Another Demonstration of My Lack of Ability to Program C++

[Tim Mierzejewski]

I'm having trouble assigning a string to a character array. Here's the
applicable code:

#include <iostream>
#include "Creature.hpp" // Includes Creature class
using namespace std;
char CreatureName[16];
void EarthElemental(Creature &Player);
void Slime(Creature &Player);

int main()
{
Creature *Play1 = new Creature
int Selection;
cin << Selection;
switch (Selection)
{
case (1):
EarthElemental(*Play1);
break;
case (2):
Slime(*Play1);
break;
}
return 0;
}

void EarthElemental(Creature &Player)
{
Player->SetValue(2);
CreatureName = "Earth Elemental"; // Line 247
}

void Slime(Creature &Player)
{
Player->SetValue(3);
CreatureName = "Slime"; // Line 254
}

--
The errors I get are:
(247) : error C2106: '=' : left operand must be l-value
(254) : error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'char [6]' to 'char [16]'
--
Sorry for bugging you again with a probably simple question, but I'm really
new at this. Thanks.
Tim M.

[ma3x]

Try to put CreatureName into Creature class.

[Sin]

> CreatureName = "Earth Elemental"; // Line 247

strcpy(CreatureName, "Earth Elemental");

CreatureName = "Slime"; // Line 254

strcpy(CreatureName, "Slime");

Alex.

[Thomas Matthews]

Tim Mierzejewski wrote:

I'm having trouble assigning a string to a character array. Here's the
applicable code:

#include <iostream>
#include "Creature.hpp" // Includes Creature class
using namespace std;
char CreatureName[16];
void EarthElemental(Creature &Player);
void Slime(Creature &Player);

int main()
{
Creature *Play1 = new Creature
int Selection;
cin << Selection;
switch (Selection)
{
case (1):
EarthElemental(*Play1);
break;
case (2):
Slime(*Play1);
break;
}
return 0;
}
FYI: Parenthesis are not required for the case label.
Use "case 1:" instead of "case (1):".

FYI: Don't use "magic numbers", prefere named constants:
const unsigned int EARTH_ELEMENTAL_ID = 1;
const unsigned int SLIME_ID = 2;
//...
case EARTH_ELEMENTAL_ID:


void EarthElemental(Creature &Player)
{
Player->SetValue(2);
CreatureName = "Earth Elemental"; // Line 247
}

void Slime(Creature &Player)
{
Player->SetValue(3);
CreatureName = "Slime"; // Line 254
}

--
The errors I get are:
(247) : error C2106: '=' : left operand must be l-value
(254) : error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'char [6]' to 'char [16]'
--
Sorry for bugging you again with a probably simple question, but I'm really
new at this. Thanks.
Tim M.

Arrays cannot be copied using the assignment operator.
Since you are dealing with text, I suggest you use the std::string
type:
#include <string>
using std::string

string CreatureName;

void EarthElemental(Creature &Player)
{
Player->SetValue(2);
CreatureName = "Earth Elemental";
// or to be explicit:
// CreatureName = string("Earth Elemental")'
}

By the way, you may want to read up on polymorphism.
class Creature
{
protected:
string name_; // Every creature has a name.
public:
void print_name(ostream& out) const
{ out << name_ << endl;}
};
class EarthElemental
: public Creature
{
public:
EarthElemental()
{name_ = "Earth Elemental"};
};
class Slime
: public Creature
{
public:
Slime()
{name_ = "Slime";}
};
int main(void)
{
Creature * Player1(NULL);

// The following code is one implementation of
// of the Factory design pattern. The Factory
// creates a creature based on the User's selection.

unsigned int Selection;
cin << Selection;
switch (Selection)
{
case 1:
// Set Player 1 to an Earth Elemental.
Player1 = new EarthElemental
break;
case 2:
// Set Player 1 to a Slime.
Player1 = new Slime;
break;
}

// Test the factory.
if (Player1 != NULL)
Player1->print_name(cout);
else
cout << "Invalid selection: " << Selection << endl;
return 0;
}

In the above example, every creature has-a name.
name is an attribute of the base class Creature.
There is also a method for printing out the name.

So, after a creature is created, the name is printed
out regardless of which instance was created by the
factory. The print method is a method of the base
class and doesn't depend on the type of the child
classes.

The base class Creature should contain members and
methods common to all creatures.

--
Thomas Matthews

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