(char *) Function Argument

Ok, I have an assignment where I have been given a class definition (for a custom string class) and I need to simply write the member function definitions and such. One of the constructors is confusing me. This is it:

Code:

---

Mystring(char *);  // Convert a C-style string

---

Ok, now what is char * exactly? I would think that there needs to be another variable in there. Is it just a pointer or something? Second, what is meant by "Convert a C-style string"? Does it mean to just take the information and place it in an array within my class? Lastly, once I know what (char *) is, how can I incorporate it in the function to do the intended task since it has no variable name?

Just in case, here is the entire class definition:

Code:

---

class Mystring{

public:

    friend Mystring operator+(const Mystring&,const Mystring&);

    friend ostream& operator<<(ostream &, const Mystring &);

    Mystring(); // Set to empty String

    Mystring(char *);  // Convert a C-style string

    Mystring(const Mystring &);  //Copy Constructor

    ~Mystring();

    Mystring& operator=(const Mystring &);  //Assignment operator

    bool operator<(const Mystring &)const; //Member to compare for inequality ignoring case

    Mystring Str_upper()const; //Convert all alpha to upper case

    Mystring Str_lower()const; //Convert all alpha to lower case

    void PrintString()const;

private:

    char * ptr;

    int length; 

};

---

>now what is char * exactly?
A pointer to char. Most often, this designates a C-style string where the string is stored in an array of characters and terminated by the '\0' character. Because an array passed to a function degrades to a pointer to the first element, the two functions are equivalent:

Code:

---

void foo ( char a[] );
void bar ( char *a );

---

So your constructor is expecting an array of characters terminated by '\0'.

>I would think that there needs to be another variable in there.
In function declarations (but not definitions), the names of parameters can be omitted:

Code:

---

void foo ( char * ); // Legal!
void foo ( char * ) // Illegal!
{
}

void bar ( char *a ); // Legal
void bar ( char *a ) // Legal
{
}

---

>Does it mean to just take the information and place it in an array within my class?
Basically, yes.

>how can I incorporate it in the function to do the intended task since it has no variable name?
When you write the definition you'll need to name it:

Code:

---

Mystring::Mystring(char *str)
{
  ...
}

---

Thank you Prelude, that helped. Now, I`m stuck on another part. It invloves converting the string to upper case. Here`s the prototype:

Code:

---

Mystring Str_upper()const; //Convert all alpha to upper case

---

I don`t really know how to approach this. I believe that it can be done using the ASCII decimal values, but I don`t know how to find out what value a certain character has in the array. Could someone please give me some pointers on this function?

Well, if you're sure that you're going to be using ASCII then you could simply use character arithmetic on each character in the string if it's a lower case letter:

Code:

---

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
  char str[] = "this is a test";

  for ( int i = 0; i < 14; i++ ) {
    if ( str[i] >= 'a' && str[i] <= 'z' ) {
      str[i] += 'A' - 'a';
    }
  }
  cout<< str <<endl;
}

---

A better way would be to use toupper in the <cctype> header:

Code:

---

#include <iostream>
#include <cctype>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
  char str[] = "this is a test";

  for ( int i = 0; i < 14; i++ ) {
    str[i] = toupper ( str[i] );
  }
  cout<< str <<endl;
}

---

> In function declarations (but not definitions), the names of parameters can be omitted:
> void foo ( char * ) // Illegal!
Actually, this is legal C++ (though not legal C)
C++ allows unused parameters to be type checked (you name the type), but unused (by omitting the name).

Very useful for generic interfaces where parameters can sometimes go unused, and you don't want to do things like

Code:

---

void foo ( int unused ) {
  unused = unused;  // suppress unused warning
}

---

But if you want to use it, you've got to give it a name :)