when writing arrays in c++ i tried including the array into another class but it wont work

Question

I'm new to coding in C++ and more used to some simple Java programming.

I made two classes, class A(int) and class B. I made an array filled with names, and I want int A to say one of the names from class B.

Example:

Class B {

   static string NPCnames[] { "John", "Mike", "Alex", "Adam"};
};

int A {

    cout << B::NPCnames[rand()]

};

It comes up with errors for the arrays (because I'm new I don't understand them)

Error message:

Error 1 error C2864: 'Data::NPCnames' : a static data member with an in-class initializer must have non-volatile const integral type

Java tag removed -- what does this question have to do with Java? — Hovercraft Full Of Eels, Dec 17 '15 at 23:07
This question has information on error C2864: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/498433/resolving-only-static-const-integral-data-members-can-be-initialized-within-a-c — vk239, Dec 17 '15 at 23:11
You should probably start by reading a [good book on C++](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list). — Paul R, Dec 17 '15 at 23:12
C++ (like Java) is case-sensitive. And `B::NPCnames[rand()]` - come on, at least do read the [documentation](http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/numeric/random/rand). — IInspectable, Dec 17 '15 at 23:13
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not generally useful. — IInspectable, Dec 17 '15 at 23:15
@ThomasMatthews - yeah. The result of `<<` is `ostream&`. It has a boolean conversion showing the status of the stream. `A` should get assigned the standard integer conversion from that boolean. — Edward Strange, Dec 17 '15 at 23:19
@CrazyEddie that conversion is not allowed inside a braced initializer though — M.M, Dec 17 '15 at 23:27

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 17 '15 at 23:25

4

You need...

class B { static string NPCnames[4]; };

string B::NPCnames[4] = { "blah",  "blah", ... };

edited Dec 17 '15 at 23:25

Fantastic Mr Fox

answered Dec 17 '15 at 23:15

Edward Strange

thanks, but what if i were to replace the 4 in the `B::NPCnames[4]` with rand()? – Venture13 Dec 17 '15 at 23:17
Use a constructor and an additional variable representing the array size. – Ziezi Dec 17 '15 at 23:19
1

@Venture13 - then you'd have serious problems. – Edward Strange Dec 17 '15 at 23:19
ok so then how about `B::NPCnames[rand() % 4]` also, i want the program to print out the `NPCnames` string. side-note: sorry for not understanding programming, like i said in the beginning of this post `i'm new to coding` also, im new to this site. – Venture13 Dec 17 '15 at 23:26
@Venture13 The size of the array `NPCnames` cannot be variable. C++ forbids variable length arrays on the stack. – Fantastic Mr Fox Dec 17 '15 at 23:26
I guess here is a misunderstanding. @Venture13 You want to access a random element from the array. The `[4]` in the above code is the size of the array, which should not be random. – leemes Dec 17 '15 at 23:39
thanks @leemes also, i'll just send the code so everyone knows what's not working [Code](http://www.hastebin.com/izaxapulin.vala) – Venture13 Dec 17 '15 at 23:46

1 Answers1