question about arrays

Code:

class Cards
{
private: 
         char name_of_card [5];
       	 int value;
public: 
	Cards(int v, char c []);
	~Cards();
	char [] get_name();
	int get_value();

};

My code doesn't seem to like the char [] get_name();

it throws up a error C3409: empty attribute block is not allowed


Then in my constructor for this class i have

Code:

Cards::Cards(int v, char c [])
{
	value = v;
	name_of_card = c;
}

I'm used to using java but this isn't compiling giving this error
error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'char []' to 'char [5]'
There are no conversions to array types, although there are conversions to references or pointers to arrays

Is it obvious what i'm doing wrong?

> char [] get_name();
You could make this:
const char *get_name();

> name_of_card = c;
To copy char arrays, use strcpy():
strcpy(name_of_card, c);

Or do things the C++ way, and use strings instead of char arrays:

Code:

private: 
         string name_of_card;

And then:

Code:

	name_of_card = c;

works just fine.
And get_name would become:

Code:

string get_name();

Or I believe you could also use:

Code:

string &get_name();

Originally Posted by swoopy

> char [] get_name();
You could make this:
const char *get_name();

how does char * differ ?

Does it mean a pointer to the array i'm slightly confused

how does char * differ ?

You can't return an array from a function, so you need to return a pointer to the first element or a pointer to the array as a whole. Since returning a pointer to the first element is easier, that's what everyone does.