Recursive Search Not Working - c++

Question

I have been building binary tree in C++. I tried to add search element functionality via recursive method.
It's not working properly.
Please see below code and guide.
bool Binarytree::SearchElement(node* SearchPtr,int key,bool found) {
if(SearchPtr->data==key)
found=true;
if(SearchPtr==NULL || found==true)
return found;
else
{
if(SearchPtr->data>key)
{ cout<<endl<<"Seaching in Left Sub tree"<<endl;
SearchElement(SearchPtr->left,key,found);
}
else
{ cout<<endl<<"Seaching in right Sub tree"<<endl;
SearchElement(SearchPtr->right,key,found);
}
}
}
The function SearchElement is called as below: (Note value 1 is not present in tree)
if(SearchElement(root,1,false))
cout<<endl<<"Element Found"<<endl;
else
cout<<endl<<"Element not Found"<<endl;

Answer 1

You're not returning anything. Once you've found NULL you need to return false. And if you've found the element you need to return true. Once you've known whether the element is present or not, you need to return for all the recursive calls. Check the code below.
Note: You've mentioned binary tree and searched like a binary search tree. Considering it is a binary search tree, it will be like this:
bool Binarytree::SearchElement(node* SearchPtr,int key) {
if(SearchPtr->data==key)
return true;
if(SearchPtr==NULL)
return false;
if(SearchPtr->data < key) //not greater than, but less than
{ cout<<endl<<"Seaching in Left Sub tree"<<endl;
return SearchElement(SearchPtr->left,key);
}
else
{ cout<<endl<<"Seaching in right Sub tree"<<endl;
return SearchElement(SearchPtr->right,key);
}
}
If it is binary tree, you'll have to traverse the whole tree to find whether the element is present or not. Like this:
bool Binarytree::SearchElement(node* SearchPtr,int key) {
if (SearchPtr==NULL)
return false;
if(SearchPtr->data==key)
return true;
if (SearchElement(SearchPtr->left,key))
return true;
if (SearchElement(SearchPtr->right,key))
return true;
return false;
}