Thread: Problem writing to external file

I am attempting to write a program for an assignment. I have to use several functions to open and then write some data to an external file. I have to use one function just to open the external file and then another function to write a header with columns to the file. It is a requirement that we allow the user to name the file. Here is my difficulty; I was able to allow the user to name the file and then open it, but it doesn't write the data to the file. Here is my code.

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
#include <cmath>
#include <cstdlib>     
#include <fstream>     
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int openOutputFile(char n[]);
void writeHeaderLinesToOutputFile();
int createAndSaveLoanData();
double calculateOneLineOfLoanResults();
double calculateMonthlyPayment(double r, double expm, double yrs);
double calculateTotalPayment(double mPmt);
int writeLineOfResultsToOutputFile();

int main()
{
    
   
    ofstream outFile;    
    char outputName[50];
   
    cout << "Please type the name of the output file, including the extension: ";
    cin >> outputName;
    openOutputFile(outputName);
    
    cin.get();
    return 0;
}
int openOutputFile(char name[50])
{
    
    ofstream outFile; 
    
    outFile.open(name);
        if (outFile.fail())
        {
            cerr << "Could not open " << name << "!" << endl;
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
        }
    writeHeaderLinesToOutputFile();    
    return 0;
}
void writeHeaderLinesToOutputFile()
{
    ofstream outFile; 
    
          outFile << "Loan Amount: $1000" << '\n'; 
          outFile << left << setw(9) << "Interest" << left << setw(9) << "Duration" << left << setw(9)  << "Monthly"; 
          outFile << left << setw(9) << "Total" << '\n';
          outFile << left << setw(9)  << "rate" << left << setw(9) << "(years)" << left << setw(9) << "payment";
          outFile << left << setw(9) << "payment" << '\n';
          outFile.close();
}

Can someone tell me what I am going wrong? I am pretty sure the problem is occurring because the file is being opened in one function and written to in another, but I have no idea how to get around it.

I am pretty sure the problem is occurring because the file is being opened in one function and written to in another, but I have no idea how to get around it.

You need to pass around the ofstream by reference. It could be something like:

Code:

int openOutputFile(char name[50])
{
    ofstream outFile(name);
    if (outFile.fail())
    {
        cerr << "Could not open " << name << "!" << endl;
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    writeHeaderLinesToOutputFile(outFile);
    outFile.close();
    return 0;
}
void writeHeaderLinesToOutputFile(ofstream& outFile)
{
    outFile << "Loan Amount: $1000" << '\n'; 
    outFile << left << setw(9) << "Interest" << left << setw(9) << "Duration" << left << setw(9)  << "Monthly"; 
    outFile << left << setw(9) << "Total" << '\n';
    outFile << left << setw(9)  << "rate" << left << setw(9) << "(years)" << left << setw(9) << "payment";
    outFile << left << setw(9) << "payment" << '\n';
}