Send to class char array defined in header - c++

Question

The issue that I am having is that I am trying to build a DLL. And I am using char instead of strings to store information.
I have defined the following in the header file:
class Test{
public:
int qLenght;
char firstName[];
char surName[];
};
I am having problems inputting codes from the main program using the following:
int main()
{
Test theTest;
theTest.firstName[0] = {"Mike Smith","Jonny Vegas","Jimmy Woo"};
}
I have included the header code at the top of my main project.
It won't let me add to the char array. This may seem like a stupid question but I am struggling and hopefully someone can shed some light as to where I am going wrong. Am I missing a parameter?

Answer 1

Your class needs to know how much memory to allocate when you instantiate the class (which is not the same time as you assign the values).
class Test
{
public:
char firstName[2][100];
};
int main()
{
Test theTest;
strcpy(theTest.firstName[0], "Mike Smith");
strcpy(theTest.firstName[1], "Jonny Vegas");
return 0;
}
Alternatively, you can allocate memory for the strings dynamically at the time of assignment, but then you need to remember to free it again:
class Test{
public:
char *firstName[2];
};
int main()
{
Test theTest;
theTest.firstName[0] = strdup("Mike Smith");
theTest.firstName[1] = strdup("Jonny Vegas");
// do stuff
free(theTest.firstName[0]);
free(theTest.firstName[1]);
return 0;
}