Implementing a Hash Table (rehash scope error) - c++

Question

I am getting a very strange error in my code. This assignment is for a class I'm taking and essentially we are learning how to implement a hash table. The error i'm getting is when I try and rehash to a larger size. Here's the portion of the code giving me the problem, and I'll explain more fully what the problem is.
if(htable->size>=htable->cap)
{
cout<<htable->cap<<endl;
HashTable tempht=*htable;
delete htable;
htable=new HashTable((tempht.cap * 2) + 1);
for (size_t i=0; i<tempht.cap; i++)
{
Node* n=tempht.table[i];
while (n!=NULL)
{
htable->add(n->item);
n=n->next;
}
}
if (htable->table[0]==NULL)
{
cout<<"HOORAY!"<<endl;
}
}
if (htable->table[0]==NULL)
{
cout<<"HOORAY!"<<endl;
}
else
{
cout<<htable->table[0]->item<<endl;
}
htable is a HashTable variable. In the HashTable class it contains an array Node* (Nodes are just objects I created that contain a string and a pointer to the next item in the chain). This part of the code is simply trying to rehash to a larger table. The issue I'm getting is once I exit the first if statement, my table's first value no longer equals NULL (the test I'm running rehashes a table with nothing in it to a table that still has nothing in it, but has a larger capacity). When I run the code, the first htable->table[0]==NULL passes while the second does not, despite there being no changes other than exiting the if statement (my expected result is that the table[0] should be NULL). My best guess is it's some kind of scoping error, but I honestly can't see where the problem is. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: Just to clarify, the initial hash table has a capacity of 0 (this is one of the project requirements). So when i try to add an item to the table, this if statement is executed (since the size is 0 and the cap is 0, we have to maintain a load factor of 1). I can confirm that once the table reaches the first and second "Hooray" checks, that htable->cap (which is the total capacity of the array) is 1, which is what it should be. The only thing that is getting messed is bucket 0 (which in this case is the only bucket). For whatever reason, it's null before exiting the if statement but not after.
I'm posting my whole HashTable class, let me know if you find anything.
#pragma once
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
#include "Node.h"
using namespace std;
class HashTable
{
public:
Node** table;
int size;
int cap;
HashTable (int c)
{
size=0;
cap=c;
table = new Node*[cap];
if (cap>0)
{
for (size_t i=0; i<cap; ++i)
{
table[i]=NULL;
}
}
}
~HashTable()
{
delete table;
}
size_t hash(string thing)
{
size_t total=0;
int asci;
char c;
size_t index;
for (size_t i=0; i<thing.length(); i++)
{
total=total*31;
c=thing[i];
asci=int(c);
total=asci+total;
}
index=total%cap;
cout<<"index"<<index<<endl;
system("pause");
return index;
}
void add(string thing)
{
size_t index;
index=hash(thing);
cout<<"index "<<index<<endl;
system("pause");
Node* temp=table[index];
if (temp==NULL)
{
cout<<"Here"<<endl;
system("pause");
}
else
{
cout<<"Here2"<<endl;
system("pause");
cout<<"temp"<<temp->item<<endl;
system("pause");
}
Node* n = new Node(thing);
cout<<"n"<<n->item<<endl;
system("pause");
if (temp==NULL)
{
table[index]=n;
}
else
{
while (temp->next!=NULL)
{
temp=temp->next;
}
temp->next=n;
}
size++;
}
Node* find(string search)
{
Node* n= NULL;
size_t index;
if(cap!=0)
{
index=hash(search);
Node* temp=table[index];
while (temp!=NULL)
{
if (temp->item==search)
{
n=temp;
return n;
}
}
}
return n;
}
void remove (string thing)
{
if (find(thing)==NULL)
{
return;
}
else
{
size_t index;
index=hash(thing);
Node* temp=table[index];
if (temp->item==thing)
{
table[index]=temp->next;
delete temp;
}
while (temp->next!=NULL)
{
if (temp->next->item==thing)
{
Node* temp2=temp->next;
temp->next=temp->next->next;
delete temp2;
break;
}
}
}
size--;
}
void print(ofstream &ofile)
{
for (size_t i=0; i<cap; i++)
{
Node* n=table[i];
ofile<<"hash "<<i<<":";
while (n!=NULL)
{
ofile<<" "<<n->item;
n=n->next;
}
}
}
};

Answer 1

Well, this is C++, and I'm more a Java guy, but I'll take a stab at it.
Turns out the problem IS with the
HashTable tempht=*htable;
delete htable;
block after all.
See, the first line there says "copy all of the members from *htable into tempht". So now tempht and htable SHARE their table memory, since table is just a pointer to memory that was allocated at construction, and you just copied the pointer. You wanted it to copy the nodes inside table, but it didn't do that.
So now you have two different HashTable objects with the same pointer value in table. Now, when tempht is freed, the destructor calls free on the table pointer, which effectively frees the table data in both objects htable and tempht.
What you really want to do is write a copy constructor, or do something like:
HashTable *tempht=htable;
htable=new HashTable((tempht->cap * 2) + 1);
for (size_t i=0; i<tempht->cap; i++)
{
Node* n=tempht->table[i];
while (n!=NULL)
{
htable->add(n->item);
n=n->next;
}
}
if (htable->table[0]==NULL)
{
cout<<"HOORAY!"<<endl;
}
delete tempht;
See how all I've really done is change tempht to a pointer, using it to point to the old hashtable while you copy all the nodes from it to the new htable object, then deleting the old Hashtable.