Question

I am having a strange issue when using the erase() function on a std:vector. I use the following code:

int count = 0;
for (int itr=0; itr<b.size(); ++itr) {
    if (b[count].notEmpty = false) {
        b.erase(b.begin()+count);
        --count;
    }
    ++count;
}

However, for some reason there are no elements actually getting erased from b. b is declared elsewhere as follows:

vector<block_data> b;

Where block_data is a structure, and contains the boolean value notEmpty. Some of b’s elements are properly being assigned with notEmpty = false earlier in the code, so I am not sure why they aren’t getting erased. Is it an error with the syntax, or something else?

Answer 1

There’s nothing wrong with your use of erase. The problem is an assignment inside the if condition:

if(b[count].notEmpty = false)

This sets b[count].notEmpty to false, then returns false. This will cause the inner-body of the if-statement to never run.

Change it to

if(b[count].notEmpty == false)

or event

if(!b[count].notEmpty)

And you should be good to go.