N00b needs help with structures

i have recently started learning c++ and before that i did not code in about 5 years and back then i used pascal, now i came across this : http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/lesson7.html on this site, and i have absolutely no idea what it is saying to me. would anyone be able to show me an example code using structures?

i have looked at the tutorial, but it does not make sense to me for some reason... i need an example code where it is/can be used with explanation why u are doing what u are doing

Thanks.

Code:

---

struct database {
  int id_number;
  int age;
  float salary;
};

int main()
{
  database employee;  //There is now an employee variable that has modifiable
                      // variables inside it.
  employee.age = 22;
  employee.id_number = 1;
  employee.salary = 12000.21;
}

---

If you want to pass the structure to a function, pass it by reference, this saves memory and you don't have to return the structure.

Code:

---

struct database {
  int id;
  int age;
  float salary;
};

void fillInStructure(database& db);

int main()
{
    database employee;
   
    fillInStructure(db);

    return 0;
}

void fillInStructure(database& db)
{
    db.age = 22;
    //etc...
}

---

To be honest, C++ relies more on classes that structs. example:

Code:

---

class Example
{
public:
Example();      // construcror
~Example()    // deconstructor

private:
int age;
string name;

};

Example::Example()
{

// constructor code here

}

~Example()
{
}

int main()
{

// code here

}

---

atthough saying this, structs are still usful.

Thank you, well as i said, i am still new, even though classes may be more usefull, i rather learn everything, as i made the mistake in learning php, wml and html by skipping some more basic functions.

I wrote this:

Code:

---

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
struct membrs
{
int id;
int age;
char name[10];
char cmt[150];
};

int main()
{
membrs str;
membrs *ptr;
str.id=001;
str.age=21;
str.name=Guest; //error here
str.cmt=who are you; //and here
ptr=&str;
cout<<"welcome "<<ptr->name<<".\n";
cout<<"You are member number "<<ptr->id<<" and you are "<<ptr->age<<" years old\n";
cout<<"Your comment: "<<ptr->cmt<<"\n";
cin.get();
}

---

and i marked where i get an error, can anyone please help me, tell me wat i am doing wrong... i am using the borland compiler

classes and structs are nearly identical in C++. The only difference is (by default) members are "public:" in struct and "private:" in class.

str.name=Guest; //error here
str.cmt=who are you; //and here
You need to learn about strings, which in this case would be
strcpy(str.name,"Guest"); //error here
strcpy(str.cmt,"who are you"); //and here

your problem is that you want to pass literal values to a sting after it has been initialised. normally its ok to to this:

Code:

---

char astring [20] = "Hello World"; //notice the quotes

---

but if you want to initiallise it later on, you'll have to do this:

Code:

---

char astring [20];
.
.
.
strcpy (astring, "Hello World");

---

Here's your code with the modifications, just one point of order first, when you declare struct:

Code:

---

membrs str;

---

that works on most compilers, but the ANSI standard, (to the best of my lecturers knowledge) is that you must use the struct keyword like so:

Code:

---

struct membrs str;

---

its just something you might run into on different systems. here is your original code with the modifications:

Code:

---

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
struct membrs
{
int id;
int age;
char name[10];
char cmt[150];
};

int main()
{
membrs str;
membrs *ptr;
str.id=001;
str.age=21;
strcpy (str.name,"Guest");
strcpy (str.cmt, "who are you");
ptr=&str;
cout<<"welcome "<<ptr->name<<".\n";
cout<<"You are member number "<<ptr->id<<" and you are "<<ptr->age<<" years old\n";
cout<<"Your comment: "<<ptr->cmt<<"\n";
cin.get();
}

---

Thank you for your help, now, one final question about this.::

My code:

Code:

---

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
void cdetails();
struct membrs
{
int id;
int age;
char name[10];
char cmt[150];
};

int main()
{
int x;
x=1;
int y;
int pwd;

        while(x==1)
        {
        membrs str;
        membrs *ptr;
        str.id=001;
        str.age=21;
        strcpy (str.name,"Guest");
        strcpy (str.cmt, "who are you");
        ptr=&str;
        cout<<endl;
        cout<<"welcome "<<ptr->name<<".\n";
        cout<<"You are member number "<<ptr->id<<" and you are "<<ptr->age<<" years old\n";
        cout<<"Your comment: "<<ptr->cmt<<"\n";
        cout<<"If this is correct, press 2. \n";
        cout<<"If it is incorrect and you wish to change it, please press 1.\n";
        cin>>y;
                if(y==1)
                {
                        cout<<"Please enter your admin password to continue...\n";
                        cin>>pwd;
                        cin.ignore();
                        if(pwd==1234)
                        {
                                cdetails();
                        }
                        else
                        {
                                cout<<"Sorry, incorrect password!\n";
                        }       
                       
                }
                cout<<"do you wish to try again?\n";
                cout<<"Press 1 for yes or any other key for no!\n";
                        cin>>x;
                        cin.ignore();
                }
cin.get();
}

void cdetails()
{
        cout<<"Access Granted...press enter!\n";
        cin.get();
        cout<<"Please enter Your name (max 10 characters) here: \n";
        cin>>name;
        cout<<"How old are you? \n";
        cin>>age;
        cin.ignore();
        cout<<"Tell us a little something about yourself:  \n";
        cin>>cmt;
        cin.ignore();
}

---

What i am trying to do is let the user change the details...

In your main function you have an instance of the membrs struct called str. Inside the cdetails function, you need to access that struct. The simple way is to pass it as a reference parameter the way QuietWhistler showed. Then you can use it inside cdetails and update its fields with the new user input.

Thank you all... ;) now i have done that all, it allows me to do the inputs, but it does not display the new inputs... ill sorty it out

>> it allows me to do the inputs, but it does not display the new inputs

Make sure you passed it by reference to the function.