Setting strings

Im new to programming(started 2 weeks ago) and am trying to make a poker program for a first project. I am using a function rplc() aka replace to change a an inputed ID to the cards name. I was wonder how I could set an array to equal a string. I understand how it is input, but how to you set it? I have been trying to do things like [array] = [string], and with quotes and such, but its just printing out e instead of the value I put, so I know it isnt working. Would I have to do each letter seperatly set? If so, Im gonna have to find a better way, because that would take me over 700 lines just for that :eek:

How about

Code:

---

char *suits[] = {
  "clubs",
  "diamonds",
  "hearts",
  "spades"
};

---

Then you can either do

Code:

---

char card_suit[10];
strcpy( card_suit, cards[2] );

---

Code:

---

char *card_suit;
card_suit = cards[2];

---

Maybe I should be more specific...

Heres an example of the code:

Code:

---

if(cardID = 0)
{
  [coding that changes id '0' to 'Two of Hearts']
}

---

Im having problem of what to put in there, Ive been thinking of just using an array that this part sets, and then after all 52 of these blocks(one for each card) put either return [array];(if thats proper syntax :rolleyes: ) or just have the array global and have it print out from the array directly.

btw: Im aware that that is 100+ lines, but copy paste works wonders for that. each letter seperate though is just way too... :eek:

If card_id is 0..51 say, then use
card_id % 13
to get the face value, and
card / 13
to get the suit value

I see what you mean, but it still doesnt seem to fit my coding... Heres what Im thinking about, using a global variable:

Code:

---

if(cardID = 0)
{
  cardNAME = Two of Hearts;
}

---

Basically, I need to find a way to make that legal. Is there a way to auto set a char array to have that value, or am I gonna have to go looking more into the string header?

strings are nice, but if you don't want to use them, strcpy() is the way to go.

Code:

---

strcpy (cardNAME, "Two of Hearts");

---

Should do it, assuming you have the array big enough to hold all the characters. I don't think allocating an array each time is worth it.

Thanks, I used that, but now it seems to have an error of not running again. Will that function overwrite itself, or do I have to clear out the array before it will copy ontop of it again? If so, is there a compiler that will allow you to put the null value(the noob knows what it is ^^), because it seems whenever I try to, it just puts '?' instead of it in the editor window, and my compiler changes it to a '?' when it loads it, so I cant set it. I have tried setting it to NULL, but it just runs an error and doesnt work.

Assume cardNum is an int, with valid values of 1 to 52. There's no reason you couldn't use the following approach.

if(cardNum == 1)
cout << "Ace of spades" << endl;
else if (cardNum == 2)
cout << "two of spades" << endl;
//same for 3 to 50
else if(cardNum == 51)
cout << "Queen of Clubs" << endl;
else
cout << "King of Clubs" << endl;

It might not be the most sophisticated approach, but it allows you to convert a number representing a card to a correlated string representing a card, and the more sophisticated approaches will come later. To do it in a more sophisticated fashion I'd learn about enumerated constants, switch statements, structs/classes, overloading operators, friend functions, STL maps, etc.

what about something like this?

Code:

---

#include <iostream>

enum { DIAMONDS, HEARTS, CLUBS, SPADES } ;
char *strsuit[] = {
  "diamonds",
  "hearts",
  "clubs",
  "spades"
};




int main()
{
  unsigned int cardsuit;
  std::cin>>cardsuit;
  if (cardsuit<=3)
    std::cout<<strsuit[cardsuit]<<std::endl;
}

---

In that case 0 is diamonds, 1 is hearts, and so on. It wouldn't be hard to allow strings to be inputted (then setting cardsuit to the appropriate number)

You could also do something similar for the number of the card, ie

Code:

---

enum { ONE, TWO, /*...*/, JACK, QUEEN, KING, ACE }

---

No need 4 arrays! How 'bout this?

Code:

---

srand(time(NULL));
int cardnumber = rand() % 13 + 1;
int suit = rand() % 4 + 1;
if(cardnumber == 1)
cout<<"Ace of ";
else if(cardnumber == 11)
cout<<"Jack of ";
else if(cardnumber == 12)
cout<<"Queen of ";
else if(cardnumber == 13)
cout<<"King of ";
else
cout<<cardnumber<<" of ";
if(suit == 1)
cout<<"Spades"<<endl;
else if(suit == 2)
cout<<"Hearts"<<endl;
else if(suit == 3)
cout<<"Clubs"<<endl;
else
cout<<"Diamonds"<<endl;

---

Do that 4 more times with different variables and then u'll have the hand. In order to check if the hand is worth points the && operator is useful. Like

Code:

---

if(card1 == card2 - 1 && card2 == card3 - 1 && card3 == card4 - 1 && card4 == card5 - 1 && suit1 == suit2 && suit1 == suit3 && suit1 == suit4 && suit1 == suit5){//You got a straight with all of the cards the same suit}

---

>>How 'bout this?
Are you sure that it is correct? Can you verify that it is as easily as an array based solution? A simple boundary check and array index is provably easier to get right than if..else if..else chains or a long logical expression.

Hmmm... Ill try one of those if my way is completely pointless, but Ill post a short version of the code:

Code:

---

//rplc function
//Replaces a card number id with the cards name
//(ie. 14=Three of Diamonds)
void rplc(int cardID)
{
  if (cardID = 0)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Two of Hearts");
  }
  else if (cardID = 1)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Three of Hearts");
  }
  else if (cardID = 2)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Four of Hearts");
  }
  else if (cardID = 3)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Five of Hearts");
  }
.
.
.
  else if (cardID = 48)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Jack of Clubs");
  }
  else if (cardID = 49)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Queen of Clubs");
  }
  else if (cardID = 50)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "King of Clubs");
  }
  else if (cardID = 51)
  {
    strcpy (cardNAME, "Ace of Clubs");
  }
  else
  {
    cerr<<"Error: card ID unknown";
  }
}

---

Basically, at first when they were all if's alone, it kept doing the same thing over and over(ace of clubs, aka 51) but now with else in there, it always does Three of Hearts, aka 2. Is there a problem with the if's coding, because im garenteed thats why it isnt working right... I know it isnt having a problem reading cardID, because i havent been having the cerr go off...

And incase you ask, cardNAME is global.

Your method of assigning a numeric value to every card in the deck (ranging from 1 to 52) isn't a bad idea.. however, why not just break the deck down into 4 suits.. and 13 face values.. (ranging from 2 to ace)

Maybe.. assign a two dimensional array: int deck[3][12]

(or.. you can use this same idea with a two dimensional array of pointers to an enumerated list of strings...)

where the first dimension will represent the 4 suits ([0] to [3]).. and the 13 ([0] to [12]) will represent the possible face values per suit ranging from 2 to ace.

I would also write a couple of functions.. that will randomly return a suit.. and a face value from deck[][]

Hope this gives you a different perspective.. if you need any help with specific code.. i could give you a couple of ideas. :)

:cool:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LloydUzari

Basically, at first when they were all if's alone, it kept doing the same thing over and over(ace of clubs, aka 51) but now with else in there, it always does Three of Hearts, aka 2. Is there a problem with the if's coding, because im garenteed thats why it isnt working right... I know it isnt having a problem reading cardID, because i havent been having the cerr go off...

And incase you ask, cardNAME is global.

---

Your problem is that you are using = instead of == to compare the ints. Change if (cardID = 0) to if (cardID == 0) and do it for every single else if also.

my Idea,

Code:

---


srand(time(NULL));
int cardnumber = rand() % 13 + 1;
int suit = rand() % 4 + 1;
if(cardnumber == 1)
cout<<"Ace of ";
else if(cardnumber == 11)
cout<<"Jack of ";
else if(cardnumber == 12)
cout<<"Queen of ";
else if(cardnumber == 13)
cout<<"King of ";
else
cout<<cardnumber<<" of ";
if(suit == 1)
cout<<"Spades"<<endl;
else if(suit == 2)
cout<<"Hearts"<<endl;
else if(suit == 3)
cout<<"Clubs"<<endl;
else
cout<<"Diamonds"<<endl;

---

, is...err...way more easier than

Code:

---

if(cardid==0)
strcpy(Cardname, "ace of hearts"

---

and 51 more elseifs.
LloydUzari was orriginally doing 52 else if statements for every card and returning an array at the end of the function. you could strcpy the first part of the string of mine and then append the second part of the string and cout the strcpied variable.

Unfortunately, knowing the name of card doesn't allow you to compare one card to another another very readily. To compare cards it is probably easier to be able to compare the value of the card and the suit of the card separately, not just the name of the card. Therefore, using a struct/class to reprsesent a card with the value, suit, and (possibly) color as members and a method for displaying the cards name when it's desired is helpful. Maybe something like this:

Code:

---


enum Suit("spades", "hearts", "diamonds", "clubs");
 
struct Card
{
int value;
Suit suit;
char color;//optional
friend ostream& operator <<(const ostream &, const Card &);
};
 
ostream & operator<<(const ostream & os, const Card & c)
{
switch(value)
{
        case 0:
                os << "Ace";
                break;
        case 1:
                os << "two";
        //and so on
}
os << " of ";
switch(suit)
{
        case 0:
                os << "spades";
                break;
        case 1:
                os << "hearts";
                break;
        //and so on
}
return os;
}

---

I might use A, 2, 3, ... J, Q, K instead of Ace, two, three, etc. and H, C, D instead of hearts, clubs, diamonds, etc, but that's besides the point.

You still need some mechanism to assign values to each Card in the array, see Salem's suggestion for hints on that. Once that's done though, displaying the name of a Card is now as simple as

cout << card;

and comparing Cards can be readily done because each member of a given Card can be assessed individually.

The problem is this approach uses stuff which may not be at your disposal after just two weeks of study.

The advantage is you can use the same tools to develop a representation of a hand (an array of Cards, a value, and maybe a name), a deck (an array of Cards and a shuffle method (or use the STL shuffle algorithm)), and a game (a container to hold as many hands as desired in a given game, a mechanism to deal each hand from a shuffled deck, and a mechanism to rank the hands to determine a winner) with which to complete your project.