Vector checking

I was wondering if there was a way to check if theres already stored in a vector element.
For example:

Code:

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vector<string> Inventory;

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I searched up vector methods and I saw the empty() method but, then it says it checks if the whole vector is empty. Could i do something like this?

Code:

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Inventory[0].empty();

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no you can't. Inventory[0] in this case is of type "string".

Is there any way I'm able to do this then?

if the 0th element has not been written yet, it will be the value created by the default constructor of "string" class.

what do you mean by "there's already stored in a vector element", are you trying to check if the 0th string is written? Then you can compare the 0th element with a string created by the default constructor of "string".

Like I'm trying to write a method of class Human thats named getItem. It is suppose to check if the 0th element of the vector is empty or not written yet and store the string(Name of item) in there but if it is empty i want to skip to the next element and check if its written or not again.

Oh in that case, "Inventory[0].empty();" actually does work, since the class "string" has this method too, and since the default strings are empty, if it's empty, it means it's not written yet.

Okay thanks

You can check the vector's size. If the size is n, then there are n elements stored from [0, n-1].
Other than that, you can also try using the at method. If the index you are trying to access doesn't exist, it will throw an exception.

It sounds like you could make your life easier by using something like this.

Code:

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#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>  // for std::find

class Data {
private:
    std::vector<std::string> data;
public:
    void add(std::string s);
    bool contains(std::string s);
};

void Data::add(std::string s) {
    data.push_back(s);
}

bool Data::contains(std::string s) {
    std::vector<std::string>::iterator found
        = std::find(data.begin(), data.end(), s);
   
    // If s does not exist within the range [begin(), end()) then
    // end() will be returned, meaning that false should be returned
    // from this function. Likewise, if s does exist then some value
    // other than end() will be stored in found and true is thus
    // returned.
   
    return found != data.end();
}

int main() {
    Data data;
   
    data.add("one");
    data.add("two");
   
    if(data.contains("two")) std::cout << "contains \"two\"\n";
    else std::cout << "does not contain \"two\"\n";
   
    if(data.contains("four")) std::cout << "contains \"four\"\n";
    else std::cout << "does not contain \"four\"\n";
   
    return 0;
}

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The output is

Code:

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contains "two"
does not contain "four"

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I'd rather use a map. Searching a vector is a O(n) operation.
Unless it's sorted, which would mean you could use a binary search... but I don't think there IS such a search in the standard library.

The primary part of dwks' suggestion is really about using the std::find generic algorithm. You do not have to define another class, though you could define a convenience function, e.g.,

Code:

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#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>  // for std::find

bool contains(const std::vector<std::string>& data, const std::string& s) {
    return std::find(data.begin(), data.end(), s) != data.end();
}

int main() {
    std::vector<std::string> data;

    data.push_back("one");
    data.push_back("two");

    if(contains(data, "two")) std::cout << "contains \"two\"\n";
    else std::cout << "does not contain \"two\"\n";

    if(contains(data, "four")) std::cout << "contains \"four\"\n";
    else std::cout << "does not contain \"four\"\n";

    return 0;
}

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EDIT:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elysia

I'd rather use a map. Searching a vector is a O(n) operation.

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It depends on the bigger picture too, of course.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elysia

Unless it's sorted, which would mean you could use a binary search... but I don't think there IS such a search in the standard library.

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There is std::binary_search, std::lower_bound and std::upper_bound. std::binary_search would be the most appropriate in this proposed case.

I don't really know what you guys are saying because I'm only on classes right now. Any tips on getting better at Object Oriented Programming?

Find appropriate objects to model and implement them correctly.

To me it sounds like cuo741 is just trying to add something to the end of the vector.
If that's the case, just use the push_back() function.

Code:

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vector<string> items;
...
items.push_back( "some item" );

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