Question

I get this error in my c++ code Variable length array of non-POD element type string (aka basic_string<char>).

string words[numWords];

If I get rid of numWords and enter a number this works fine but if i put the same number in a variable it gives me the Variable length array of non-POD element type 'string' (aka 'basic_string<char>') error, I have done it this way before and it worked in visual studio but I have now tried it in Xcode and it doesn’t work. I have tried using vectors but I can’t get them sot store any data and they just come back blank.

For those who asked this is my vector code should all be there

char ch;

ifstream repFile("//Users//bobthemac//Documents//c++asignment//c++asignment//test1.txt");

while(repFile.get(ch))
{
    if(ch == ' ' || ch == '\n' || ch == '\t')
    {
        numWords++;
    }
}

vector<string> words (numWords);

while(repFile >> x)
    words.push_back(x);
repFile.close();

Answer 1

This initializes words with numWords empty strings then appends the actual strings afterwards:

vector<string> words (numWords);

while(repFile >> x)
    words.push_back(x);

Change to:

vector<string> words;

while(repFile >> x)
    words.push_back(x);

or:

vector<string> words (numWords);

int idx = 0;
while(repFile >> x /* && idx < numWords */)
    words[idx++] = x;

EDIT:

There is no reason to count the number of words before populating the vector:

vector<string> words;
ifstream repFile("//Users//bobthemac//Documents//c++asignment//c++asignment//test1.txt");
if (repFile.is_open())
{
    while(repFile >> x)
    {
        words.push_back(x);
    }
    repFile.close();
}