Error encountered when trying to return a string array in c++

Question

I'm a beginner and I'm now learning all about arrays and experimenting different ways to implement it. This time, I really wanted to know how to return a string array in c++ without using vector for research purposes. I tried implementing pointers as a way to return a string array but it is giving me a runtime error stating that the string subscript is out of range. Kindly advice if I made the wrong way of returning the string array and provide better solutions for this.

Here is the code the Employee.h:

    #pragma once
    #include<string>
    #include<iostream>

    class Employee
    {
    private:
    static const int recordSize = 100;
    static const int fieldSize = 4;
    std::string record[recordSize][fieldSize];

    public:
    Employee();
    ~Employee();
    std::string * employeeReadData();

    };

Here is the Employee.cpp

 Employee::Employee()
 {
 }

std::string * Employee::employeeReadData() {
std::ifstream inFile;
inFile.open("C:\\Users\\RJ\\Desktop\\employee-info.txt");

static std::string recordCopy[recordSize][fieldSize];

for (int index = 0; index < recordSize; index++) {
    for (int index2 = 0; index2 < fieldSize; index2++) {
        inFile >> record[index][index2];
    }
}

for (int index = 0; index < recordSize; index++) {
    for (int index2 = 0; index2 < fieldSize; index2++) {
        recordCopy[index][index2] = record[index][index2];
    }
}

inFile.close();

std::string * point = * recordCopy;

return point;
    }

Here is main():

    int main()
    {
    Employee emp;


    std::string* p = emp.employeeReadData();

    cout << p[0][0] <<endl;
    cout << p[0][1] << endl;
    cout << p[0][2] << endl;
    cout << p[0][3] << endl;

    return 0;
   }

employee-info.txt:

    ID           Firstname            Lastname                 Sales
     1             Reynard             Drexler             150000.00
     2              Joseph               Bones             250000.00

Do you know how to use the debugger? What line is is encountering it on exactly? — user10957435
– user10957435, Commented May 3, 2019 at 3:25
I really wanted to know how to return a string array in c++ without using vector for research purposes. -- You can't return arrays, unless you return a std::array or some class that wraps the array concept. I guess that ends the research. — PaulMcKenzie
– PaulMcKenzie, Commented May 3, 2019 at 3:28
Also, I should mention that you are doing some weird things in your code, like returning point in Employee::Employee(). Also, declaring static std::string recordCopy might let you get away with returning the address (since it's static) but you might want to find a better way to do it. — user10957435
– user10957435, Commented May 3, 2019 at 3:28
@PaulMcKenzie You can return a pointer, though--which can be treated like an array from the caller's point of view sometimes. — user10957435
– user10957435, Commented May 3, 2019 at 3:30
A pointer is not an array. Trying to not have the OP believe they are doing something that isn't really being done. — PaulMcKenzie
– PaulMcKenzie, Commented May 3, 2019 at 3:30

PaulMcKenzie · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-03 04:14:46Z

provide better solutions for this.

Well, you can use the techniques shown in this answer, and wrap the array into a struct within your Employee class.

#include <string>

class Employee
{
   public:
       struct EmployeeRecord
       {
           static const int recordSize = 100;
           static const int fieldSize = 4;
           std::string record[recordSize][fieldSize];
       };
    private:           
       EmployeeRecord emp_record;

    public:           
       Employee() {}
       ~Employee() {}
       EmployeeRecord& employeeReadData();
};

Then in the implementation:

 #include <fstream>

 Employee::Employee() {}

 Employee::EmployeeRecord& Employee::employeeReadData() 
 {
    std::ifstream inFile;
    inFile.open("C:\\Users\\RJ\\Desktop\\employee-info.txt");
    for (int index = 0; index < EmployeeRecord::recordSize; index++) 
    {
        for (int index2 = 0; index2 < EmployeeRecord::fieldSize; index2++) 
            inFile >> emp_record.record[index][index2];
    }
    return emp_record;
}

Then:

int main()
{
    Employee emp;
    auto& p = emp.employeeReadData(); // return reference to the struct that has the array

    std::cout << p.record[0][0] << std::endl;
    std::cout << p.record[0][1] << std::endl;
    std::cout << p.record[0][2] << std::endl;
    std::cout << p.record[0][3] << std::endl;
    return 0;   
}

There is no usage of pointers, and also no usage of vectors. This is about as simple as you can get without usage of pointers.

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