invalid conversion from 'char' to 'const char*'

I am writing a function, and I'm getting the error "invalid conversion from 'char' to 'const char*'" when I try to compile. Any help would be appreciated.

Code:

char aline[125];
char sline[125];
char lbracket[2] = "[";
char rbracket[2] = "]";

     . . . .

if (strcmp(aline[0],lbracket) == 0)

     . . . .

I'm reading into aline with getline(), and then attempting to analyze the first character to see if it is "[". I tried using strcmp(aline[0],"["), but got the same error.

aline[0] is the first char which is of type char.
aline would be a pointer to a string.
"[" would be a pointer to a string.
'[' is a single char so:

Code:

if (aline[0]=='[')

strcmp wouldn't work for what you want because it compares the whole string.

Yes Quantum is correct.


You are comparing the entire string I think. Perhaps what you need is something like the following:

Code:

#include <iostream.h>

int main()

{
    char aline[125];
    char sline[125];
    char lbracket[2] = {"["};
    char rbracket[2] = {"]"};

     cout<<"Type in aline"<<endl;
     cin>>aline;
     
     if (aline[0]==lbracket[0])
     {
         cout<<"The first character was indeed a: [ "<<endl;
     }
     else
     {
         cout<<"The first character was not a: [ "<<endl;
     }    
     
         int stop;
         cin>>stop;    
     
 }

std::string anyone?

P.S
treenef its <iostream> not <iostream.h> and we also like to put things into the std namespace

Sweet, works now. Thanks. I guess I don't understand how they work too terribly well. I'm also having trouble appending characters to the end of a string. This is what I have:

Code:

strcat(div_check,aline[z])

That is, of course, in a loop where I want to keep adding the characters from aline to a certain point. I get the same "invalid conversion" error. Thanks again.

EDIT: I tried changing it to

Code:

div_check[z] = aline[z]

using that same logic from above. Compiles right, so I guess we'll see what happens.

Well, my program compiles right, but crashes when I try to run it.

*Long Code Ahead*

Code:

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <cstring>

using namespace std;

int writeini (char filename[20], char division[20], char section[30], char value[90]) {
    char aline[125];
    char sline[125];
    int before_val;
    
    ofstream ini_write ((strcat("temp",filename)), ios::out);
    
    //validity checker--checks to see if it should replace or add the new information
    ifstream ini_check (filename, ios::in);
    if ( !ini_check.is_open() ) {
         return 1; //returns error "1" if file could NOT be opened
         }
    else {
         int ch;
         char div_check[30];
         
         for (int x = 0, t = 0; (ch = cin.get()) != EOF; x++) {
             cin.getline(aline,'\n');
             if (t == 0) {               //check if division and section exist; else set them to be created
                if (aline[0] == '[') {
                   int lastchar = 0;
                   strcpy(div_check,"");
                
                   for (int y = 1; aline[y] != ']'; y++) {
                       if (aline[y] == ']') lastchar = --y; //assign 'lastchar' to the last character in the division name
                       }
                
                   if (lastchar > 1) {
                      int y = 1;
                      while (y <= lastchar) {
                         //div_check += aline[y]; //assembles the found division
                         y++;
                         }
                      }
                   if (strcmp(div_check,division) == 0) { //compares the found division with input division, if same moves on to section
                      t = 1;
                      }
                   strcpy(sline,aline);
                   }
                }
             else if (t == 1) {                      //checks division for matching section
                  strcpy(div_check,"");
                  
                  if (aline[0] == '[') {
                     for (int z = 0; aline[z] != '='; z++) {   //assembles all characters before '=' into div_check
                         div_check[z] = aline[z];
                         }
                     }
                  
                  if (strcmp(div_check,section) == 0) {    //if the user input 'section' = the assembled div_check, it readies sline to write to file.
                     strcpy(sline,section);
                     strcat(sline,"=");
                     strcat(sline,value);
                     t = 4;
                     }
                  else if (aline[0] == '[') {      //if the division is ending and a new starting, it writes sline before going on to copy the rest of the file.
                       strcpy(sline,section);
                       strcat(sline,"=");
                       strcat(sline,value);
                       ini_write << sline << "\n";
                       strcpy(sline,aline);
                       t = 4;
                       }
                  }
             else if (t == 4) {              //writes the remaining portion of the file after edit
                  strcpy(sline,aline);
                  }
                  
             
             ini_write << sline << "\n";
             strcpy(sline,"");
             }
         }
    ini_write.close();
    ini_check.close();
    }

int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
    char hi[30], hey[30], ho[30], hehe[30];
    
    cout << "Hello there. 1st: ";
    cin >> hi;
    cout << "2nd: ";
    cin >> hey;
    cout << "3rd: ";
    cin >> ho;
    cout << "4th: ";
    cin >> hehe;
    
    writeini(hi,hey,ho,hehe);
    
    cout << "writeini(" << hi << "," << hey << "," << ho << "," << hehe << ");";
    
    system("PAUSE");
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

EDIT: Oh, the program goes through and asks for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, then crashes. (Apparently while running the function)

I didn't read everything but here are some things I noticed.

Code:

ofstream ini_write ((strcat("temp",filename)), ios::out);

This would add filename to "temp" but temp is only 5 chars (4+NULL charactor) so something is going to be overwritten.

Code:

for (int z = 0; aline[z] != '='; z++) {   //assembles all characters before '=' into div_check
                         div_check[z] = aline[z];

Here you only stop if you encounter a '=' but if there is no = in the imput the loop will keep going possibly crashing.

I changed

Code:

ofstream ini_write ((strcat("temp",filename)), ios::out);

to

Code:

ofstream ini_write ("temp.ini", ios::trunc);

as I realized, thanks to Quantum, that it was causing the program to crash. It runs now, however, when the function executes, it gets to the first 'if' statement and seems to be caught in an infinite loop or something. I'm not really sure. This:

Code:

    if ( !ini_check.is_open() ) {
         return 1; //returns error "1" if file could NOT be opened
         }
    else {
         int ch;
         char div_check[30];
         
         for (int x = 0, t = 0; x < 5; x++) {
.   .   .

executes, but doesn't seem to ever get to/past the 'for'. I put cout << "HELLO THERE"; before the for, ran it and it printed; then I put it directly after the for and it never shows. Any clues?


EDIT: Ok, well, I'm dumb. I just noticed that I had cin.getline() instead of file.getline(), so that fixed my problem. I'll post once I run into another error. Thanks.

Well, that didn't take long. I am not sure how to add a character to my string. I'm trying to add aline[y] to string div_check.

Code:

char div_check[30];
.   .   .
div_check += aline[y];  //also tried ...
//strcat(div_check,aline[y]); but that's the same problem I was dealing with earlier.

There are several ways to add a single charactor to a string. If you want to only add one char then something like

Code:

div_check[strlen(div_check)]=aline[y]

to add more then one you could use strcat or better yet strncat.

Code:

strncat[div_check, &aline[y], MaxCharsToCoppy);

Thanks for all the help. I learned a lot messing with arrays, but in the end I looked at my code and thought I should rewrite it with STL strings. It is much easier to deal with (IMO) and so far it seems to run exactly as I want it. Thanks again for all the help. I'll post the code I have for possible future reference and to compare the two. Any suggestions on improving it are welcome.

Code:

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

int writeini (string filename, string division, string section, string value) {
    /*
    ERROR REFERENCE:
          0 = Function executed successfully
          1 = Input file, 'filename', does not exist or could not be opened
          2 = Output file "temp.ini" could not be created/opened
          3 = Unexpected error handling 'filename' (ifstream ini_in)
          4 = Incorrect format in 'filename'; division doesn't match required format ( [division] )
    */
    
    char buff = ' ';
    string linein, lineout, sub;
    int fhandle = 1;
    unsigned int loc;
    
    ifstream ini_in (filename.c_str(), ios::in);
    ofstream ini_out ("temp.ini", ios::trunc);
    
    if ( !ini_in.is_open() ) return 1; // Input could not be opened
    if ( !ini_out.is_open() ) return 2; // Output could not be opened
    
    ini_in.get(buff); // Check input for EOF
    
    while ( !ini_in.eof() ) {
          getline(ini_in, linein, '\n'); // istream from 'filename' to string 'linein'
          if (buff != '\n') linein = buff + linein; // Adds get(buff) to the beginning of string 'linein'
          
          switch (fhandle) {
                 case 1: // Handles division matching
                      if (linein[0] != '[') {
                         lineout = linein;
                         break; // Continue looping through istream until division beginning is found
                         }
                      
                      loc = linein.find("]",0); // Find end of division name
                      if (loc == string::npos) return 4; // Incorrect .ini format
                      else --loc;
                      
                      sub = linein.substr(1, loc);
                      
                      if (sub == division) {
                              fhandle = 2; // Moves on to examine section
                              }
                      
                      lineout = linein;
                      break;
                 case 2: // Handles section matching
                      if (linein[0] == '[') { // If a new division has started, add new data and copy remainder of file
                         ini_out << section << "=" << value << "\n";
                         fhandle = 3;
                         lineout = linein;
                         break;
                         }
                      
                      loc = linein.find("=",0); // Find end of section
                      if (loc == string::npos) {
                              if (linein == section) {
                                 lineout = section + "=" + value;
                                 fhandle = 3;
                                 break;
                                 }
                              else {
                                   lineout = linein + "=";
                                   break;
                                   }
                              }
                      
                      sub = linein.substr(0, loc);
                      
                      if (sub == section) { // If section matches input, change to new data
                              lineout = section + "=" + value;
                              fhandle = 3;
                              }
                      else {
                           lineout = linein;
                           }
                      break;
                 case 3: // Copies the remainder of the file once necessary changes have been made
                      lineout = linein;
                      break;
                 default:
                      return 3; // Unexpected Error
                      break;
                 }
          
          ini_out << lineout << "\n";
          ini_in.get(buff); // Check input for EOF
          }
    
    if (fhandle == 1) {
       ini_out << "[" << division << "]\n";
       ini_out << section << "=" << value << "\n";
       }

    ini_in.close();
    ini_out.close();
    return 0;
}

int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
    string hi, hey, ho, hehe;
    unsigned int ini_return;
    
    cout << "1st: "; getline(cin, hi, '\n');
    cout << "2nd: "; getline(cin, hey, '\n');
    cout << "3rd: "; getline(cin, ho, '\n');
    cout << "4th: "; getline(cin, hehe, '\n');
    
    ini_return = writeini(hi, hey, ho, hehe);
    
    system("PAUSE");
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Only thing I lack is deleting the original file and renaming "temp.ini" to the original filename. Still working on that.