Sorting string array

Code:

        for (int i = 0; i < (BOOK_MAX); ++i)
         {
           Sort[i] = Books[i].Author;
         }
        sort(Sort, Sort+BOOK_MAX);
        cout << Sort[1] << Sort[2] << Sort[3] << endl;

I don't receive any errors at compile, but cout produces lots of empty spaces for some reason without the text I want. I tested with cout and Books[i].Author is not empty.

So, how many books do you actually have, and what is BOOK_MAX?

An empty string is "smaller" than all other strings, so if you have

Code:

"Bjarne Stroustrup"
"Scott Meyers"
"Barbara Moo"
""
""
""
""

then the sorted list would be:

Code:

""
""
""
""
"Barbara Moo"
"Bjarne Stroustrup"
"Scott Meyers"

--
Mats

BOOK_MAX is 2000, I have 28 books. However, I don't get any lines of text at all and the spaces don't look anywhere close to 2000.

I updated the code, and it still gives me lots of blanks.

Code:

for (int i = 0; i < (BOOK_MAX); ++i)
         {
           if (Books[i].Author == "")
             {
             }
           else
             {
           Sort[i] = Books[i].Author;
             }
         }
        sort(Sort, Sort+BOOK_MAX);
        cout << Sort[1] << Sort[2] << Sort[3] << endl;

Originally Posted by Furious5k

BOOK_MAX is 2000, I have 28 books. However, I don't get any lines of text at all and the spaces don't look anywhere close to 2000.

I updated the code, and it still gives me lots of blanks.

Code:

for (int i = 0; i < (BOOK_MAX); ++i)
         {
           if (Books[i].Author == "")
             {
             }
           else
             {
           Sort[i] = Books[i].Author;
             }
         }
        sort(Sort, Sort+BOOK_MAX);
        cout << Sort[1] << Sort[2] << Sort[3] << endl;

So what does sort[i] contain if Books[i].Auther is ""?

I think you need two index variables, one for the sort array, and one for the books array, and then only increment the second index when the author is non-blank - then only sort the items you filled in [the second index variable will have that value].

--
Mats

I need to learn to read, I was still sorting the the whole of the array.

I am now trying to eliminate duplicates from the list before sorting it and after adding the code again getting blanks.

Code:

         int flag = 0;
         int count = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < (BOOK_MAX); ++i)
           {
             if (Books[i].Author == "")
               {
               }
             else
               {
                 for (int x = 0; x < count; ++x)
                   {
                     if (Books[i].Author == Sort[x])
                       {
                         ++flag;
                       }
                   }
                 if (flag = 0)
                   {
                     Sort[count] = Books[i].Author;
                     ++count;
                   }
                 flag = 0;
               }
           }
        sort(Sort, Sort+count);

It's probably better to sort the books first, then copy each unique author to another list - an author is unique if the previous author is different from the current one. After all, that only requires ONE iteration through the list of authors, not n^2 iterations like your current implementation.

--
Mats

It is much easier to remove duplicates after sorting. In an unsorted array the duplicate could be anywhere. In a sorted array the duplicates are all nicely next to each other.

In fact there is another algorithm for removing duplicates from a sorted container.

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>

int main()
{
    int arr[] = { 2, 1, 6, 4, 22, 4, 2, 1, 3 };
    const unsigned max = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);

    std::sort(arr, arr + max);

    //std::unique only works if the array is sorted
    const unsigned max_unique = std::unique(arr, arr + max) - arr;

    for (unsigned i = 0; i != max_unique; ++i) {
        std::cout << arr[i] << ' ';
    }

    //items in range max_unique...max are not valid
}

Code:

        int uniquecount;
        for (int x = 0; x < count; ++x)
          {
            if (Sort[x] == Sort[x+1])
              {
              }
            else
              {
                Unique[uniquecount] = Sort[x];
                ++uniquecount;
              }
          }

Urgh, segmentation fault. It seems perfectly fine and I'm sure it's something obvious, again...

Code:

Sort[x+1]

will access element number Count, which may not be defined, perhaps?

Or

Code:

        int uniquecount;

is never assigned a value, so it has some arbitrary (possibly LARGE) value.

--
Mats

uniquecount = 0; worked.

It still seems that the [x+1] would be accessing an array location that does not exist. But if it works, it doesn't matter, I guess, since it wouldn't cause wrong output.

Originally Posted by Furious5k

uniquecount = 0; worked.

It still seems that the [x+1] would be accessing an array location that does not exist. But if it works, it doesn't matter, I guess, since it wouldn't cause wrong output.

Well, instead of looking at the next element, perhaps you should stuff the first element into the Unique array, and then compare with the latest element in the Unique array to see if you need to add it or not.

--
Mats

Code:

for (int q = 0; q < uniquecount; ++q)
          {
            for (int w = 0; w < BOOK_MAX; ++w)
              {
                if (Unique[q] == Books[w].Author)
                  {
                    cout << Books[w].Title << " in section " << Books[w].Category;

                    for (int e = 0; e < BOOK_MAX; ++e)
                      {
                        if (Book[w].ID == Loans[e].Book)
                          {
                            cout << " - on Loan." << endl;
                          }
                        else
                          {
                            cout << " - in Stock." << endl;
                          }
                      }
                  }
              }
          }

198: parse error before `['
213: break statement not within loop or switch
214: confused by earlier errors, bailing out

Line 198 is the if statement.
I'm confused about break statement, because the switch statement it's in is within braces.
The switch starts and ends as follows:

Code:

switch (select)
     {
     case 1:
       {

Code:

        break;
       }
     case 2:

I didn't have any errors before writing the code that starts at the point which I've pasted.

You probably have an error elsewhere - what you have posted seems OK to me.

--
Mats

I updated the code with everything up to the closing of the first bracket. It definately has to be something there, because if I wrap comment around that code it compiles.