Object Specific ArrayList C++ Issue - c++

Question

I currently have a Person class, and have created a PersonList class that extends List, specifically for objects of type Person. When I instantiate a new PersonList I get one error that stops the entire build from happening successfully:
error C2678: binary '==' : no operator found which takes a left-hand operand of type 'Person' (or there is no acceptable conversion) c:\program files\microsoft visual studio 11.0\vc\include\xutility 3186 1 ConsoleApplication3
Here is the PersonList class:
#pragma once
#include<iostream>
#include<sstream>
#include<string>
#include<algorithm>
#include "linearList.h"
#include "myExceptions.h"
#include "changeLength1D.h"
#include <Person.h>
using namespace std;
template<class Person>
class PersonList: public linearList<Person>
{
public:
PersonList(int initialCapacity = 10);
PersonList(const PersonList<Person>&);
~PersonList() {delete [] element;}
bool empty() const {return listSize == 0;}
int size() const {return listSize;}
Person& get(int theIndex) const;
int indexOf(const Person& theElement) const;
void erase(int theIndex);
void insert(int theIndex, const Person& theElement);
void output(ostream& out) const;
// additional method
int capacity() const {return arrayLength;}
protected:
void checkIndex(int theIndex) const;
// throw illegalIndex if theIndex invalid
Person* element; // 1D array to hold list elements
int arrayLength; // capacity of the 1D array
int listSize; // number of elements in list
};
template<class Person>
PersonList<Person>::PersonList(int initialCapacity)
{// Constructor.
if (initialCapacity < 1)
{ostringstream s;
s << "Initial capacity = " << initialCapacity << " Must be > 0";
throw illegalParameterValue(s.str());
}
arrayLength = initialCapacity;
element = new Person[arrayLength];
listSize = 0;
}
template<class Person>
PersonList<Person>::PersonList(const PersonList<Person>& theList)
{// Copy constructor.
arrayLength = theList.arrayLength;
listSize = theList.listSize;
element = new Person[arrayLength];
copy(theList.element, theList.element + listSize, element);
}
template<class Person>
void PersonList<Person>::checkIndex(int theIndex) const
{// Verify that theIndex is between 0 and listSize - 1.
if (theIndex < 0 || theIndex >= listSize)
{ostringstream s;
s << "index = " << theIndex << " size = " << listSize;
throw illegalIndex(s.str());
}
}
template<class Person>
Person& PersonList<Person>::get(int theIndex) const
{// Return element whose index is theIndex.
// Throw illegalIndex exception if no such element.
checkIndex(theIndex);
return element[theIndex];
}
template<class Person>
int PersonList<Person>::indexOf(const Person& theElement) const
{// Return index of first occurrence of theElement.
// Return -1 if theElement not in list.
// search for theElement
int theIndex = (int) (find(element, element + listSize, theElement)
- element);
// check if theElement was found
if (theIndex == listSize)
// not found
return -1;
else return theIndex;
}
template<class Person>
void PersonList<Person>::erase(int theIndex)
{// Delete the element whose index is theIndex.
// Throw illegalIndex exception if no such element.
checkIndex(theIndex);
// valid index, shift elements with higher index
copy(element + theIndex + 1, element + listSize,
element + theIndex);
element[--listSize].~Person(); // invoke destructor
}
template<class Person>
void PersonList<Person>::insert(int theIndex, const Person& theElement)
{// Insert theElement so that its index is theIndex.
if (theIndex < 0 || theIndex > listSize)
{// invalid index
ostringstream s;
s << "index = " << theIndex << " size = " << listSize;
throw illegalIndex(s.str());
}
// valid index, make sure we have space
if (listSize == arrayLength)
{// no space, double capacity
changeLength1D(element, arrayLength, 2 * arrayLength);
arrayLength *= 2;
}
// shift elements right one position
copy_backward(element + theIndex, element + listSize,
element + listSize + 1);
element[theIndex] = theElement;
listSize++;
}
template<class Person>
void PersonList<Person>::output(ostream& out) const
{// Put the list into the stream out.
copy(element, element + listSize, ostream_iterator<Person>(cout, " "));
}
// overload <<
template <class Person>
ostream& operator<<(ostream& out, const PersonList<Person>& x)
{x.output(out); return out;}
The Person Class:
#pragma once
#include <string>
using namespace std;
class Person
{
public:
Person(string firstName, string lastName, string birthday, string hometown);
Person(void);
~Person(void);
string name;
string birthday;
string hometown;
};
The same thing happens in an arrayList class I tried using earlier. Is there a way to get it so I can simply store person objects in an ArrayList type structure?

Answer 1

Your function indexOf() contains a call to STL's std::find() algorithm, which internally performs comparisons between pairs of values to determine if the element passed as a third argument is contained in the range defined by the first two arguments.
To perform this comparison, std::find() uses the == operator. However, no operator == has been defined for objects of type Person.
In order to solve the problem, you must overload the comparison operator == for instances of Person. You can do it, for instance, this way:
class Person
{
...
public:
friend bool operator == (Person const& p1, Person const& p2)
{
// Perform the comparison and return "true" if the objects are equal
return (p1.name == p2.name) && ...
}
};