Question

I have a couple of functions. Basically a menu where a user can choose 1-n different options, and each of those options have a function associated with them. In this example it’s been dumbed down.

What I am trying to determine is the best way to exit a function prematurely. For example, when the user presses enter whilst in the function of a menu option, I want the program to send them back to the menu without running anything else in that function.

In the case below, I simply call showMenu() and place a return statement after it. The only thing is, if the user quits multiple functions there will be a trail of return statements that needs to be unraveled at the end.

Could somebody please show me if there is a more efficient way to achieve this or whether I am on the money.

void showMenu()
{
   //Display menu

   //Prompt user for menu option

   //Run function of appropriate menu option
   runSelectedFunction();
} 

void runSelectedFunction()
{
   //Get user input for the function and validate

   //Check if the user input was only a '\n' if so show the menu and exit
   showMenu();
   return;

   //Do the stuff that this function is meant to do.
}

Answer 1

Looks good to me. Or – since there are many around that are against having multiple exit points form a single function – you could do:

void func()
{
   //get input

   if ( checkMenu() )
   {
      //do the stuff I am meant to do
   }
   else
   { 
      showMenu();
   }
}

so you are avoiding adding a second return to your function. Also you could have the showMenu() call always at the end of the function, depending on your needs

hth

Mario