Question

I’m trying to write an implementation of a 2-3-4 tree in c++. I’m it’s been a while since I’ve used templates, and I’m getting some errors. Here’s my extremely basic code framework:
node.h:

    #ifndef TTFNODE_H  
    #define TTFNODE_H  
    template <class T>  
    class TreeNode  
    {  
      private:  
      TreeNode();  
      TreeNode(T item);  
      T data[3];  
      TreeNode<T>* child[4];  
      friend class TwoThreeFourTree<T>;   
      int nodeType;  
    };  
    #endif

node.cpp:

#include "node.h"

using namespace std;
template <class T>
//default constructor
TreeNode<T>::TreeNode(){
}

template <class T>
//paramerter receving constructor
TreeNode<T>::TreeNode(T item){
data[0] = item;
nodeType = 2;
}

TwoThreeFourTree.h

#include "node.h"
#ifndef TWO_H
#define TWO_H
enum result {same, leaf,lchild,lmchild,rmchild, rchild};
template <class T> class TwoThreeFourTree
{
  public:
    TwoThreeFourTree();

  private:
    TreeNode<T> * root;
};
#endif

TwoThreeFourTree.cpp:

#include "TwoThreeFourTree.h"
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

template <class T>
TwoThreeFourTree<T>::TwoThreeFourTree(){
  root = NULL;
}

And main.cpp:

#include "TwoThreeFourTree.h"
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>

using namespace std;

int main(){
  ifstream inFile;
  string filename = "numbers.txt";
  inFile.open (filename.c_str());
  int curInt = 0;
  TwoThreeFourTree <TreeNode> Tree;

  while(!inFile.eof()){
    inFile >> curInt;
    cout << curInt << " " << endl;
  }

  inFile.close();
}

And when I try to compile from the command line with:
g++ main.cpp node.cpp TwoThreeFourTree.cpp

I get the following errors:

In file included from TwoThreeFourTree.h:1,  
             from main.cpp:1:  
node.h:12: error: ‘TwoThreeFourTree’ is not a template  
main.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:  
main.cpp:13: error: type/value mismatch at argument 1 in template parameter list for ‘template<class T> class TwoThreeFourTree’  
main.cpp:13: error:   expected a type, got ‘TreeNode’  
main.cpp:13: error: invalid type in declaration before ‘;’ token  
In file included from node.cpp:1:  
node.h:12: error: ‘TwoThreeFourTree’ is not a template  
In file included from TwoThreeFourTree.h:1,  
             from TwoThreeFourTree.cpp:1:  
node.h:12: error: ‘TwoThreeFourTree’ is not a template  

My main question is why it’s saying “error: ‘TwoThreeFourTree’ is not a template”. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for all advice/help in advance…
Dan

Answer 1

You just need to declare it as a template when you use the friend keyword. You’re using incorrect syntax for a friend declaration in your code. What you want to write is:

template <class U> friend class TwoThreeFourTree;