Question

Is this the proper way to open a file for input?

void BinaryTree::read(char * path, int line_number)
{
    ifstream * file(path); //error: cannot convert ‘char*’ to ‘std::ifstream*’ in initialization
    file->seekg(0, std::ios::beg);
    int length = file.tellg();
    char * buffer = new char[length];
    file->getline(buffer, line_number);
    printf("%d", length);
    file->close();

}

I’m guessing not, because the compiler won’t accept a char array, or a std::string for the ifstream constructor, yet when I read documentation, I see strings and/or char arrays being passed to ifstream constructors.

Is something wrong with my compiler or am I just using the wrong type in my parameter?

Answer 1

Dont use pointer. It is not needed here.

Try this:

ifstream file(path);

and then use it as:

//...
file.getline(buffer, line_number);//file->getline(buffer, line_number);
//...