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:

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

Code:

			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:

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

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

Code:

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;

}

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

Maybe something like this... not very pretty either

Code:

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";

}

>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";
}

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