Question

I have a function in a class the more or less works like so:

class Player {
private:
    Object* minions[16]
public:
    void Summon(Object* obj);
};

Player::Summon(Object* obj) {
    static int i = 0;
    if (i == 16)
        return;
    minions[i] = obj;
    i++;
}

The problem arise when trying to use more than one player, like so:

Player playerone;
Player playerthree;
playerone.Summon(new Object("o1"));
playerthree.Summon(new Object("o2"));

o1 is located in playerone.minions[0], as is expected, however, o2 is located in playerthree.minions[1], the Summon() function using the same i variable. Is there a way to make the Summon() function use a static i variable for a single instance, but use separate i variables for each instance? I know I could do something like make a for loop to the first spot in minions[] equal to NULL, or make i a member of Player directly, but I want to know if there is a better way before I do either of those.

Answer 1

Change Object* minions[16]; to a std::vector<Object*> minions;. That way you can just use minions.size() to know how many there are, or minions.push_back(obj); to add one without worrying about array index stuff.