Question

I’m getting an error on line 4:

expected constructor, destructor, or type conversion before ';' token

I’m pretty weak at this point when it comes to functions, so I know that there is something wrong with my function declaration(?). Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance…

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;
shapeDetermine (char letter);

int main()
{ 
    char letter;
    int  side, area, base, height; // lengths to be used in calculating area

    cout << "Enter the first letter of the shape:"; 
    cin>> letter;
    system ("pause");
    return 0;
}

Added:

void shapeDetermine (char shape)            
{
    int  side, area, base, height; // lengths to be used in calculating area
    if (letter == 's')              //determine what shape is used - square
    {
           cout<< " Enter the length of side of square:";
           cin>> side;
           area = side * side;    // formula for area of square
           cout<< " The area of the square is "<< area<< " cm."<<endl;
    }
    else if (letter =='t')        // triangle
    { 
        cout<< " Enter the height of triangle:";
        cin>> height;
        cout<< " Enter length of base of triangle:"<< endl;
        cin>> base;
        area = (base * height) / 2;   // formula for area of triangle
        cout<< " The area of the triangle is "<< area<< " cm."<<endl;
    }
    else
    {
        cout<<" Invalid shape entered."<< endl;  // for any character other than s||t
    }
}

Answer 1

You’re not declaring a return type for shapeDetermine. If for example it is supposed to return an int, it should be declared:

int shapeDetermine(char letter);

Updating to respond to the new code the OP posted:

That new code is fine. However, if it appears after main() in the file (or in another file) then you still need to declare a function prototype for it before you call it. Given the function definition you’ve posted, the prototype would be:

void shapeDetermine(char shape);

Another update to address the comments:

You need to actually call the function. In your as-posted code for main() you aren’t calling shapeDetermine() anywhere. Try changing your main() to read like this:

cout << "Enter the first letter of the shape:"; 
cin>> letter;
shapeDetermine(letter);
system ("pause");