Passing a structure to a fxn questions

**JackR** · 09-25-2006

I am trying to use a structure to store the card value, the card name, and the suit name for a deck of 52 cards in a blackjack program.

The structure is globally defined:

Code:

struct cards{
		int cardval; // value of card
		string suitname; // name of suit
		string cardname; // name of card
	}card[52];

In the main function, card is passed to the function deckgen:

Code:

deckgen(card);//creates deck and names card values

Deckgen is in a header file:

Code:

#ifndef	DECKGEN_H
#define DECKGEN_H

# include <iostream>
# include <string>
using namespace std;

void deckgen(cards [52]);
void deckgen(cards card[52])
{
	// Setting card values

	int num;
	int cardnum = 1;

	for (int i = 0; i <= 3; i++)
		{
			for (int j = 0; j <= 12; j++)
			{
	
				if (j < 9)
					num = j+2;
				else if (j <12)
					num = 10;
				else num = 11;
				card[cardnum].cardval = num;

	//Naming suits.
	
	switch(i){
		case 0: 
			card[cardnum].suitname = "clubs";
			break;
		case 1: 
			card[cardnum].suitname = "diamonds";
			break;
		case 2: 
			card[cardnum].suitname = "hearts";
			break;
		case 3: 
			card[cardnum].suitname = "spades";
			break;}
	
	//Naming Cards.

	switch(cardrand){
		case 0: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "two";
			break;
		case 1: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "three";
			break;
		case 2: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "four";
			break;
		case 3: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "five";
			break;
		case 4: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "six";
			break;
		case 5: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "seven";
			break;
		case 6: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "eight";
			break;
		case 7: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "nine";
			break;
		case 8: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "ten";
			break;
		case 9: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "jack";
			break;
		case 10: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "queen";
			break;
		case 11: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "king";
			break;
		case 12: 
			card[cardnum].cardname = "ace";
			break;}

		cardnum ++;

			}
		}



	

}
#endif

My first problem is that I am getting the error messages:
"error C2065: 'cards' : undeclared identifier"
and
"error C2182: 'deckgen' : illegal use of type 'void' " for line 8 of deckgen.

Secondly, I do not think that my code now stores the variables correctly in the structure card[52]. Namely, I do not think these values can be used in other functions.

How can I correct these problems?

Thank you,
J

**Richie T** · 09-25-2006

Code:

struct cards{
		int cardval; // value of card
		string suitname; // name of suit
		string cardname; // name of card
	}card[52];

Looks like you're trying to create an array of structs - in which case, that's not the way to do it - delete the highlighted piece, and somewhere in your code, have:

Code:

cards some_variable_name [array_size];

**JackR** · 09-25-2006

Richie T,

I have followed your suggestion, but am still getting the same error messages.

**Richie T** · 09-25-2006

Try moving the definition of the struct inside your header - also, as a rule, implementation of a function is not normally stored in a header, but in another cpp file.

**Salem** · 09-25-2006

> The structure is globally defined:
Where - in your main.cpp file?

If it's after the deckgen.h header file inclusion (see below for more comment), then it's too late for the header file.

> #ifndef DECKGEN_H
Why do you have code in a header file?
You should have deckgen.h, which contains only the prototype and the struct cards declaration.

The deckgen.cpp includes deckgen.h and also the function implementation.

You compile both with something like
gcc main.cpp deckgen.cpp
Or include both files in the project in your IDE.

There's a FAQ on multi-source projects.

**JackR** · 09-25-2006

Moving the definition of the structure to the inside of my header does not change the error messages.

Also, I do not want to do this because I will be using the structure in other functions once the values are initialized.

Your comment about where functions should be located has been noted. I will alter that once I solve the existing problems with my program.

Do have any other suggestions?

Thank you,
J

**JackR** · 09-25-2006

The structure is defined outside of the main function.

I will examine the FAQ on multi-source projects. If I get the program set up so I have .cpp and .h files organized as you suggested, will this take care of my error messages?

Also, no one has addressed the issue of using the card values, card name, and suit names in the array of structures in different functions. Will I be able to use those variables as initilized in the deck generator in another function?

**Salem** · 09-25-2006

I think the problems would go away if you declared the struct before the function.
This flows naturally from structuring the code in the usually preferred way of structuring code.

**JackR** · 09-25-2006

Moving the structure to before the function did make my original errors go away, but now I get error messages for my structure declaration which says that suitname and cardname are missing a type specifier. This is leading to problems in my deck generation, where I get error messages saying that suitname and cardname are not members of card. I do include <string> in both my main .cpp file and in the header files. What could the problem be?

**JaWiB** · 09-25-2006

Did you try:

Code:

struct cards
{
  int cardval; // value of card
  std::string suitname; // name of suit
  std::string cardname; // name of card
};

(Or alternatively, a using declaration, although it's a good idea to avoid them, especially in headers)

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