Vector of structs initialization

Question

I want know how I can add values to my vector of structs using the push_back method

struct subject
{
  string name;
  int marks;
  int credits;
};


vector<subject> sub;

So now how can I add elements to it?

I have function that initializes string name(subject name to it)

void setName(string s1, string s2, ...... string s6)
{
   // how can i set name too sub[0].name= "english", sub[1].name = "math" etc

  sub[0].name = s1 // gives segmentation fault; so how do I use push_back method?

  sub.name.push_back(s1);
  sub.name.push_back(s2);
  sub.name.push_back(s3);
  sub.name.push_back(s4);

  sub.name.push_back(s6);

}

Function call

setName("english", "math", "physics" ... "economics");

Answer 1

Create vector, push_back element, then modify it as so:

struct subject {
    string name;
    int marks;
    int credits;
};


int main() {
    vector<subject> sub;

    //Push back new subject created with default constructor.
    sub.push_back(subject());

    //Vector now has 1 element @ index 0, so modify it.
    sub[0].name = "english";

    //Add a new element if you want another:
    sub.push_back(subject());

    //Modify its name and marks.
    sub[1].name = "math";
    sub[1].marks = 90;
}

You cant access a vector with [#] until an element exists in the vector at that index. This example populates the [#] and then modifies it afterward.

Answer 2

If you want to use the new current standard, you can do so:

sub.emplace_back ("Math", 70, 0); // requires a fitting constructor, though

or

sub.push_back ({"Math", 70, 0}); // works without constructor

.

Answer 3

You may also which to use aggregate initialization from a braced initialization list for situations like these.

#include <vector>
using namespace std;

struct subject {
    string name;
    int    marks;
    int    credits;
};

int main() {
    vector<subject> sub {
      {"english", 10, 0},
      {"math"   , 20, 5}
    };
}

Sometimes however, the members of a struct may not be so simple, so you must give the compiler a hand in deducing its types.

So extending on the above.

#include <vector>
using namespace std;

struct assessment {
    int   points;
    int   total;
    float percentage;
};

struct subject {
    string name;
    int    marks;
    int    credits;
    vector<assessment> assessments;
};

int main() {
    vector<subject> sub {
      {"english", 10, 0, {
                             assessment{1,3,0.33f},
                             assessment{2,3,0.66f},
                             assessment{3,3,1.00f}
                         }},
      {"math"   , 20, 5, {
                             assessment{2,4,0.50f}
                         }}
    };
}

Without the assessment in the braced initializer the compiler will fail when attempting to deduce the type.

The above has been compiled and tested with gcc in c++17. It should however work from c++11 and onward. In c++20 we may see the designator syntax, my hope is that it will allow for for the following

  {"english", 10, 0, .assessments{
                         {1,3,0.33f},
                         {2,3,0.66f},
                         {3,3,1.00f}
                     }},

source: http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/aggregate_initialization

Answer 4

You cannot access elements of an empty vector by subscript.
Always check that the vector is not empty & the index is valid while using the [] operator on std::vector.
[] does not add elements if none exists, but it causes an Undefined Behavior if the index is invalid.

You should create a temporary object of your structure, fill it up and then add it to the vector, using vector::push_back()

subject subObj;
subObj.name = s1;
sub.push_back(subObj);

Answer 5

After looking on the accepted answer I realized that if know size of required vector then we have to use a loop to initialize every element

But I found new to do this using default_structure_element like following...

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
typedef long long ll;
using namespace std;

typedef struct subject {
  string name;
  int marks;
  int credits;
}subject;

int main(){
  subject default_subject;
  default_subject.name="NONE";
  default_subject.marks = 0;
  default_subject.credits = 0;

  vector <subject> sub(10,default_subject);         // default_subject to initialize

  //to check is it initialised
  for(ll i=0;i<sub.size();i++) {
    cout << sub[i].name << " " << sub[i].marks << " " << sub[i].credits << endl;
  } 
}

Then I think its good to way to initialize a vector of the struct, isn't it?