string [] ????

The function is expecting an array of strings as it's second parameter

doh....im an idiot....
lol
ive been up all night doing other things and ive never really had to use a string array so i saw it and was like huh.
that's really nifty :-) thanks!

I tend to just use arrays of characters as strings....I find them more versatile (and have recently been programming in C, so...)

hmmm...
well if i have a string array like

string authors[]

inside a structure named library and i have a pointer to the library called temp. how do i make the array of authors bigger? it doesnt like me doing this....

struct library
{
string authors[];
};

library *temp;
int nAuthors = 3;
temp->authors = new string[nAuthors];

> how do i make the array of authors bigger?
If the size is going to be dynamic, you'll have a more pleasant time using vectors than arrays:

#include <string>
#include <vector>

struct library {
  std::vector<std::string> authors;
};

Dynamically resizing arrays is tedious and error prone.

I suggest you take a look at vectors if you want to change array-sizes on the fly.

for example:

#include <vector>
#include <string>

[....]
string str = "something";
vector <string> array;
array.push_back(str);

[edit] double post with Edward

i know all about vectors and i love them. but we're not allowed to use anything from STL and that includes vectors if im not mistaken :(

You could always try to implement vectors (or alternatively, lists) yourself...using structs and pointers...its actually probably a good exercise, but you may not be allowed to do this either.

hmmm well i got it working.

ive basically got a linked list that contains the book name and the different authors (there can be n authors for each book).

struct node
          {
           string bookTitle;
           string *authors;
           node *next;
          };
          
          node *start_ptr;

void Library::add(string title, string authors[], int nAuthors)
{
     
     node *temp = new node;
     temp->bookTitle = title;
     temp->authors = new string[nAuthors];
     for (int i = 0; i<nAuthors; ++i)
     {
         temp->authors[i] = authors[i];
     }
     temp->next = NULL;
     
         if (start_ptr == NULL)
        start_ptr = temp;
    else
    {
        node *p = start_ptr;
        while (p->next != NULL)
            p = p -> next;

        p->next = temp;
    }
}

and this works as far as i can tell.

edit: how would i figure out how many authors are stored in any given node??

> we're not allowed to use anything from STL
Here's a utility function that will resize an array of strings:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

namespace Ed {
  void resize(std::string*& list, int oldSize, int newSize)
  {
    // Don't do anything if the sizes are the same
    if (newSize == oldSize)
      return;

    std::string *result = new std::string[newSize];
    int nCopied = oldSize;
    
    // Don't copy everything if the array got smaller
    if (newSize < oldSize)
      nCopied = newSize;

    // Preserve existing stored strings
    for (int i = 0; i < nCopied; i++)
      result[i] = list[i];

    delete[] list;
    list = result;
  }
}

> how would i figure out how many authors are stored in any given node??
Store it as a separate member in the node. Or better yet, write an Authors collection class that stored all of the information you need and handles the resizing of the array internally. :)

thanku :) i just figured out about storing it as a seperate member lol. im half asleep.
i just wrote a for loop without any ";" in it and tried to compile lol oops. tells how tired i am. im hittin the hay. thanks for all the help guys