Question

hello i am very confused on how to properly pass an array through functions with a struct without using a pointer. we are only supposed to use chapters 1-8 which does not include pointers.. here is my code if anyone has any suggestions or links to help out thank you!

const int MAX_DATA = 10000;

struct Inventory
{
   double sku;
   double count;
   double cost;
   string title;
};

void addMovie(Inventory data[], double count);
void allInfo(Inventory data[], double count);

int main ()
{
   Inventory data[MAX_DATA];
   int choice;
   int i = 0;
   double count = 0;
   return 0;
}

void addMovie(Inventory data[], double count)
{
int i = 0;

cout << "Please enter the name of the movie you wish to add " << endl;

cin >> data[i].title;
cin.ignore();
cout << "Please enter the SKU " << endl;
cin >> data[i].sku;
cout << "You have successfully added " << data[i].title << " : " << data[i].sku <<    endl;
i++;
count++;

}


void allInfo(Inventory all[], double count)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
    {
       cout << "Title: " << all[i].title << endl;
       cout << "SKU: " << all[i].sku << endl;
       i++;
    }
}

Answer 1

For a fixed size array, something like this should work, passing the array by reference:

template <unsigned long N>
void addMovie(Inventory (&data)[N], unsigned long& count)
{
  std::cout << "addMovie has an array of size " << N << "\n";
}

...

Inventory data[MAX_DATA];
unsigned long counter = 0;
addMovie(data, counter);

Note that this gives you will have to make sure not to go beyond the bounds of the array.

It would be way easier to use an std::vector<Inventory>, in which case you don’t have to worry about the dimensions or the strange passign array by reference syntax:

void addMovie(std::vector<Inventory>& data)
{
  std::cout << "addMovie has an array of size " << data.size() << "\n";
  Inventory invent = ....;
  data.push_back(invent)
}

....
std::vector<Inventory> data;
addMovie(data);