Menu Options Verification?

Is there an easier way to check the menu options without using the "option != "a" && "b" && ...."c".? Can I just check if character in string and simplify the if and while loops?

Code:

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char getMenuOption ()  {
       
        char option;
        option = NULL;  // Initialize variable to null
       
        do {
                clrScr ();

                cout << endl;
                cout << " *********************************************************\n";
        cout << " *\t              B A G  M E N U        \t\t *\n";
                cout << " *********************************************************\n";
            cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
            cout << " *  [P]ut an item in the bag\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *  [G]rab an unknown item from the bag\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *  [D]ump the bag\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *  [F]ind an item in the bag\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *  Ge[T] a specific item from the bag\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *  [W]hat's in the bag (verify)\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *  [Q]uit\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *\t\t\t\t\t\t\t *\n";
                cout << " *********************************************************\n";
       
                //  check for null so that error does not appear before input
                if (option != NULL) { 
                        if (option != 'P' && option != 'G' && option != 'D'
                                && option != 'F' && option != 'T' && option != 'W'
                                && option != 'Q')

                                cout << "\a\n *** ATTENTION ***  Use Selections:";
                                cout << " P, G, D, F, T, W, or Q!\n";

                } // end if option not null

                cout << "\n Enter: (P, G, D, F, T, W, or Q) => ";
                cin >> option;

                option = toupper (option); // Change to upper case

        } // end do while option
        while (option != 'P' && option != 'G' && option != 'D'
                        && option != 'F' && option != 'T' && option != 'W'
                        && option != 'Q');

        return option;

}  // end getMenuOption

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Code:

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                        if (option != 'P' && option != 'G' && option != 'D'
                                && option != 'F' && option != 'T' && option != 'W'
                                && option != 'Q')

                                cout << "\a\n *** ATTENTION ***  Use Selections:";
                                cout << " P, G, D, F, T, W, or Q!\n";

---

this is not going to work as expected, you need curly brackets because you have more than one statement after the if

-d-

The code works okay, but I wanted to find a way to simplify it for readability and ease of use.

I just typed the code as pseudocode but is there something that will do the following type of functionality?

Code:

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If (option == ("WTGXRQ"))
  Success = true;  // if keypress is in the set: WTGXRQ

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Here is a pseudocode idea of what you might want to do

Code:

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int main()
{

    do
    {

          char answer = toupper(getMenuOption());

              switch(answer)
              {

                        case 'P':  function_call();
                                        break;

                        case 'G':  function_call();
                                        break;

                        case 'D':  function_call();
                                        break;

                        case 'F':  function_call();
                                        break;

                        case 'T':  function_call();
                                        break;

                        case 'W':  function_call();
                                        break;

                        case 'Q':  function_call();
                                        break;

 
                        default:  cout << "\n\nInvalid Option, try again.";

    }while (answer != 'Q');

return 0;

}

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switch/case structure is not only easy to use.. but is probably the best way to handle menu options. :cool:

Maybe something like this... not very pretty either

Code:

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switch(int(option)){
  case: 80 // P
  case: 71 // G
  case: 68 // D
  case: 70 // F
  case: 84 // T
  case: 87 // W
  case: 81 // Q
    break; // for the above cases
 
  default:
    cout << "\a\n *** ATTENTION ***  Use Selections:";
    cout << " P, G, D, F, T, W, or Q!\n";

}

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>case: 80 // P <etc...>
Why not use character literals? That way the code is more readable, more portable, and you can avoid the comment. And your label syntax is wrong:

Code:

---

switch(option){
  case 'P':
  case 'G':
  case 'D':
  // etc...
    break; // for the above cases
 
  default:
    cout << "\a\n *** ATTENTION ***  Use Selections:";
    cout << " P, G, D, F, T, W, or Q!\n";
}

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Yikes! Thanks Prelude, I must return to active coding.... Seeing lots of php recently hasn't helped either.