Access values stored between starting and ending pointers - c++

I have the below mentioned function in a large piece of code(in c++):
void startup(const char *& start,
const char *& stop);
After this function has been called I want to access the character values i.e string stored between 'start' and 'stop'.
The way I am trying to access the same is:
char *var=(c.start);
cout<<"\n Iterating over char pointer \n";
while(var<=(c.stop))
{
cout<<*var;
var++;
}
cout<<"\n";
However, while trying to access it this way I am getting the below mentioned error:
error: invalid conversion from ‘const char*’ to ‘char*’ [-fpermissive]
Can someone be kind enough to rectify the error...and help me access the character values

All you need to do is replace the line:
char *var=(c.start);
with:
const char *var=(c.start);
Note that that const refers to the character pointed to by the pointer, not the pointer itself. So an expression like var++ is perfectly fine, since the pointer isn't const.

You may try this conversion in the assigning statement:
char *pc = (char *)(c.start);

Related

strcpy on a string pointer gives errors

I have read a lot about the subject and I am confused .
What used to work in a C file ,not working on a cpp file :
char *builtinFunctions[20];
Then I get error on the strcpy function here :
void Intepreter::setBuiltIns(char *builtins)
{
strcpy(builtinFunctions, builtins); // no matching function call to strcpy
}
I probably don't understand the basics here, but why in C++ this will not work ( do i need to use = instead ? )
strcpy(char *, const char*) = thats the structure
if I change the builtinFunctions from being a pointer it works.
EDIT:
The reason for being a const before this edit is that I read here :
Why is conversion from string constant to 'char*' valid in C but invalid in C++
that char *builtinFunctions[20]; will produce warning when :
builtinFunctions[0]="me";
and it did. I could fix it by removing the const .
This is an array of pointers to char.
char *builtinFunctions[20];
So you call
strcpy(builtinFunctions, builtins);
gets treated as strcpy(char **, char*), not as strcpy(char *dest, const char *src). So you get a mismatch for first parameter type.
EDIT:
So let's suppose builtinFunctions is "an array of words" you wish to populate, with void Intepreter::setBuiltIns(char *builtins) meant to do just that with it's first parameter being a pointer to a new incoming word. (And you're doing this in a C-style manner. Well, up to you.)
Some things to consider.
If you declare an array type arrName[N]; then the array's name
being used all alone without index is treated as a variable of type
type *arrName. If you type is initially char *, then
builtinFunctions by itself is of type char**. That's why your
strcpy fails, but strcpy(builtinFunctions[someIndex], builtins);
works.
Before invoking strcpy you should consider, if you have a
destination space allocated. builtinFunctions[someIndex] is of
type char *. Where does it point to? Is it a valid pointer to an
allocated space, or a gateway to hell of undefined behaviour strcpy will happily take you to?

printing a set containing strings on graphics.h in c++

I am trying to print the elements of a set containing strings on graphics.h console using outtext() function,but i get this error:
cannot convert 'std::string {aka std::basic_string}' to 'char*' for argument '1' to 'void outtext(char*)'|
this the piece of code that gives error:
for(i=0;i<20;i++){
for(j=0;j<20;j++){
outtext(str[i][j]);
}
}
the template for the outtext function in the graphics.h header is like this:
void outtext(char *textstring);
i have used c_str() like this:
for(i=0;i<20;i++){
for(j=0;j<20;j++){
outtext(str[i][j].c_str());
}
}
but this time it gives this error:
error: invalid conversion from 'const char*' to 'char*' [-fpermissive]|
You can try this one as well:
char *cstr = new char[21]; // just in case string length is maxed at 20, leave 1 character for '\0'
for (int i = 0; i<20; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j<20; j++) {
strcpy_s(cstr, str[i][j].length() + 1, str[i][j].c_str());
outtext(cstr);
}
}
delete[] cstr;
Just added a char* string to temporarily hold the converted std::string value. The tricky part is that char* strings normally have the terminating character \0 which std::string don't have, so you have to add 1 more character to the size of each "row" of str.
I take it this question is about the 30 years old BGI graphics library and Borland C++. The root of the problem is that this library was poorly written, as it didn't implement const correctness.
The Turbo C++ compiler did not follow anything remotely close to any C++ standard, so you are mostly out of luck. If you had a proper C++ compiler you could use const_cast, but I very much doubt this is available to you.
The only solution left is the dirty, bad way:
outtext((char*)str[i][j].c_str()); // bad practice
You should never cast away const like this in neither C nor C++.
If you can change the prototype of the output function then it is better to change void outtext(char *textstring); to void outtext(const char *textstring); because there is no need for the output function to modifiy the string. Otherwise you could use const_cast before passing to the function like outtext(const_cast<char*>(str[i][j].c_str())) or copy the string to another char* and passed the copied value.

Putting a constant char in a char matrix

I have a char matrix (relation[][]) and I want to put some character in several items of that. look:
char relation[num_obj][num_obj];
for(k1=0; k1<num_obj; ++k1)
for(k2=0; k2<num_obj; ++k2)
if(k1 != k2)
if(Top[i][j]==1)
{
strstr((const char *)relation[i][j], "T");
strstr((const char *)relation[i][j], "B");
}
k1,k2,num_obj are some defined variable.
As you see I am trying to put some constant char (like " T, B) to some elements of matrix, but I receive this warning:
warning: cast to pointer from integer of different size [-Wint-to-pointer-cast]
Can any one help me in removing this warning.
Thanks in advance and all the best :)
If you're just trying to write a 'T' into the array, that's just assignment:
relation[i][j] = 'T';
strstr is a method to find a substring in a string. It's only useful for its return-value, so even if you got your code to compile, it just wouldn't do anything.

invalid conversions, unspecified behaviour and char arrays?

I am trying to do http://www.spoj.com/problems/SHLIGHTS/, for which I have designed a solution. I am very new to C++(about 14 days), and I am facing a lot of problems. Earlier I used Python, and there was nothing of these errors, anyways, I wrote this..
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdio>
using namespace std;
//example is GBGBBB
//t=0, GBGBBB then t=1,BGBGBB then t=2 BBGBGB, then t=3 BBBGBG
//search for GB and replace it with BG
//we need a function that replaces things
string swapSEQ(string SEQ)
{
unsigned int sizeSEQ=SEQ.size();
unsigned int curr(0);
while (curr<sizeSEQ-1)
{
if (SEQ[curr]=="G" and SEQ[curr+1]=="B")
{
SEQ[curr]="B";SEQ[curr+1]="G";curr+=2;
}
else {++curr;}
}
return SEQ;
}
int main()
{
unsigned int numCases;
scanf("%d",&numCases);
// cin>>numCases;
for (unsigned int currentCase=0;currentCase<numCases;++currentCase)
{
string SEQ;
//scanf("%s",&SEQ);
cin>>SEQ;
string swapped=swapSEQ(SEQ);
unsigned long long t=0;
while (swapped!=SEQ)
{
swapped=swapSEQ(SEQ);++t;
}
printf("%lld\n",t);
}
return 0;
}
I know that's a lot of details, but that's it. SPOJ shows blank lines after inputs and outputs, but after reading the description, I understand we have to do things in single lines. Here's what I get with my g++4.7 compiler(LINUX)
SHLIGHTS.cpp: In function ‘std::string swapSEQ(std::string)’:
SHLIGHTS.cpp:17:18: error: comparison with string literal results in unspecified behaviour [-Werror=address]
SHLIGHTS.cpp:17:18: error: ISO C++ forbids comparison between pointer and integer [-fpermissive]
SHLIGHTS.cpp:17:37: error: comparison with string literal results in unspecified behaviour [-Werror=address]
SHLIGHTS.cpp:17:37: error: ISO C++ forbids comparison between pointer and integer [-fpermissive]
SHLIGHTS.cpp:17:52: error: invalid conversion from ‘const char*’ to ‘char’ [-fpermissive]
SHLIGHTS.cpp:17:66: error: invalid conversion from ‘const char*’ to ‘char’ [-fpermissive]
cc1plus: all warnings being treated as errors
*What is happening? There's something about pointers, const char and unspecified behaviour.
**I know pointers are sort of variables that point to memory locations, nothing more.
**I've used scanf at some places and cin at others(if I replace scanf by cin, I get the same errors)
**Is it something about the fact that I returned a string that took as argument?
**Where did I use a pointer?
**Am I wrong about this- strings in c++ are char arrays? If no, then where is the invalid conversion?
Thanks in advance, and apologies for anything wrong. If it's too long, please answer any of the doubts.
You need to compare SEQ[curr] with 'G' not "G" since it's a char and not a string.
You should use operator && instead of and.
Something with your logic is worng. At one index of a string you can have only 1 char. So writing if (SEQ[curr] == 'G' && SEQ[curr] == 'B' is same as writing if (false).
It is not an error, but please don't abuse your code by writing more than one commend at a line.
If you writing is C++ please use cin , not scanf.
Why are you creating sizeSEQ if you never use it? Don't!
you should use 'G' instead of "G" and so on. When you access a char array (e.g. arr[5]) you obtain a char, which you can compare with a char literal (being: 'G') and not with a cstring (e.g. "G" or "Google").
The compiler is your friend, it points out that the problem is:
comparison with string literal

Beginner C++ Question

I have followed the code example here
toupper c++ example
And implemented it in my own code as follows
void CharString::MakeUpper()
{
char* str[strlen(m_pString)];
int i=0;
str[strlen(m_pString)]=m_pString;
char* c;
while (str[i])
{
c=str[i];
putchar (toupper(c));
i++;
}
}
But this gives me the following compiler error
CharString.cpp: In member function 'void CharString::MakeUpper()':
CharString.cpp:276: error: invalid conversion from 'char*' to 'int'
CharString.cpp:276: error: initializing argument 1of 'int toupper(int)'
CharString.cpp: In member function 'void CharString::MakeLower()':
This is line 276
putchar (toupper(c));
I understand that toupper is looking for int as a parameter and returns an int also, is that the problem? If so how does the example work?
Also,
char* str[strlen(m_pString)];
int i=0;
str[strlen(m_pString)]=m_pString;
is not valid C++ - arrays must be dimensioned using compile time constants - this is a C99 feature. And I really don't think the code would do what you want it to, even if it were legal, as you seem to be accessing one past the end of the array. It would be handy if you posted the complete class definition.
I don't think your code does what you want it to do and in fact if it compiled it would explode.
char* str[strlen(m_pString)]; // you've made an array of X C strings where
// X is the length of your original string.
int i=0;
str[strlen(m_pString)]=m_pString; // You've attempted to assign the C string in your array
// at location X to point at you m_pString. X is the
// same X as before and so is 1 past the end of the array
// This is a buffer overrun.
I think what you actually wanted to do was to copy the content of m_pString into str. You'd do that like so:
char * str = new char[strlen(m_pString)];
memcpy(str, m_pString); // I may have the operands reversed, see the docs.
The easier way to do this though is to stop using C strings and to use C++ strings:
std::string str = m_pString;
There are more issues, but this should get you steer you more toward the right direction.
You need to feed toupper() an int (or a char) instead of a char *, which is how you've declared c.
try:
char c;
Also,
char* str[strlen(m_pString)];
is an an array of pointers to characters, not just a single string.
This line:
str[strlen(m_pString)]=m_pString;
is an assignment to a bad pointer then, since there was no allocation.
I'm going to go with the assumption that m_pString is a C style string (char *). You're doing way more fiddling than you need to be doing.
void CharString::MakeUpper()
{
char* str = m_pString; // Since you're not modifying the string, there's no need to make a local copy, just get a pointer to the existing string.
while (*str) // You can use the string pointer as an iterator over the individual chars
{
putchar (toupper(*str)); // Dereference the pointer to get each char.
str++; // Move to the next char (you can merge this into the previous line if so desired, but there's no need.
}
}
In the example you cite, the reason it works is because of how the variables are declared.
int main ()
{
int i=0;
char str[]="Test String.\n"; // This is a compile time string literal, so it's ok to initialize the array with it. Also, it's an array of `char`s not `char*`s.
char c; // Note that this is also a `char`, not a `char *`
while (str[i])
{
c=str[i];
putchar (toupper(c));
i++;
}
return 0;
}
Because of the error-prone ways of using C strings, your best bet is std::string:
void CharString::MakeUpper()
{
string str(m_pString);
transform(str.begin(), str.end(), ostream_iterator<char>(cout), &toupper);
}
There is not a built-in conversion from char * to int, which is why the error occurs. Since you're trying to capitalize a character, you need to dereference the pointer.
putchar(toupper(*c));