Overload [ ] in a class template with a pointer

[amigoloko]

Hi well i have a big prob , i wonder if u can help me... to solve it, look i have to do , a templete with a few operations with one array , so i have the , inserrt , the erase, search etc.. so , in the main i use a ponter to make the array , so my prob is that i need to overlaod de operator [ ] but i dont know how i ll call form main i have the function to overload it but... i dont how ,i will send the code ....

template<class T>

class arreglo
{
	private:
		T *A;
		int length;
		int top;
	public:

		arreglo (int inilength);
		~arreglo();
		insert (T data);
		expand (int inc);
		int &operator[](int index); //HERE IS ThE FUNC
};
#include <iostream.h>
/*********************************/
template<class T>
arreglo<T>::arreglo(int inilength)
{
	if(inilength<2)
		inilength=2;
	//cout<<inilength;
	length=inilength;
	A=new T[length];
	top=-1;
}
/*********************************/
template<class T>
arreglo<T>::~arreglo()
{
	delete [] A;
}
/***********************************************************/
template<class T>
arreglo<T>::insert(T data)
{
	top++;
	if(top>=length)
		//cout <<"expandiendo";
		expand(length/2);
	*(A+top)=data;
	//cout<<endl<<"dato escrito"<<endl;
}
/**************************************/
template<class T>
arreglo<T>::expand(int inc)
{
	T *temp;
	temp=new T[length+inc];
	for(int i=0; i<=length; i++)
	{
		*(temp+i)=*(A+i);
	}
	delete A ;
	length=length+inc;
	A=temp;
	//cout<<top<<length;
}
/**************************************/
template<class T>
arreglo<T>::printarreglo()
{
	cout<<endl<<"Datos en el arreglo"<<endl;
	for(int i=0;i<top+1;i++)
		cout<<*(A+i)<<" ";
	cout<<endl;
}
/******************************************************/
template<class T>
int &arreglo<T>::operator[](int index)
{
   /*if(index<0 || index>top)
   {
   		cout<<endl<<"NO se encontro el indice "<<endl;
	   return -1;
   }
   else*/
   {
   cout<<endl<<"Ya lo encontre"<<endl;
   return *(A+index);
   }
}
/******************************************************/ HERE THE FUNCTION

void main()
{
	arreglo<double> *nuevo;
	nuevo = new arreglo<double>(1);
	//nuevo->print();
	nuevo->insert(30.2);
	nuevo->insert(40.4);
	nuevo->insert(50);
	nuevo->printarreglo();
delete nuevo}  // ADN HERE I DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE
//THE OPERATION OVRLOAD CALL

[prog-bman]

Well first off void main is wrong. It is int main(). Second off why use that strange way of adressing the data. You can use it just like an array since you allocated with new []. Here is a quick example.

#include <iostream>

template <class T>
class test
{
    public:
        test()
        {
            this->testSize = 0;
            data = new T[1]; //just to allocate one and make using delete [] ok :)
        }
        test(const T &data) //copy constuctor for adding one T
        {
            this->data = new T[1];
            this->data[0] = data; 
            this->testSize = 1;
        }
        void push_back(const T &data) //Add some T to the end.
        {                
            T *temp = new T[this->testSize]; //creating a temp to hold the old contents
            for(int i = 0; i < this->testSize; i++)
            {
                temp[i] = this->data[i];
            }
            delete [] this->data; //freeing the old memory
            this->data = new T[this->testSize + 1];  //re-allocating some new stuff
            for(int i = 0; i < this->testSize; i++)
            {
                this->data[i] = temp[i];
            }
            this->data[this->testSize] = data;                    
            this->testSize++;
            delete [] temp;
        }                    
        const T &operator [](int index) const 
        {
            return this->data[index]; //this returns non modifyable data
        }
        const int &size()
        {
            return this->testSize; //returning the size of the thingy
        }
        ~test()
        {
            delete [] data; //freeing the memory
        }
    private:
        T *data;    //the "goods"
        int testSize;  //how many items are in here 
};

int main()
{
    test <int>mainTest(1);
    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
        mainTest.push_back(rand() % 50);
    }
    for(int i = 0; i < mainTest.size(); i++)
    {
        std::cout<<mainTest[i]<<std::endl;
    }        
    std::cin.get();
}

I don't know if this is all good since I kinda whipped it up but I should give you a clue.

[amigoloko]

yeah , kindda... but , the thing is that is a proyect for school so i need to doit like that so i dont know how to make de call in main to the olverload function of the operator

[prog-bman]

You don't call the function like a function it is operator overloading so you would use it like you would the regular way. neuvo[theIndexYouWant] and that will give you the goods at the specified index.

[amigoloko]

access to [] operator 
class A 
    { 
        pulic: 
            T &operator [] (int index) {return 0; } 
     }; 

main() 
{ 
       A * a = new A; 
        int i = (*a)[2]; .
       cout<<i;
}

[prog-bman]

That will return 0 no matter what the index is.

const T &operator [](int index) const 
{
    return this->data[index]; //this returns non modifyable data at the specified index
}

You do know how to access an regular array right?
This is doing the same thing but it is accessing the data inside the class and returning the result.

[amigoloko]

yes , well my real overload function is this

template<class T>
T &arreglo<T>::operator[](int index)
{
  if(index<0 || index>top)
   {
   		cout<<endl<<"NO se encontro el indice "<<endl;
	return -1;
  }
   else
   {
   cout<<endl<<"Ya lo encontre"<<endl;
   return *(A+index);
   }
}

so in that the operator returns me the data that is on the index in the array , but i have a little problem if i leave the if that check if the index is 0-top range this error comes rror C2440: 'return' : cannot convert from 'const int' to 'double &' cout<<(*nuevo)[-1]; so if i omitt the if clause everithing is good , but i need to have a return if the range is over the boundaries soo :S:S ... ????

[amigoloko]

i know that it is not the best way to doit, and i undertand ur comment but this is for a school proyect where the tich told us to make thath way , so , he needs to tha main goes in that way , like insert the data in tha main , and , also have the search to fiand a data , or a print function that prints all the array but , y need to overload de [ ] for return me the data on the index that i give.

[elad]

>but i need to have a return if the range is over the boundaries soo

Not really. You only need a return statement for the function as a whole. Since you can't return an int or a T, unless T is an int, you'll have to come up with something else. Why not display an error statement to the user if the index is out of range, and have them input an index that is within range and keep doing that until they do put enter an index that is within range, and then return the value indicated by the index as you already do. That way you won't need a return value from within the if statement that is a different type from T, the error statement will go away, and the user will be able to get the data they really want, without the program crashing or overreaching the boundaries of the array, etc.

while index not in valid range
    output statement to user
    get new index from user

return value using index that is gauranteed to be within range

[xErath]

if the index is out of boundaries you have some choices:

• ignore the index and leave it for the programmer to check
• throw an exception
• return a default value //for reading only

don't use const or you'll limit the operator to read only

[prog-bman]

>don't use const or you'll limit the operator to read only
And is this always a bad thing?