Why won't my string output when I call my print() function?

Question

My class extPersonType is inherited from 3 other classes. The program compiles with no errors, but for some reason the string relation and phoneNumber do not show up. All the other information I ask for does. Where is my problem?

class extPersonType: public personType, public dateType, public addressType
{
public:
extPersonType(string relation = "", string phoneNumber = "", string address = "", string city = "", string state = "", int zipCode = 55555, string first = "", string last = "", 
    int month = 1, int day = 1, int year = 0001)
    : addressType(address, city, state, zipCode),  personType(first, last), dateType (month, day, year)
{
}
void print() const;

private:
string relation; 
string phoneNumber;
};

void extPersonType::print() const
{
cout << "Relationship: " << relation << endl;
cout << "Phone Number: " << phoneNumber << endl;
addressType::print();
personType::print();
dateType::printDate();
}



/*******
MAIN PROGRAM
*******/

int main()
{
extPersonType my_home("Friend", "555-4567", "5142 Wyatt Road", "North Pole", "AK", 99705, "Jesse", "Alford", 5, 24, 1988);
my_home .extPersonType::print();
      return 0;
}

Just as an aside, using multiple inheritance is probably not how you want to model the relationship — Leon
– Leon, Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 6:49

tozka · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-09 06:53:29Z

3

That's because you don't initilize them anywhere

    extPersonType(string relation = "", string phoneNumber = "", string address = "", string city = "", string state = "", int zipCode = 55555, string first = "", string last = "", int month = 1, int day = 1, int year = 0001)
        : relation (relation), phoneNumber (phoneNumber)// <<<<<<<<<<<< this is missing
           addressType(address, city, state, zipCode),  personType(first, last), dateType (month, day, year)
{
}

You should not forget to assign/initilize your variables in the constructor

Also, this is recommandation but I don't really think inheritance is necessary here. You should use composition.

class extPersonType
{
 private:
   string relation; 
   string phoneNumber;

   addressType address;
   personType person_name;
   dateType date; // birthday ?
}

edited Oct 9, 2012 at 6:53

answered Oct 9, 2012 at 6:48

tozka

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2 Comments

Jesse Alford Over a year ago

That was my problem! Thank you!!!! I did in the other classes... but not this one for some reason. Now I feel dumb. haha. Thanks!

Open AI - Opting Out Over a year ago

@JesseAlford Feeling dumb is a good sign, seek it out everywhere, and try to understand it.

SingerOfTheFall · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-09 06:41:09Z

1

You should call it as

my_home.print();

You are probably confused by the way it is declared:

void extPersonType::print(){ <..> }

Here the extPersonType:: part just tells the compiler that the funciton is a part of the class. When you call the function, you already call it for a specific object of the class (in your case, my_home), so you shouldn't use the class name.

answered Oct 9, 2012 at 6:41

SingerOfTheFall

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1 Comment

Jesse Alford Over a year ago

ok. The only reason I was using the class name was because the super classes or base classes have the exact same function within them. I thought I had to explicitly call this classes print funtion so it would run this print function and not a different one. Thanks.

Michael Burr · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-09 06:48:58Z

1

You aren't actually initializing your class member variables. You need to do something like the following to initialize the relation and phoneNumber members:

extPersonType(string relation = "", string phoneNumber = "", string address = "", 
    string city = "", string state = "", int zipCode = 55555, string first = "", string last = "", 
    int month = 1, int day = 1, int year = 0001)
    : addressType(address, city, state, zipCode),  personType(first, last), dateType (month, day, year),
      relation(relation), phoneNumber(phoneNumber)  // <== init mmebers
{
}

I suspect that you may need to do something similar with the addressType, personType, and dateType base class constructors as well.

answered Oct 9, 2012 at 6:48

Michael Burr

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1 Comment

Jesse Alford Over a year ago

Amazing! That was exactly my problem. Thank you! All the other class member variables I initialized. For some reason this slipped past me. Thank you!

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