How to initialize a string array in a default class constructor?

Pulling my hair out on this one, book doesn't show any examples and my GoogleFu is weak.

Code:

---

#ifndef ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED
#define ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED
#include <string>

using namespace std;

const int MAX_NUMS = 20;

class RomanNumerals
{
  private:
    string romanNums[MAX_NUMS];

  public:
    RomanNumerals()
    {
        string romanNums[MAX_NUMS] = {"I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX", "X", "XI", "XII", "XIII", "XIV", "XV", "XVI", "XVII", "XVIII", "XIX", "XX" };
    }

    string getRomanNumerals(int num)
    {
        return romanNums[num-1];
    }

};

#endif // ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED

---

These are my warnings:
[code
C:\Users\Leonard\Desktop\New folder (2)\RomanNumerals.h||In constructor 'RomanNumerals::RomanNumerals()':|
C:\Users\Leonard\Desktop\New folder (2)\RomanNumerals.h|17|warning: unused variable 'romanNums'|
||=== Build finished: 0 errors, 1 warnings ===|
[/code]

Which is really frustrating because if I put the array directly into my main.cpp and call it like I'm trying to here, it works perfectly. Is there some magical way to setup an array in a class or constructor? Argh!

Your romanNums array inside the constructor is local to that constructor, and is not the same thing as the private member.

Try this instead

Code:

---

RomanNumerals::RomanNumerals()
{
        std::string romanNumsInitialiser[MAX_NUMS] = {"I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX", "X", "XI", "XII", "XIII", "XIV", "XV", "XVI", "XVII", "XVIII", "XIX", "XX" };
        std::copy(romanNumsInitialiser, romanNumsInitialiser + MAX_NUMS, romanNums);
}

---

The copy() algorithm is in the standard header <algorithms>.


Also, NEVER place a "using namespace std;" directive in a header file. It is extremely bad practice, for many reasons that have been amply documented many times on this site and in many places on the internet. That means, if you want to use std::string in a header file, then refer to it as "std::string" not as "string".

Another possibility:

Code:

---

#ifndef ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED
#define ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED
#include <string>

class RomanNumerals
{
  private:
  static const int MAX_NUMS = 20;
  static const std::string romanNums[MAX_NUMS];

  public:
    RomanNumerals()
    {
    }

    std::string getRomanNumerals(int num)
    {
        return romanNums[num-1];
    }

};

#endif // ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED

// Put this in the cpp file
const std::string RomanNumerals::romanNums[MAX_NUMS] = {
      "I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX", "X",
      "XI", "XII", "XIII", "XIV", "XV", "XVI", "XVII", "XVIII", "XIX", "XX"
};

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by grumpy

Also, NEVER place a "using namespace std;" directive in a header file. It is extremely bad practice....

---

Good to know, I kind of got that to work through trial and error (I'm all self taught from a few books atm, and they never really showed how to use strings the real way), and figured it was "cleaner" than using std:: all over the place for strings. I'll do some reading up on that and stop using the namespace in my headers, thanks for the tip.

Its weird to me that I can declare an int variable inside my class definition, and then initalize it to say 5 inside my default constructor, but that "logic" doesn't translate over to an array. Having a hard time understanding why that doesn't work. Is it because the array itself is a collection of objects? or just how C++ treats arrays in regards to classes?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Striph

Its weird to me that I can declare an int variable inside my class definition, and then initalize it to say 5 inside my default constructor, but that "logic" doesn't translate over to an array. Having a hard time understanding why that doesn't work. Is it because the array itself is a collection of objects? or just how C++ treats arrays in regards to classes?

---

It is because the array is a collection of objects.

It does work. Unfortunately, Visual C++ does not support the required functionality yet.
GCC does support it, so I'll show how:

Code:

---

#ifndef ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED
#define ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED
#include <string>
#include <array>
 
const int MAX_NUMS = 20;
 
class RomanNumerals
{
  private:
    std::array<std::string, MAX_NUMS> romanNums;
 
  public:
    RomanNumerals(): RomanNums({"I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX", "X", "XI", "XII", "XIII", "XIV", "XV", "XVI", "XVII", "XVIII", "XIX", "XX" })
    {
       
    }
 
    const std::string & getRomanNumerals(int num)
    {
        return romanNums.at(num-1);
    }
 
};
 
#endif // ROMANNUMERALS_H_INCLUDED

---

Thanks Elysia, I've been meaning to load up Codeblocks on my system. Is there a "name" for what the ": RomanNums({...." after the RomanNumerals() constructor is called? Going to spend the weekend reading up on that, and namespace practices. :)

It's called an initializer list.

Note that initialiser lists are a feature of C++-11. There are advantages and disadvantages of using C++-11 features. The main disadvantage is that not all compilers support C++-11 features, except possibly as extensions, and support by some compilers is currently rather (for want of a better word) young.

I am not seeking to discourage usage of C++-11 features. However, maturity of a language/library feature as well as maturity of available implementations, are valid considerations in deciding whether to use such features.