Thread: string trouble

So i decided my first program is going to be a text game. I have the basic part done, i just can't get the string working. What i want it to do, is
1) user inputs their name
2) name is stored under the "name" string
3) name is then printed to the screen

I don't really know what i'm doing with strings, but i compared my strings to the dogsim game someone posted on the games forum and they looked the same.

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string>

using std::cin;
using std::cout;
using std::string;

unsigned long int money;
unsigned short int reputation;
unsigned short int time_worked;
unsigned short int skill;
string name;
string hospital name;
string state;
string country;

void start();
void instruction();
void begin();
void yourstats();
void gamemenu();
void work();
void buyitem();
void sellitem();
void patientdied();
void patientgotwell();
void paycheck();
void bills();
void fired();
void hired();
void sued();
void gameover();

void start()
{
	cout<<"Welcome to Doctor Sim v1!"\n\n;
	cout<<"Main Menu"\n;
	cout<<"1)Begin Simulation"\n;
	cout<<"2)Instruction"\n";
	cout<<"3)Exit"\n;
	cin>>mainmenuchoice;
	cin.ignore();

	if (mainmenuchoice == "1") {
		begin();
	}
	else if (mainmenuchoice == "2") {
		instruction();
	}
	else if (mainmenuchoice == "3") {

	}
	else {
		cout<<"Wrong Answer! Simulation will now begin!"\n\n;
		begin();
	}

void instruction()
{
	cout<<"What is there to explain? Follow the promts and get money! boink"\n;
	start();
}
void begin()
{
	string name;
	name = "Doctor";
	cout<<"Hello, are you here to apply for the job?";
	cin>>answer1;
	cin.ignore();
	if (answer1 == "yes") {
		cout<<"good";
	}
	else if (answer1 == "no") {
		cout<<"That's too bad, you look like a fine doctor. I think you should see the hospital manager anyway.";
	}
	cout<<"Hello, you must be the doctor I heard about. We're looking for a another doctor to hire, so let's preceed to the interview.";
	cout<<"First, what's your name?";
		cin>>name;
	cout<<"Let me write this down...Name:" << name << ", what college did you goto?";
	cout<<"Really...";
	cin>>;
	cout<<"Well, i'll hire you, but only on a trial basis. You screw up and you're gone.";
}

int main()
{
	start();
}

My output is:

Code:

Compiling...
main.cpp
D:\programming\code\my code\learning project\main.cpp(15) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ';' before identifier 'name'
D:\programming\code\my code\learning project\main.cpp(15) : fatal error C1004: unexpected end of file found
Error executing cl.exe.

main.exe - 2 error(s), 0 warning(s)

These errors seem simple, but everything seems right to me. I don't understand why it's only the name string that i get an error on. And i'm not too sure on how to end a program (error 2). I just thought i needed a bracket and that was it.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

thanks for your suggestions, but i'm still stuck with my errors. I'd like to get this working now, so when i'm working with a nearly complete program, i don't find out i have 100 errors

deleting the line "string hospital name;", gets me 32 errors

adding the bracket in start() did nothing.

with the bracket in start (), my output is:

Code:

Compiling...
main.cpp
D:\programming\code\my code\learning project\main.cpp(14) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ';' before identifier 'name'
D:\programming\code\my code\learning project\main.cpp(14) : fatal error C1004: unexpected end of file found
Error executing cl.exe.

main.exe - 2 error(s), 0 warning(s)

I tried switching the build configs from debug to release...no change.

The only thing i can see that would cause an issue, would be the cin.ignore i use. I have no idea what it does, but in the sample code (dogsim game) i use to base mine off of, that's what he used. I use cin.ignore before in the code, but when i input the string i don't use cin.ignore.

on a side note, what does cin.ignore do? Seems like a class or function...

Thanks for your responses, i'll keep poking around in the code, and might even rewrite it. Seems like i'm using too much that i don't understand. yet...

Well this is what I see right of the bat:

Code:

    cout<<"Welcome to Doctor Sim v1!"\n\n;
    cout<<"Main Menu"\n;
    cout<<"1)Begin Simulation"\n;
    cout<<"2)Instruction"\n";
    cout<<"3)Exit"\n;

//should be

   cout<<"Welcome to Doctor Sim v1!\n\n"; 
   cout<<"Main Menu\n";
   cout<<"1)Begin Simulation\n";
   cout<<"2)Instruction\n";
   cout<<"3)Exit\n;"

And then of course you forgot the closing bracket } for your start function.

Happy Coding!

Originally Posted by howdytest

deleting the line "string hospital name;", gets me 32 errors

That's because the error you are getting is causing all the other errors to not show up. Notice that the compile errors you posted refer to that line, so fixing that line might be a good idea. Remove it completely, or change it to "string hospital;". Then, try to understand why.

A single change won't remove all compile errors. The point of people pointing out certain individual problems is for you to understand why they are problems and fix them so they are correct. The point is not to give you magic potion that makes your erros go away without you understanding why. The point is also not to simply make the errors go away. The errors are there to tell you that your code is incorrect. The goal, then, is to make your code correct, not remove the errors. Once the code is correct, the errors will generally disappear. Hopefully that makes a little sense.

Originally Posted by howdytest

I understand what you're trying to say. And just so you know, i'm not asking for a free solution. This is a learning project. I'm posting here trying understand what's going on. The reason i started this project to feel comfortable writing code, not to just write some program. One day, i'll be able to look at my code and realize i did something wrong. One day i'll be able to read the error messages and understand my mistake. But i'm not quite there yet. And at the moment, this forum is my only way of asking questions.

Don't worry, you are doing fine. Do you understand why "string hospital name;" is incorrect? Do you understand why "cout<<"3)Exit\n;"" is incorrect? How about the missing bracket? My point is simply that for each error pointed out by someone here, see if you can understand why your code is wrong, and that way you will understand if your fix is correct regardless of whether more or less compiler errors appear.

In the future, always compile as you go. You wrote entirely too much code before trying to compile it. Especially as a beginner, new code should be compiled every few lines.

Thanks everyone. Must seem like you're walking me through this

So far, i've narrowed it down from 32 errors, to 19.

Thanks for all your help.