Thread: This code does not work in Bloodshed-Dev C++ 4.9.9.2. Why?

could you please explain to me, why this code, does not work in Bloodshed-Dev C++ 4.9.9.2. The following errors occurred when i compile this code:

first error: "myfile" undeclared (first use this function)
second error: "getline" undeclared (first use this function)
third error: "line" undeclared (first use this function)

It seems that the compiler does not recognize the variable type string. Correct if i am wrong.

Code:

#include <iostream.h>
#include <fstream.h>
#include <string.h>

int main ()
{
  string line;
  ifstream myfile ("example.txt");
  if (myfile.is_open())
  {
    while (! myfile.eof() )
    {
      getline (myfile, line);
      cout << line << endl;
    }
    myfile.close();
  }

  else cout << "Unable to open file"; 

  return 0;
}

Thanks...

Code:

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

using namespace std;

int main ()
{
  string line;
  ifstream myfile ("example.txt");
  if (myfile.is_open())
  {
    while (! myfile.eof() )
    {
      getline (myfile, line);
      cout << line << endl;
    }
    myfile.close();
  }

  else cout << "Unable to open file"; 

  return 0;
}

...or even better would be...

Code:

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

int main ()
{
  std::string line;
  std::ifstream myfile ("example.txt");
  if (myfile.is_open())
  {
    while (! myfile.eof() )
    {
      std::getline (myfile, line);
      cout << line << endl;
    }
    myfile.close();
  }

  else cout << "Unable to open file"; 

  return 0;
}

Google namespaces.

Use the correct standard headers.

Code:

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

int main()
{
    std::string line;
    std::ifstream myfile("example.txt");
    if (myfile.is_open())
    {
        while (! myfile.eof() )
        {
            std::getline(myfile, line);
            std::cout << line << std::endl;
        }
        myfile.close();
    }

    else std::cout << "Unable to open file"; 

    return 0;
}

Ummm... well it appears you've edited your post to use the wrong headers as laserlight noted... if that's the code that you used, then your problem is that <string.h> and <string> are not the same library. <string.h> corresponds to <cstring> which is your strcpy, strcat, strlen functions and such.

Originally Posted by neo_phyte

okay.. thanks for a great help, i understand what SlyMaelstrom explaining that <string.h> corresponds to strcpy, strlen, strcmp, strcat, and other string functions. what does <string> corresponds with? hope you englighten me with this two terms... does also <iostream> and <iostream.h> are different libraries?

<string> cooresponds to the string class that you're trying to use in your code. <iostream> and <iostream.h>, if you have the latter, are essentially the same thing. The only difference is <iostream> is under the std namespace and <iostream.h> isn't. I'm pretty sure <iostream.h> isn't actually standard, it was just created for some beta version of the C++ standard.

Originally Posted by Daved

It was actually "standard" for many years before there was a standard

I can see why the first "standard" is in quotes... anyway, as far as the current standard is concerned, iostream.h is apparently only mentioned in one of the appendixes as being provided as a coutesy for all the existing code that includes it. It is, however, not standard.

There actually are small differences between the two libraries that you may or may not encounter when using it. They are listed here.

It is fine with .h headers... it is not ok with you using old "standard" headers (such as iostream.h fstream.h).

The point of namespaces is to keep things in one nice tidy area so that there are no naming conflicts (once you get into multiple libraries at the same time, you may find this out) therefore it is considered good by most people on this board to use std:: (namespace and scope resolver) rather than a using statement. If you want to know more on this, read up on namespaces. There is no speed differences other than in typing (That I know of) but in the long run most of the time spent programming is not the actual writing part, it is debuging and designing.

> while (! myfile.eof() )
See the FAQ on why using eof() to control a loop is bad.

Back on topic.
Small student exercises typically only use the std namespace, so "using namespace std;" is a quick way of saving some typing. It's about on a par with using global variables I suppose. You can just about get away with it in a single source file, but it won't take long before it becomes a real PITA.

It doesn't look neater when you have

Code:

using std::cout;
using std::cin;
using std::endl;
using std::setw;
using std::string;
using std::getline;
using std::vector;
using std::ofstream;
using std::ifstream;
/* ... and so on and so forth ... */

I just use the std:: qualifier. Some people think it looks a mess, but really, those people just don't know how to format code properly.