Question

I have the following vector to store elements of type player:

std::vector<player> players;

in a class called game which has the following function:

void game::removePlayer(string name) {
  vector<player>::iterator begin = players.begin();

  // find the player
  while (begin != players.end()) {
      if (begin->getName() == name) {
          break;
      }
      ++begin;
  }

  if (begin != players.end())
      players.erase(begin);

}

I get the following error:

    1>------ Build started: Project: texas holdem, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
1>  game.cpp
1>c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\xutility(2514): error C2582: 'operator =' function is unavailable in 'player'
1>          c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\xutility(2535) : see reference to function template instantiation '_OutIt std::_Move<_InIt,_OutIt>(_InIt,_InIt,_OutIt,std::_Nonscalar_ptr_iterator_tag)' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              _OutIt=player *,
1>              _InIt=player *
1>          ]
1>          c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\vector(1170) : see reference to function template instantiation '_OutIt std::_Move<player*,player*>(_InIt,_InIt,_OutIt)' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              _OutIt=player *,
1>              _InIt=player *
1>          ]
1>          c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 10.0\vc\include\vector(1165) : while compiling class template member function 'std::_Vector_iterator<_Myvec> std::vector<_Ty>::erase(std::_Vector_const_iterator<_Myvec>)'
1>          with
1>          [
1>              _Myvec=std::_Vector_val<player,std::allocator<player>>,
1>              _Ty=player
1>          ]
1>          c:\vcprojects\texas holdem\texas holdem\game.h(29) : see reference to class template instantiation 'std::vector<_Ty>' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              _Ty=player
1>          ]
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

removing the line

players.erase(begin);

fixes the error, why is it happening though and how can I fix it?

Answer 1

You need to overload the assignment operator Player & operator= (const Player & other) for your class Player. This required because erase requires it’s argument to be copyable (it needs to rearrange the other elements of the vector after removal).