copy constructor

Question

I am working with a binary search tree. Here I'm writing a function to delete an item from the tree. In the following code:

if(root = NULL)//if there is nothing in the tree
{
    cout<<"the Tree is empty"<<endl;//ouput to the screen
    return;//exit the function
}

bool isFound = false;//tells us if the item is found
Node* tmp = new Node();//declare a temp pointer
Node* tmp2 = new Node();;//declare a temp pointer
tmp* = *root;//assign the pointer to something

It is calling the copy constructor, but as I have it right now I'm just copying the values like this:

Node& Node::operator= (const Node& node)
{
    data = node.data;
    left = node.left;
    right = node.right;
    return *this;
}

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 13 '13 at 11:38

1

You're assigning pointers, to assign the objects you need

*tmp = *root;

tmp and root are of type Node*; *tmp and *root are of type Node.

answered Mar 13 '13 at 11:38

Luchian Grigore

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will i need to write a copy constructor then? – Mar 13 '13 at 11:39
@TravisLeonSorensen are you managing resources? Is ownership of the resources defined? (It's not a questions I can answer only with that information) – Luchian Grigore Mar 13 '13 at 11:39
@TravisLeonSorensen better read - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4172722/what-is-the-rule-of-three – Luchian Grigore Mar 13 '13 at 11:41
okay so when i add that it goes to the copy constructor. will i need to just copy everything from the root to tmp? and what do you mean by resources? – Mar 13 '13 at 11:42
@TravisLeonSorensen as I said, it's not something that can be answered in a comment box - read the question and answers in the link I provided & try to understand them. – Luchian Grigore Mar 13 '13 at 11:43

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 13 '13 at 11:43

0

if(root = NULL)

change it to

if(root == NULL)

it is also wrong:

tmp* = *root;//assign the pointer to something

answered Mar 13 '13 at 11:43

4pie0

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copy constructor

2 Answers2