Trying to populate an array using a function in C++ [closed]

Question

So, I'm trying to populate and print a small array using functions, however I've hit a bit of a roadblock. The code I have is:

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

struct planes
{
    string name;
    int seats;
    int range;
    int weight;
};

int populate (planes planesArray[5])
{
    string name;
    int seats, range, weight, i;
    ifstream infile;
    infile.open("plane_data.txt");
    if (!infile)
    {
        cout << "File cannot be reached";
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++){
        infile >> name;
        infile >> seats;
        infile >> range;
        infile >> weight;

    }

    infile.close();

}



int main() {

    planes planesArray[5];
    populate(planes planesArray[5]);

};

I'm getting a multitude of errors in the different iterations of code I'm using. With this one pasted above I am getting:

line 44: error: expected primary expression before (planesArray)

I'm a bit lost to be honest. There are 5 pieces of data in the array, I just don't know how to get the data from the file into the array reliably using the functions I've created.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

int main() {
  planes planesArray[5];
  populate( planesArray); // this is how to call your function
}
^^^
note:  ; disappeared

When you call a function given some parameter you do not mention type of this parameter.

Next, you will try to implement your function. At the moment it does nothing with array parameter, but we won't provide ready tuned-in solution but rather help when you meet some concrete problems.

Answer 2

Arrays are unfit for such a task in C++, especially if you are new to the language. Use std::vector - and rename "planes" to "plane", which makes more sense (your struct represents one plane, not many).

int populate (std::vector<plane> &plane_vector)
{
  // ...
}

int main()
{
  std::vector<plane> plane_vector;
  populate(plane_vector);
}

This should fix the most blatant errors.