Question

I need to store a char array inside a class and then return it. I have to admit that I’m a bit confused about pointers and have tried everything I can think of but can’t get it to work. Here’s what I have:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Test {
public:
    void setName(char *name);
    char getName();
private:
    char m_name[30];
};

void Test::setName(char *name) {
    strcpy(m_name, name);
}

char Test::getName() {
    return *m_name;
}

void main() {

    Test foobar;
    char name[] = "Testing";
    foobar.setName(name);
    cout << foobar.getName();
}

Of course, I expect setName() to store the string “Testing” inside the class, and getName() should return “Testing”. But instead, I get only the first letter T. What am I doing wrong?

I guess I should be using std strings but first I would like to understand why this does not work. As far as I know, this should work with char arrays as well?

Answer 1

Just return a pointer:

const char* Test::getName() const
{
    return m_name;
}

and add a constructor for the class Test that would null-terminate the encapsulated array:

Test::Test()
{
    m_name[0] = 0;
}

so that you don’t ask for trouble if someone instantiates class Test and doesn’t call setName() on the instance.