changing private variable in the same class? - c++

I am working on an c++ hw assignment so I will try not to post too much code as possible, what we are working on is as following: we have a class that include a public swap function (along with insert and delete functions and such) and a private struct array to store the data.
something like:
Class set
public:
set(int dimension);
insert();
delete();
swap(set& swapset);
private:
struct *set;
now in the main we have set s1 and set s2, when I run swap like so: s1.swap(s2); s1 and s2 will swap the whole array and we need to keep the dimension of each array (so if s1 was set=new set[3] and s2 is set=new set[5]) after swap s1 is [5] and s2 is [3]
I was able to use insert and delete functions to swap the arrays when it was fixed dimension but I can't figure out how to change the dimension of the arrays during the swap function since the *set is private right?
thanks in advance for all the help!
edit: I added some parts of the code since I can't explain it correctly:
set::set()
:counter(0),m_size(0),flag(0)
{
m_set=new set[DEFAULT_MAX_ITEMS];
swapper=new set[DEFAULT_MAX_ITEMS];
maxsize=DEFAULT_MAX_ITEMS;
}
set::set(int x)
:counter(0),m_size(0),flag(0)
{
m_set=new set[x];
swapper=new set[x];
maxsize=x;
}
void set::swap(set& other)
{
// Exchange the contents of this set with the other one.
int tempmaxsize=maxsize;
int tempcounter=counter;
int tempmsize=m_size;
swapper=m_set;
m_set=other.m_set;
other.m_set=swapper;
m_size=other.m_size;
counter=other.counter;
maxsize=other.maxsize;
other.counter=tempcounter;
other.m_size=tempmsize;
other.maxsize=tempmaxsize;
}
private:
struct set
{
ItemType entry;
int count;
};
int maxsize;
set* m_set;
int m_size;
int counter;
int flag;
set* swapper;
error code is this:
debug assertion failed!
expression:_block_type_is_valid(phead->nblockuse)

Actually changing array sizes should be part of the swap function and so should be done in a class method. As it is a class method, it has access to private members.

Related

Declare size of a vector inside class

I am trying to declare the size of a vector inside a class. I want the vector size equal to another attribute of this same class. Vector "table" is inside the class Hashtable. "bucket_count" is the intended size for the vector "table". the error given is "member is not a type name". Please let me know what another way I can declare the size of a vector inside the class. If not, then what is the way out? Thanks.
Please refer to the code below.
class HashTable {
public:
int bucket_count;
vector<list<string>> table(bucket_count);
//bool isEmpty(list<string> &cell) const;
int hashFunction(const string& s);
void insertItem(string value);
void removeItem(string value);
bool searchTable(string s);
void printTable();
void processQueries();
void processQuery(const Query& query);
};
I tried making a constructor which worked for me, but I am not sure why it worked.
Here is my code:
HashTable::HashTable(int bc)
: bucket_count(bc)
, table(bucket_count)
{}
In this, the bucket_count is initialized to bc in this constructor which is agreeable. But by that logic table should be initialized to bc. But that is not what happened. Instead the size of table vector got initialized (which is what I wanted).
If anyone could explain, why the constructor initialization worked this way it would be of great help.
The easiest solution would be
vector<list<string>> table{(size_t)bucket_count};
This depends largely on how, where and when you set the actual value of bucket_count. For example, you could set the size of the table vector in the initializer list of your class constructor. The following code lets you do this by setting the size in the constructor call, either by passing a size explicitly when you construct a class object, or by using a default value (42 in the code I've shown):
class HashTable {
public:
int bucket_count;
vector<list<string>> table;
HashTable(int bc = 42) : bucket_count(bc), table(bucket_count) { }
//...
Alternatively, if bucket_size is to remain constant and universal, you could make it a static constexpr member:
class HashTable {
public:
static constexpr auto bucket_count = 42;
vector<list<string>> table;
HashTable() : table(bucket_count) { }
//...

Save reference to void pointer in a vector during loop iteration

Guys I have a function like this (this is given and should not be modified).
void readData(int &ID, void*&data, bool &mybool) {
if(mybool)
{
std::string a = "bla";
std::string* ptrToString = &a;
data = ptrToString;
}
else
{
int b = 9;
int* ptrToint = &b;
data = ptrToint;
}
}
So I want to use this function in a loop and save the returned function parameters in a vector (for each iteration).
To do so, I wrote the following struct:
template<typename T>
struct dataStruct {
int id;
T** data; //I first has void** data, but would not be better to
// have the type? instead of converting myData back
// to void* ?
bool mybool;
};
my main.cpp then look like this:
int main()
{
void* myData = nullptr;
std::vector<dataStruct> vec; // this line also doesn't compile. it need the typename
bool bb = false;
for(int id = 1 ; id < 5; id++) {
if (id%2) { bb = true; }
readData(id, myData, bb); //after this line myData point to a string
vec.push_back(id, &myData<?>); //how can I set the template param to be the type myData point to?
}
}
Or is there a better way to do that without template? I used c++11 (I can't use c++14)
The function that you say cannot be modified, i.e. readData() is the one that should alert you!
It causes Undefined Behavior, since the pointers are set to local variables, which means that when the function terminates, then these pointers will be dangling pointers.
Let us leave aside the shenanigans of the readData function for now under the assumption that it was just for the sake of the example (and does not produce UB in your real use case).
You cannot directly store values with different (static) types in a std::vector. Notably, dataStruct<int> and dataStruct<std::string> are completely unrelated types, you cannot store them in the same vector as-is.
Your problem boils down to "I have data that is given to me in a type-unsafe manner and want to eventually get type-safe access to it". The solution to this is to create a data structure that your type-unsafe data is parsed into. For example, it seems that you inteded for your example data to have structure in the sense that there are pairs of int and std::string (note that your id%2 is not doing that because the else is missing and the bool is never set to false again, but I guess you wanted it to alternate).
So let's turn that bunch of void* into structured data:
std::pair<int, std::string> readPair(int pairIndex)
{
void* ptr;
std::pair<int, std::string> ret;
// Copying data here.
readData(2 * pairIndex + 1, ptr, false);
ret.first = *reinterpret_cast<int*>(ptr);
readData(2 * pairIndex + 2, ptr, true);
ret.second = *reinterpret_cast<std::string*>(ptr);
}
void main()
{
std::vector<std::pair<int, std::string>> parsedData;
parsedData.push_back(readPair(0));
parsedData.push_back(readPair(1));
}
Demo
(I removed the references from the readData() signature for brevity - you get the same effect by storing the temporary expressions in variables.)
Generally speaking: Whatever relation between id and the expected data type is should just be turned into the data structure - otherwise you can only reason about the type of your data entries when you know both the current ID and this relation, which is exactly something you should encapsulate in a data structure.
Your readData isn't a useful function. Any attempt at using what it produces gives undefined behavior.
Yes, it's possible to do roughly what you're asking for without a template. To do it meaningfully, you have a couple of choices. The "old school" way would be to store the data in a tagged union:
struct tagged_data {
enum { T_INT, T_STR } tag;
union {
int x;
char *y;
} data;
};
This lets you store either a string or an int, and you set the tag to tell you which one a particular tagged_data item contains. Then (crucially) when you store a string into it, you dynamically allocate the data it points at, so it will remain valid until you explicitly free the data.
Unfortunately, (at least if memory serves) C++11 doesn't support storing non-POD types in a union, so if you went this route, you'd have to use a char * as above, not an actual std::string.
One way to remove (most of) those limitations is to use an inheritance-based model:
class Data {
public:
virtual ~Data() { }
};
class StringData : public Data {
std::string content;
public:
StringData(std::string const &init) : content(init) {}
};
class IntData : public Data {
int content;
public:
IntData(std::string const &init) : content(init) {}
};
This is somewhat incomplete, but I think probably enough to give the general idea--you'd have an array (or vector) of pointers to the base class. To insert data, you'd create a StringData or IntData object (allocating it dynamically) and then store its address into the collection of Data *. When you need to get one back, you use dynamic_cast (among other things) to figure out which one it started as, and get back to that type safely. All somewhat ugly, but it does work.
Even with C++11, you can use a template-based solution. For example, Boost::variant, can do this job quite nicely. This will provide an overloaded constructor and value semantics, so you could do something like:
boost::variant<int, std::string> some_object("input string");
In other words, it's pretty what you'd get if you spent the time and effort necessary to finish the inheritance-based code outlined above--except that it's dramatically cleaner, since it gets rid of the requirement to store a pointer to the base class, use dynamic_cast to retrieve an object of the correct type, and so on. In short, it's the right solution to the problem (until/unless you can upgrade to a newer compiler, and use std::variant instead).
Apart from the problem in given code described in comments/replies.
I am trying to answer your question
vec.push_back(id, &myData<?>); //how can I set the template param to be the type myData point to?
Before that you need to modify vec definition as following
vector<dataStruct<void>> vec;
Now you can simple push element in vector
vec.push_back({id, &mydata, bb});
i have tried to modify your code so that it can work
#include<iostream>
#include<vector>
using namespace std;
template<typename T>
struct dataStruct
{
int id;
T** data;
bool mybool;
};
void readData(int &ID, void*& data, bool& mybool)
{
if (mybool)
{
data = new string("bla");
}
else
{
int b = 0;
data = &b;
}
}
int main ()
{
void* mydata = nullptr;
vector<dataStruct<void>> vec;
bool bb = false;
for (int id = 0; id < 5; id++)
{
if (id%2) bb = true;
readData(id, mydata, bb);
vec.push_back({id, &mydata, bb});
}
}

passing an array into a class function from another class's constructor

Sorry for the confusing title, basically I have created two classes, one is an object, and the other being a box that contains an array of such objects. so what I want to do is create a function/constructor inside the object class that takes in an array of ints and stores them inside the box. I want to be able to call this function through the box class constructor to initialize these objects. So ive tried something like below but it isnt working at all, since only the first value of the array gets passed through. What am I doing wrong?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
class object{
string objectName;
int values[];
public:
void createObject(int[]);
}
class Box{
object objects[100];
public:
Box();
}
Box::Box (void){
int array1[2];
int array2[15];
object[1].createObject(array1);
object[2].createObject(array2);
}
Object::Object(int Values[]){
values = Values;
}
You should really use std::vector. The problem with arrays is that they decay to pointers when passed as arguments to functions. As a consequence, If you want to store a private copy of the elements you are forced to use heap-allocated objects and consequently do memory management by hand (with all the pain it causes).
It is much better to rely on data members that permit applying the rule of zero.
Here's a tentative solution:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
class object {
public:
object(std::vector<int> const& v, std::string const& object_name): v_(v.begin(), v.end()), object_name_(object_name) {}
private:
std::vector<int> v_;
std::string object_name_;
};
class box {
public:
box(std::vector<object> const& objects): objects_(objects) {};
private:
std::vector<object> objects_;
};
I recommend you instead use a std::vector. Arrays don't really work well being passed to functions. When you define Object::Object(int Values[]) you are simply passing the first element of this array by value. If you were to use vectors, the function would look like this:
Object::Object(std::vector<int> &Values):
values(Values)
{
}
The problem with the code is in your thinking on what the array is. In C++, all an array is, is a memory pointer. The language allows you to pass an index into the array pointer to access whatever chunk of data lives at that index.
Whenever you pass arrays between functions or classes, pass the array name only. It will be interpreted as a pointer, and won't copy any data. When you do this, you must also pass the length of the array.
Granted, most people stick with vector<> because it's easier, takes care of memory leaks (mostly) and is VERY efficient. But I like doing it myself. It's good for you. I would try:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
class Object
{
string _objectName;
int *_values;
int _myLength;
Object();
~Object();
void createObject(int *pValues, int arrLength);
}
class Box
{
_Object objects[100];
Box();
}
Box::Box(void) {
int array1[2];
int array2[15];
object[1].createObject(array1, 2);
object[2].createObject(array2, 15);
}
Object::Object() {
_values = null_ptr;
_myLength = 0;
}
Object::~Object() {
delete[] _values;
}
void Object::createObject(int *pvalues, int arrLength) {
_myLength = arrLength;
_values = new int[_myLength];
for(int ndx=0; ndx<arrLength; ndx++) {
_values[ndx] = pvalues[ndx];
}
}
-CAUTION-
I just adapted your code you provided, and added some conventions. There are a couple places in the code where I'm not sure what the purpose is, but there you go. This should give you a good head start.

Calling virtual method of a derived class causes segfaults

I'm trying to make a chess program, but I want to be able to implement different AIs in it. Thus I made a abstract AIgeneric class and the derived class AIrandom off of AIgeneric. Then in my chessAI interface, I create a list of the the AIs, and try to call their getNextMove function and run into a segfault. The code is as below:
class AIgeneric {
public:
virtual int getNextMove(int*, const int &) = 0;
}
class AIrandom : public AIgeneric {
public:
AIrandom();
virtual int getNextMove(int*, const int &);
}
class chessAI {
public:
chessAI();
~chessAI();
void setAI();
int getNextMove(int*, const int &);
private:
vector<AIgeneric*> AIlist;
vector<string> names;
int selectedAI;
};
chessAI::chessAI () {
AIrandom randomAI;
AIlist.push_back(&randomAI);
names.push_back("Random AI");
selectedAI = -1;
}
int chessAI::getNextMove(int * board, const int & color) {
return AIlist[selectedAI]->getNextMove(board, color); //segfault on this line
}
It'd be great if anyone could help me on this problem!
Edit: I do set selectedAI to 0 before calling getNextMove.
In this code:
chessAI::chessAI () {
AIrandom randomAI;
AIlist.push_back(&randomAI);
names.push_back("Random AI");
selectedAI = -1;
}
You store a pointer to a local variable into your vector. After the constructor returns that pointer is no longer valid.
Remember that all local variables are stored on the stack, and the stack is reused in other functions. So when you use the pointer in the vector, it now points to some other functions memory and not the one object you declared.
This can be solved in three ways:
Allocate the object on the heap:
AIlist.push_back(new AIRandom);
Not using pointers at all.
Use smart pointers, such as std::unique_ptr.
You call selectedAI = -1; and then AIlist[selectedAI]->.... What do you expect AIlist[-1] to be, other than undefined behavior?
I expect this is because AIlist[selectedAI] is out of bounds. You can confirm this by replacing it with AIlist.at(selectedAI). Keep in mind that this index is -1 immediately after the constructor...

How to return an array of structs from a class in a getter function

I have a relatively simple question but I cant seem to find an answer specific for my case and I just may not be approaching this problem the right way. I have a class that looks like this:
struct tileProperties
{
int x;
int y;
};
class LoadMap
{
private:
ALLEGRO_BITMAP *mapToLoad[10][10];
tileProperties *individualMapTile[100];
public:
//Get the struct of tile properties
tileProperties *getMapTiles();
};
I have an implementation that looks like this for the getter function:
tileProperties *LoadMap::getMapTiles()
{
return individualMapTile[0];
}
I have code in the LoadMap class that will assign 100 tile properties for each struct in the array. I want to be able to access this array of structs in my main.cpp file but I just cant seem to find the right syntax or approach. My main.cpp looks like this.
struct TestStruct
{
int x;
int y;
};
int main()
{
LoadMap _loadMap;
TestStruct *_testStruct[100];
//This assignment will not work, is there
//a better way?
_testStruct = _loadMap.getMapTiles();
return 0;
}
I realize that there are many approaches to this, but I'm trying to keep this implementation as private as possible. If someone could please point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
TestStruct *_testStruct;
_testStruct = _loadMap.getMapTiles();
This will get you a pointer to the first element in the array returned. You can then iterate through the other 99.
I would highly recommend using vectors, or another container, and writing getters that don't return pointers to bare arrays like that.
First of all, here, why do we need TestStruct, you can use "tileProperties" structure itself...
And imp thing,
tileProperties *individualMapTile[100]; is array of pointers to the structure.
Hence, individualMapTile will have pointers in it.
You have returned the first pointer, hence you can access the first structure only. What about the others????
tileProperties** LoadMap::getMapTiles()
{
return individualMapTile;
}
int main()
{
LoadMap _loadMap;
tileProperties **_tileProperties;
_tileProperties = _loadMap.getMapTiles();
for (int i=0; i<100;i++)
{
printf("\n%d", (**_tileProperties).x);
_tileProperties;
}
return 0;
}
Use vectors instead of arrays where possible. Also consider an array/vector of TestStruct directly rather than pointers to them. I can't tell if that would be appropriate for you from your code sample.
class LoadMap
{
public:
typedef vector<tileProperties *> MapTileContainer;
LoadMap()
: individualMapTile(100) // size 100
{
// populate vector..
}
//Get the struct of tile properties
const MapTileContainer& getMapTiles() const
{
return individualMapTile;
}
MapTileContainer& getMapTiles()
{
return individualMapTile;
}
private:
MapTileContainer individualMapTile;
};
int main()
{
LoadMap _loadMap;
LoadMap::MapTileContainer& _testStruct = _loadMap.getMapTiles();
}