Help! I need to reverse a string!!

Sorry for the lack of comments, but it's not too complicated. I need to make a function that reverses a string inputed by the user. This is what I have so far, and I'm still learning C++, but I can't solve my problem:

// PROJECT 10-1.CPP
// By Josh Milewski

#include <iostream.h>

char original_string[21], reversed_string[21];
int x;

int reverse_string(int original_string)
{
for (x = 0; x < 21; x++)
{
reversed_string[x] = original_string[21-x];
}
return reversed_string[x];
}

main()
{
cout << "Input a string to be reversed: ";
cin.get(original_string, 21);
cout << '\n';
reversed_string[21] = reverse_string(original_string[21]);
cout << reversed_string[x] << '\n';
return 0;
}

In Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, it says this when I try to compile it:

--------------------Configuration: PROJECT 10-1 - Win32 Debug--------------------
Compiling...
PROJECT 10-1.CPP
X:\PROJECT 10-1.CPP(13) : error C2109: subscript requires array or pointer type
Error executing cl.exe.

PROJECT 10-1.OBJ - 1 error(s), 0 warning(s)

Please help me! Thank you very much!

http://cboard.cprogramming.com/searc...earchid=106929

But can you help me with my simple program? What I mean is, I don't understand those other programs...

That's not too bad for a first post, except you should use code tags.

The posted syntactical error is that your reverse_string function takes a parameter of an int and returns an int. Both should be a char*. You can only use the subscript operator on a pointer. However, that won't solve all of your problems. In fact, fixing that will give you an error on line 23. You might want to read up on arrays.

Wait, you said "Both should be a char*." But both what?

Both the parameter and the return type of your reverse_string function.

Can you tell me exactly what those are? I'm really sorry, but I don't really know the terms.

There already is a function which does what you need. It's called strrev. So all you need to do is program your own strrev function.

void reverse_string( char* string )
{
// your task is to
// find out how long this string is ( hint: it's not neccessarily 21, it can be shorter. look up the strlen function )
// reverse the first x characters of your string. Don't reverse all 21 because the text entered may be shorter
}


This function should reverse the string you gave as a parameter.

PHP Code:

int main()
{
char text[21];
cout << "Input a string to be reversed: ";
cin.get(original_string, 20);
cout << '\n';
reverse_string( text );
cout << text << '\n';
return 0;
} 


Yes, I know I can do it that way, which would be a lot easier, but I cannot. That is because I need to do this for a school project, and I am required to make my own function called reverse_string to reverse the string. Thank you for your help, though, and please continue to help me.

Well then, try to build your own reverse_string function from the header I provided above. Use the comments I added. Feel free to post any questions that arise

Originally Posted by Josh7289

Can you tell me exactly what those are? I'm really sorry, but I don't really know the terms.

Look at this example:

Code:

int foo(int bar)
{
    ...
}

The return type in the above example is red. It states (in this example) that the function returns an integer value. The argument/parameter type in the example is in blue. It states that the function expects a single parameter/argument of type integer to be passed into the function.

Code:

#include <iostream.h>

If possible you should be using the iostream header and not iostream.h. This will bring up the issue of namespaces however and at this stage it is perhaps easiest to deal with this by simply putting using namespace std; underneath the #include line.

Code:

int main()
{
    ...
}

You should always explicitly put that int return type for the main function.

Code:

reversed_string[21] = reverse_string(original_string[21]);

You should not be calling your function like that. Character strings (character arrays) are declared like reversed_string[21] but when you pass them into functions, you typically just use the array name like reverse_string(original_string). Arrays are indexed starting from 0, so an array holding 21 characters has a valid index from 0 through 20 inclusive. Outside of declaring an array, the syntax you use in the above sample is used to access individual elements of the array (the individual characters in this case) thus reversed_string[0] represents the first character and reversed_string[21] represents the 22nd character which is an invalid index. The same goes for your use of the original_string[21] in the above example.

Code:

char original_string[21], reversed_string[21];


for (x = 0; x < 21; x++)
    reversed_string[x] = original_string[21-x];


cin.get(original_string, 21);

I would strongly suggest you use a const int variable instead of a hardcoded value here. If in the future you need to change the length of the array, you change it in one single place instead of having to search through your code and replace every 21 with a different value, i.e.:

Code:

const int STR_SIZE=21;
char original_string[STR_SIZE], reversed_string[STR_SIZE];

...
etc, etc...

As stated previously (by nvoigt), your method of reversing the string should take into account the actual length of data stored in your original_string variable and not the full size of the array itself. You also need to deal with the NULL terminating character, copying it to the correct position and not reversing it by mistake. To deal with these issues, you need to find the length of data in the original_string by looping through it and finding the NULL character, your looping variable at this point will give you the index of the NULL character (and also the length). Once you've got the length, you copy the original string (starting at an index of length minus one and moving towards zero) into the reversed string (starting at index 0 and incrementing up). At the end put a NULL character at the end of the reversed string.

You might still have some issues with how you are passing/returning your variables but here you have some suggestions to think about in the meantime.

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record player these days but...it is a *complete* waste of time trying to write a string reversal function when you really don't even know how to formulate compilable code!

anyway, here is a similar type of problem - look at how the functions are declared and how they are called in main:

Code:

char * uppercase(char * destination, const char * source) {
 size_t i, length = strlen(source);
 for(i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
  destination[i] = toupper(source[i]);
  }
 destination[i] = '\0';
 return destination;
 }

char * uppercase(char * str) {
 return uppercase(str, str);
 }

int main(void) {
 const size_t size = 256;
 char string[size];
 for(;;) { 
  cout << "Input a string to be capitalized: ";
  cin.get(string, size);
  cin.ignore(); // discard any newlines in the input stream
  if(strlen(string) == 0) {
   break;
   }
  uppercase(string);
  cout << string << endl;
  }
 cout << endl; 
 return 0;
 }

Wah! I'm so confused! I'm just a newbie...Here is what I have so far...now...Can you explain in very simple terms and tell me what has to be changed? Like, change it and post it back here? I'm sincerely sorry for the trouble, but please continue to help me:

PHP Code:

// PROJECT 10-1.CPP
// By Josh Milewski

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

const int size = 21;
char original_string[size], reversed_string[size];
int x;

char reverse_string(char original_string)
{
    for (x = 0; x < 21; x++)
    {
        reversed_string[x] = original_string[21-x];
    }
    return reversed_string[x];
}

int main()
{
    cout << "Input a string to be reversed: ";
    cin.get(original_string, size);
    cout << '\n';
    reversed_string = reverse_string(original_string);
    cout << reversed_string[x] << '\n';
    return 0;
} 


Thank you again very much!

First examine the logic behind your code. What if I only enter "cat"? What will the output be after it runs through your algorithm? In pseudo-code, your algorithm is:

Code:

for each character i in string 1
   character (21 - i) in string 2 = character i in string 1

Why won't that always work?

Take another look at nvoigt's post and note his comments about the strlen function.

> return reversed_string[x];

That's not returning what you think it's returning.