Thread: Re: Function problems in simple C++ prog.

Hey guys, I'm having a bit of trouble here. I have a really easy program using a large number of functions in one program. The program simulates a race between a hare and a tortoise and then outputs the to the screen. It *should* look something like this:

.....H.......T...................................
............H....T...............................
...................T......H......................
..........................T.............H........
..................................T..............H
The hare wins.

But my output's getting screwed up. If you wanna take a crack and help me with what's wrong, I'd be quite thankful.
The code I have so far is attached as csc141_ass4.cpp.

well, to get you started, you have to update your pos_tortoise, pos_hare....this could be as simple as passing them by reference. Actually you should pass tortoise and hare, and completely drop your pos_ variables. Another thing, if you have your for loop running until count = 70, incrementing by one, your tortoise and hare could run to 210 and 420, respectively b/c it doesn't end when one of them hits 70. I would change it to a while loop along with the aforementioned changes, it might look something like this:

// Define this as a global const, so it can be used in other functions
const int track_len = 70;

// Make it int, good practice and I said so
int main() {

int tort = 0, hare = 0, randNum;
srand(time(NULL));

while(hare < track_len && tort < track_len) {
randNum = rand()%9+1;
move_tort(tort, randNum);
move_hare(hare, randNum);
display(tort, hare);
}

results(tort, hare);

return 0;
}

void move_tort(int &t, int n) {
switch( n ) {
// A few things here, 1. you add 1 to your random number, you'll never
// get a 0 case, 2. you don't need to repeat code as much, watch:
case 1:
case 2:
case 3:
case 4: t+= 3; break; // If your random number is 1, 2, 3, or 4, it will add
// 3 to your tortoise position. In addition, since
// tortoise was passed by reference, it will be
// incremented by 3 back in main()
// In the next set of cases, you might want to account for the position
// being <6, which would cause a negative, ie.
case 5:
case 6: t>=6?t-=6:t=0; break;
// If you don't know how t>=6?t-=6:t=0 works, you could use:
// if(t >= 6) t-=6; else t = 0;

case 7:
case 8:
case 9: t+=1; break;
default: cout << "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?\n"; break; }
}

void move_hare(int &h, int n) {/*You can figure this out*/}

// I'm sure there are flaws in this function, I was writing it as I went
void display(int t, int h) {
// I do this differently than you did, but that's just personal opinion

int diff, *first, *second;
bool tied = false;

h =
if(h==t) tied = true;
first = (t > h ? t : h);
second = (t > h ? h : t);
diff = track_len - *first;
if(diff < 0) diff = 0;

for(int i = 0; i<*second && i<track_len; i++)
cout << ".";
if(tied) cout << "B";
else if(h == *second) cout << "H";
else cout << "T";

for(int i = *second; i<*first && i<track_len; i++)
cout << ".";
if(tied);
else if(h == *first) cout << "H";
else cout << "T";

for(int i=0; i<diff; i++)
cout << ".";
}
Hope this is helpful.

check this out....

in your directives to the preprocessor.....

#include <iostream.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
using namespace std;

you use the old C style headers that end with (.h)
and use the new C++ style phrease (using namespace std

when you call on function rand() the compiler exits due to the ambiguity of the two (2) styles.....
what i mean is that the compiler gets confused whether u are using the rand() or std::rand()

my advice is just earase the (.h) part of your header files and put instead of just rand() ... you should put std::rand(), i think that should get rid of the fatal error which is te unexpected end of file

i just tried it and it runs..... i didn't

ps. hint....... by using your header file <stdlib>

and instead of writing your pause function yourself put this

system("pause");

in that place that will pause the system where ever you want and will ask you to press any key to continue....

i hope that helps.....

to tell you the truth .... the outcome doesn't look like what you have expected but i will leave that up to you..... look at the previous post reply.... it should help you


Regards,
matheo917