Display the data:
for (auto const & e: data)
std::cout << e << "\n";
For the moment, I haven't tried to duplicate the format you were using to display the data -- presumably the modifications for that should be fairly obvious.

Creating a function in c++ to output to designated source

I want to have a function that outputs certain pieces of information to a specific designated source that is inputted to the function. In code, what I mean is:
function output( source ) {
source << "hello" << endl;
}
where source can be a ofstream or cout. So that I can call this function like so:
output(cout) or ofstream otp ("hello"); output(otp)
My question is, how do I characterize source to make this work? It's fair to assume that source will always be a member of the std class
Thanks!
void output(std::ostream &source) {
source << "hello" << std::endl;
}
or even:
template <T>
void output(T &source) {
source << "hello" << std::endl;
}
Write your function as:
std::ostream& output(std::ostream& source )
{
return source << "hello" << endl;
}
Then you can use it as:
output(cout);
//and
ofstream otp ("hello");
output(otp);
//and
output(output(cout));
output(output(output(cout)));
output(output(output(output(cout))));
//and even this:
output(output(output(output(cout)))) << "weird syntax" << "yes it is" ;
By the way, if the output function has many lines, then you can write it as:
std::ostream& output(std::ostream& source )
{
source << "hello" << endl;
source << "world" << endl;
//....
return source;
}
The point is that it should return source. In the earlier version, the function returns source.
You should pass an std::ostream& as argument
function output( source ) {
source << "hello" << endl;
}
If this is a member function, the point of which is to dump data about objects of the class of which it is a member, consider renaming it to operator<<. So, instead of
class Room {
...
// usage myRoom.output(otp)
void output(std::ostream& stream) {
stream << "[" << m_name << ", " << m_age << "]";
}
};
rather, try this:
class Room {
...
// usage opt << myRoom << "\n"
friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& stream, const Room& room) {
return stream << "[" << room.m_name << ", " << room.m_age << "]";
}
};
That way, you can display the state of your class using a more natural syntax:
std::cout << "My Room: " << myRoom << "\n";
instead of the klunky
std::cout << "My Room: ";
myRoom.output(std::cout);
std::cout << "\n";
IMHO, redirecting output should be done at the user level. Write your C++ like this:
cout << "hello" << endl;
And when executing the application, user can redirect the output to whatever he wants, say a file:
myapp > myfile