Thread: help with classes

ok suppose i have a class called members, and all the members are listed by their id (ie the first one is 1, second is 2, etc.) and i want to check each member for a certain property, how would i do that? ok that didnt make much sense, so i want to do something to this effect.

Code:

//this is just fragments of code, not an actual code
//also members have a number as well as an ID, they are listed by ID and have a number that is used for something else

class members {
  public:
  int getNumber();
  members(); //constructor
  private:
  int number;
}

int members::getNumber()
{
  return number;
}

for(int n = 1; n <= m; n++) //m is a variable with the total number of members of the class
{
  a = n.getNumber();
  if(a == 0240)
  {
    //do something here
  }
}

so basicly i want to quickly go through each member and check to see if one of their variables equals something. that way if i was to add another member, i could check to see if the variable number i was going to asign them is taken or not.
thanks in advance for your help

You could use a flag, and if a member is found with the ID you were gonna use, then set the flag, so you will know later on whether or not to try a different ID.

Also: Why is your constructor private? It should always be public.

You could use a flag, and if a member is found with the ID you were gonna use, then set the flag, so you will know later on whether or not to try a different ID.

a flag? i dont know what that is

Also: Why is your constructor private? It should always be public.

oops, that was a typo

Have a bool, initialized to false, and when you go through and compare the IDs, if there is a batch, set the bool to true and exit the loop.

Code:

bool isFound = false;

for(int n = 1; n <= m; n++) //m is a variable with the total number of members of the class
{
  a = n.getNumber();
  if(a == 0240)
  {
    isFound = true;
    break;
  }
}

if( isFound )
{
  //try checking with another ID
} else {
  //you have a unique ID
}

Another way you could do it is to store used IDs in a std::set, which has its own find function.

Code:

#include <set>

...

std::set<int> mySet;

...

if( mySet.find( IDToLookFor ) == mySet.end( ) ) {

  // It was NOT found
  mySet.insert( IDToLookFor );

} else {

  // It WAS found

}

alright thanks for all the help xsquared, youre my hero