invalid comparison

Hey, I am getting a compiler error that I don't agree with (haha). I am attempting to compare chars, but the error the compiler is giving me is:

Code:

46 prog6.cpp ISO C++ forbids comparison between pointer and integer

My code is:

Code:

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{

[snip]

if(argv[typeIndex] != 's')
    {
        cerr << "Invalid Type argument '" << argv[typeIndex] << "'.\n";
        exit(1);
    }

}

If I changed the single quotes around the s to double quotes "s" it compilers, however even if argv[typeIndex] is equal to "s" the error message still appears.

Code:

Invalid Type argument "s".

Any ideas?

Well I think I just solved my problem, by changing it to:

Code:

if(*argv[typeIndex] != 's')

However, when I try to add to this statement, I get an error, like above when I run the program - even if the argument is 's', it still spits out the error:

Code:

if((*argv[typeIndex] != 's') || (*argv[typeIndex] != 'b') || (*argv[typeIndex] != 'q'))
    {
        cerr << "Invalid Type argument '" << argv[typeIndex] << "'.\n";
        exit(1);
    }

It works fine without the OR statements (just the checking for 's')

char *argv[] is the same as char** argv, so what you did is argv[index] == char* and 's' == char, hence the compile error. Both types must be the same types.

argv is an array of strings (char pointers), not of chars.

If I changed the single quotes around the s to double quotes "s" it compilers, however even if argv[typeIndex] is equal to "s" the error message still appears.

use strcmp to compare strings. What you are doing now is comparing pointers (whether they point to the same address, and they never will)

Any idea why when I put OR statements inside the working if statement that it then no longer works?

Also, any idea as to why I am getting this error?

Code:

78 Cprog6.cpp [Warning] comparison is always false due to limited range of data type

Code:

if(*argv[countIndex] > 32767)
    {
        cerr << "Invalid count argument '" << argv[countIndex] << "'.\n";
        exit(1); 
    }

countIndex would be a value like 4 or 5. If I do (int)argv[countIndex] instead of *, it says that the value is like 53 when argv[countIndex] is actually 32000. I don't understand what is going on.

Let me guess, you are using a DOS based compiler, e.g. Turbo C?

In that case, 32767 is the highest integer value you could get to - so comparing with that will ALWAYS BE FALSE - so it's not much point to make the comparison and have the code inside the if-statement. If you add one, you should get 32768, but it is a negative nunber [-32768] because signed integers use the highest bit to indicate sign.

I seem to remember that Turbo & Borland C/C++ compilers give that error message.

You get the same if you try to comare an unsigned value for "less than zero", as that's also impossible to achieve.

--
Mats

Ah, thanks. Another logic problem that I am stuck on. I have this code:

Code:

    cout << "\t[" << *argv[seedIndex] << "]\n";

    if(*argv[seedIndex] < 1)
    {
        cerr << "Invalid Seed argument '" << argv[seedIndex] << "'.\n";
        exit(1);
    }

I run the program so it prints out

Code:

[0]

for argv[seedIndex], yet my error message never gets executed - it should, because 0 < 1, but it doesn't, and I don't know why :\

Code:

if(*argv[countIndex] > 32767)

Isn't *argv[countIndex] the same as argv[countIndex][0]? In which case you would be comparing a character with a large integer. (A character can have the value of 255 or 127 at most, so any char is always less than 32767.)

I run the program so it prints out
[0]

You are printing the ascii character '0' which has an integral value of 48 (or so). Which is very different from character '\0' (integral value 0), which is a non-printing character (you might see a space or something like that).

Edit: Commandline arguments are char arrays. You cannot treat them as integers. If you want to interpret the arguments as integers, you'll first need to convert them into ints, using std::stringstream's or C conversion functions.

Regarding your OR-chain, write out what you're testing and think about it:

If the character is not 's' OR the character is not 'b' OR the character is not 'q'
then print an error message.