Thread: newbie question regarding usage of structures in class

Hi Guys,

I have an issue thats befuddling me. I am attaching the code below. My problem is in getArrayStruct method, I am not able see the contents of my structure. I think the problem may be a simple mistake but I am not able to pinpoint it. The program compiles and runs okay but the contents of structure returned by getArrayStruct print gibberish, like they have not been initialized. Any pointers/guidance on this is very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance
-sam

Code:

structure.h
    struct structForArray {
	        int size;
	        int position;
	        int mark;
	        int *byteArray;
    };




And a class that uses it.. thus

abcd.h
#include "structure.h"
   class abcd {

	      public :	
		               structForArray *source;
....
	      public :
                               abcd(char *filename ) {
                                //call a function to populate the struct
                                populate (filename);

                               ~abcd() {}

              private:
                              void populate(char *inputfilename);
                              struct structForArray *getArrayStruct();
};





abcd.cpp
#include "abcd.h"
           void abcd::populate(char *inputfilename) {

                 //read from file

                //populate structure 

        structForArray *inputStream;
        structForArray inputStr = {0, 0, 0, NULL};
        inputStream = & inputStr;
        ...

               //for loop ...populating the struct

             
              this->source = inputstream;

              return;
}


struct structForArray *abcd::getArrayStruct() {
       //here I am trying to check source  structure and return it
       //but it is empty

       return this->source;
}

>>this->source = inputstream;

Now source is pointing to an object that goes out of scope at the end of the function. You might as well just remove those temporary variables and set source's members directly. And there's no need to use the this pointer in this case either.

Either don't declare source as a pointer or allocate/deallocate it with new and delete. And again, there's no need to use the this pointer here.