Order: An Analysis on Point Sorting - c++

Question

So I've made for myself a point printing class, that is supposed to have the user enter in 2-tuples; that is, x and y, that then prints them back to the user in ^order,^ where order means p1=(x,y)
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;
class Point2D {
public:
Point2D();
Point2D(double a, double b);
double getx();
double gety();
void setx(double a);
void sety(double b);
virtual void print();
virtual void print(int a);
double angle();
private:
double x;
double y;
};
bool operator<( Point2D a , Point2D b );
int main() {
double my_x=-999;
double my_y=-999;
string my_color;
double my_weight;
vector<Point2D*> points;
cout << "Welcome to Point Printer! Please insert the x-and y-coordinates for your points and I will print them in sorted order! Just one rule, the point (0,0) is reserved as the terminating point, so when you are done enter (0,0).\n";
while(true)
{
cout << "x = ";
cin>>my_x;
cout << "y = ";
cin>>my_y;
if((my_x == 0)&&(my_y==0))
{
break;
}
points.push_back(new Point2D(my_x, my_y));
}
sort(points.begin(), points.end());
cout << "\n\n";
cout << "Your points are\n\n";
for(int i=0;i<points.size();i++)
{
cout<<i+1<<": ";
(*points[i]).print(); cout<<endl; // this is the printing gadget
}
for(int i=0; i<points.size(); i++)
{
delete points[i];
}
cout << endl << endl;
return 0;
}
double Point2D::angle()
{
double Angle = atan2(y,x);
if(Angle < 0)
{
return Angle + 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679;
}
return Angle;
}
bool operator< (Point2D a, Point2D b)
{
if (a.getx()*a.getx()+a.gety()*a.gety() < b.getx()*b.getx()+b.gety()*b.gety())
{
return true;
}
else if (a.getx()*a.getx()+a.gety()*a.gety() > b.getx()*b.getx()+b.gety()*b.gety())
{
return false;
}
if (a.getx()*a.getx()+a.gety()*a.gety() ==b.getx()*b.getx()+b.gety()*b.gety())
{
if (a.angle() < b.angle())
{
return true;
}
else if (a.angle() > b.angle())
{
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
Point2D::Point2D() { x = 0; y = 0; return;}
Point2D::Point2D(double a, double b) { x = a; y = b; return;}
double Point2D::getx() { return x;}
double Point2D::gety() { return y;}
void Point2D::setx(double a) { x = a; return; }
void Point2D::sety(double b) { y = b; return; }
void Point2D::print() {
cout<<"("<<x<<","<<y<<")";
return;
}
void Point2D::print(int a) {
print(); cout<<endl;
}
What I'm having trouble with is either one of the following:
sort
angle()
operator<(Point2D a, Point2D b)
Something different entirely...
In particular, the following points:
x = 1
y = 2
x = 2
y = 3
x = 1.1
y = 2.2
x = -10
y = 10
x = -5
y = -3
x = -5
y = 3
x = 5
y = -3
x = 5
y = 3
x = 0
y = 0
are not sorted in the correct order.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

The problem (or one of them) is the final statement in your comparison function.
return true;
Look at this block:
if (a.getx()*a.getx()+a.gety()*a.gety() ==b.getx()*b.getx()+b.gety()*b.gety())
{
if (a.angle() < b.angle())
{
return true;
}
else if (a.angle() > b.angle())
{
return false;
}
}
First of all, if we've gotten to this point, we've determined that the (x*x + y*y) calculations for both a and b are equal. Now let's assume that the angle is also equal. What happens? The first test fails because a.angle() is not less than b.angle(). Then the second test fails because a.angle() is not greater than b.angle(). Then you return true. In other words, you're saying that it is true that a is less than b, even though by all rights, they should be considered equal, and so you should return false. Instead of multiple tests on the angle, you can just return a.angle() < b.angle();, and that should do the trick. With some additional simplifications, your function should look something like this:
bool operator<(Point2d a, Point2d b)
{
double A = a.getx()*a.getx()+a.gety()*a.gety();
double B = b.getx()*b.getx()+b.gety()*b.gety();
if (A < B) return true;
if (A > B) return false;
return a.angle() < b.angle();
}

Answer 2

The problem is probably that you are storing and sorting pointers, not objects. The points will be compared not with your operator but their addresses. Try change points to vector<Point2d>

Answer 3

First of all just use (if your are just planning to sort 2D points) :
(Edit : See Benjamin Lindley comments below.)
bool operator < ( Point2D a, Point2D b)
{
return a.getx() < b.getx() ||
(a.getx()==b.getx() && a.gety()< b.gety() );
}
Another thing if use use std::cout in operator < ( Point2D a, Point2D b), you will notice it won't be called anytime.
The reason is this:
vector<Point2D*> points; // Vector of Point2D*
but bool operator< (Point2D a, Point2D b) is used for comparision.
Suggested Fixes:
vector<Point2D> points;
points.push_back(Point2D(my_x, my_y));
And accordingly, wherever applicable.
Also you can't define anything like
bool operator<(const Point2D* a, const Point2D* b)
Because of this:
C++03 standard, §13.5 [over.oper] p6:
An operator function shall either be a non-static member function or
be a non-member function and have at least one parameter whose type is
a class, a reference to a class, an enumeration, or a reference to an
enumeration.