Answers to Self-Test Exercises 253 ■ A function can have formal parameters of a class or structure type. A function can return values of a class or structure type. ■ A member function for a class can be overloaded in the same way as ordinary func- tions are overloaded. ■ When defining a C++ class, you should separate the interface and implementation so that any programmer who uses the class need only know the interface and need not even look at the implementation. This is the principle of encapsulation. ANSWERS TO SELF-TEST EXERCISES 1. a. double b. double c. illegal—cannot use a structure tag instead of a structure variable d. char e. CDAccountV2 2. A $9.99 A $1.11 3. A semicolon is missing from the end of the definition of Stuff. 4. A x = {1,2}; 5. a. Too few initializers; not a syntax error. After initialization, month==12, day==21, and year==0. Member variables not provided an initializer are initialized to a zero of the appropriate type. b. Correct after initialization. 12==month, 21==day, and 1995==year. c. Error: too many initializers. 6. struct EmployeeRecord { double wageRate; int vacation; char status; }; 7. void readShoeRecord(ShoeType& newShoe) { cout << "Enter shoe style (one letter): "; cin >> newShoe.style; cout << "Enter shoe price $"; cin >> newShoe.price; } 06_CH06.fm Page 253 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:54 PM 254 Structures and Classes 8. ShoeType discount(ShoeType oldRecord) { ShoeType temp; temp.style = oldRecord.style; temp.price = 0.90*oldRecord.price; return temp; } 9. void DayOfYear::input( ) { cout << "Enter month as a number: "; cin >> month; cout << "Enter the day of the month: "; cin >> day; } 10. void Temperature::set(double newDegrees, char newScale) { degrees = newDegrees; scale = newScale; } 11. Both the dot operator and the scope resolution operator are used with member names to specify of what class or structure the member name is a member. If class DayOfYear is as defined in Display 6.3 and today is an object of the class DayOfYear, then the member month may be accessed with the dot operator: today.month. When we give the definition of a member function, the scope resolution operator is used to tell the compiler that this function is the one declared in the class. 12. hyundai.price = 4999.99; //ILLEGAL. price is private. jaguar.setPrice(30000.97); //LEGAL double aPrice, aProfit;//LEGAL aPrice = jaguar.getPrice( );//LEGAL aProfit = jaguar.getProfit( );//ILLEGAL. getProfit is //private. aProfit = hyundai.getProfit( );//ILLEGAL. getProfit is // private. hyundai = jaguar;//LEGAL 13. After the change, they would all be legal. 14. All members (member variables and member functions) that are marked private: can only be accessed by name in the definitions of member functions (both public and private) of the same class. Members marked public: have no restrictions on where they can be used. 06_CH06.fm Page 254 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:54 PM Programming Projects 255 15. a. Only one. The compiler warns if you have no public: members in a class (or struct, for that matter). b. None, but we normally expect to find at least one private: section in a class. 16. The member variables should all be private. The member functions that are part of the interface should be public. You may also have auxiliary (helping) functions that are only used in the definitions of other member functions. These auxiliary functions should be private. 17. All the declarations of private member variables are part of the implementation. (There should be no public member variables.) All the declarations for public member functions of the class (which are listed in the class definitions), as well as the explanatory comments for these declarations, are parts of the interface. All the declarations for private member functions are parts of the implementation. All member function definitions (whether the function is public or private) are parts of the implementation. PROGRAMMING PROJECTS 1. Write a grading program for a class with the following grading policies. a. There are two quizzes, each graded on the basis of 10 points. b. There is one midterm exam and one final exam, each graded on the basis of 100 points. c. The final exam counts for 50% of the grade, the midterm counts for 25%, and the two quizzes together count for a total of 25%. (Do not forget to normalize the quiz scores. They should be converted to a percentage before they are averaged in.) Any grade of 90 or more is an A, any grade of 80 or more (but less than 90) is a B, any grade of 70 or more (but less than 80) is a C, any grade of 60 or more (but less than 70) is a D, and any grade below 60 is an F. The program will read in the student’s scores and out- put the student’s record, which consists of two quiz and two exam scores as well as the stu- dent’s average numeric score for the entire course and final letter grade. Define and use a structure for the student record. 2. Define a class for a type called CounterType. An object of this type is used to count things, so it records a count that is a nonnegative whole number. Include a mutator function that sets the counter to a count given as an argument. Include member functions to increase the count by one and to decrease the count by one. Be sure that no member function allows the value of the counter to become negative. Also, include a member function that returns the current count value and one that outputs the count. Embed your class definition in a test program. 3. The type Point is a fairly simple data type, but under another name (the template class pair) this data type is defined and used in the C++ Standard Template Library, although you need not know anything about the Standard template Library to do this exercise. Write a definition of a class named Point that might be used to store and manipulate the location 06_CH06.fm Page 255 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:54 PM 256 Structures and Classes of a point in the plane. You will need to declare and implement the following member functions: a. a member function set that sets the private data after an object of this class is created. b. a member function to move the point by an amount along the vertical and horizontal directions specified by the first and second arguments. c. a member function to rotate the point by 90 degrees clockwise around the origin. d. two const inspector functions to retrieve the current coordinates of the point. Document these functions with appropriate comments. Embed your class in a test program that requests data for several points from the user, creates the points, then exercises the member functions. 4. Write the definition for a class named GasPump to be used to model a pump at an automo- bile service station. Before you go further with this programming exercise, write down the behavior you expect from a gas pump from the point of view of the purchaser. Below are listed things a gas pump might be expected to do. If your list differs, and you think your list is as good or better than these, then consult your instructor. You and your instructor should jointly decide what behavior you are to implement. Then implement and test the agreed upon design for a gas pump class. a. A display of the amount dispensed, b. A display of the amount charged for the amount dispensed d. A display of the cost per gallon, liter, or other unit of volume that is used where you reside. e. Before use, the gas pump must reset the amount dispensed and amount charged to zero. f. Actual behavior of the gas pump is, once started, it dispenses as long as you hold the nozzle lever. Peculiarities of console I/O make it difficult to continue to dispense while waiting for signal to stop. One solution is to model this behavior by having the user repeatedly press the return (enter) key, dispensing a quantum of fuel and recomputing the amount charged, say 0.1 gallons at each press. g. A stop dispensing control of some kind is needed. Implement the behavior of the gas pump as declarations of member functions of the gas pump class, then write implementations of these member functions. You will have to decide if there is data the gas pump has to keep track of that the user of the pump should not have access to. If so, make these private member variables. 06_CH06.fm Page 256 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:54 PM 2.5 For additional online Programming Projects, click the CodeMate icons below. 1.7 7 Constructors and Other Tools 7.1 CONSTRUCTORS 258 Constructor Definitions 258 Pitfall: Constructors with No Arguments 263 Explicit Constructor Calls 265 Tip: Always Include a Default Constructor 265 Example: BankAccount Class 268 Class Type Member Variables 274 7.2 MORE TOOLS 277 The const Parameter Modifier 277 Pitfall: Inconsistent Use of const 279 Inline Functions 284 Static Members 286 Nested and Local Class Definitions 289 7.3 VECTORS—A PREVIEW OF THE STANDARD TEMPLATE LIBRARY 290 Vector Basics 290 Pitfall: Using Square Brackets beyond the Vector Size 293 Tip: Vector Assignment Is Well Behaved 294 Efficiency Issues 294 CHAPTER SUMMARY 296 ANSWERS TO SELF-TEST EXERCISES 296 PROGRAMMING PROJECTS 298 07_CH07.fm Page 257 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM 7 Constructors and Other Tools Give us the tools and, and we will finish the job. Winston Churchill , Radio broadcast (February 9, 1941) INTRODUCTION This chapter presents a number of important tools to use when programming with classes. The most important of these tools are class constructors, a kind of function used to initialize objects of the class. Section 7.3 introduces vectors as an example of classes and as a preview of the Standard Template Library (STL). Vectors are similar to arrays but can grow and shrink in size. The STL is an extensive library of predefined classes. Section 7.3 may be covered now or later. The material in Chapters 8 through 18 does not require the material in Section 7.3, so you may postpone covering vectors (Section 7.3) if you wish. Sections 7.1 and 7.2 do not use the material in Chapter 5 but do use the material in Chapter 6. Section 7.3 requires Chapters 1 through 6 as well as Section 7.1. Constructors Well begun is half done. Proverb Often you want to initialize some or all the member variables for an object when you declare the object. As we will see later in this book, there are other initializing actions you might also want to take, but initializing member vari- ables is the most common sort of initialization. C++ includes special provi- sions for such initializations. When you define a class you can define a special kind of member function known as a constructor . A constructor is a member function that is automatically called when an object of that class is declared. A constructor is used to initialize the values of some or all member variables and to do any other sort of initialization that may be needed. ■ CONSTRUCTOR DEFINITIONS You define a constructor the same way that you define any other member function, except for two points: 7.1 constructor 07_CH07.fm Page 258 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM Constructors 259 1. A constructor must have the same name as the class. For example, if the class is named BankAccount , then any constructor for this class must be named BankAccount . 2. A constructor definition cannot return a value. Moreover, no type, not even void , can be given at the start of the function declaration or in the function header. For example, suppose we wanted to add a constructor for initializing the month and day for objects of type DayOfYear , which we gave in Display 6.4 and redefine in what follows so it includes a constructor. (We have omitted some of the comments to save space, but they should be included in an actual program.) class DayOfYear { public: DayOfYear(int monthValue, int dayValue); //Initializes the month and day to arguments. void input( ); void output( ); void set(int newMonth, int newDay); void set(int newMonth); int getMonthNumber( ); int getDay( ); private: int month; int day; }; Notice that the constructor is named DayOfYear , which is the name of the class. Also notice that the declaration (prototype) for the constructor DayOfYear does not start with void or any other type name. Finally, notice that the constructor is placed in the public section of the class definition. Normally, you should make your constructors public member functions. If you were to make all your constructors private members, then you would not be able to declare any objects of that class type, which would make the class completely useless. With the redefined class DayOfYear , two objects of type DayOfYear can be declared and initialized as follows: DayOfYear date1(7, 4), date2(5, 5); Assuming that the definition of the constructor performs the initializing action that we promised, the above declaration will declare the object date1 , set the value of date1.month to 7 , and set the value of date1.day to 4 . Thus, the object date1 is initial- ized so that it represents the date July 4. Similarly, date2 is initialized so that it repre- sents the date May 5. What happens is that the object date1 is declared, and then the constructor DayOfYear is called with the two arguments 7 and 4 . Similarly, date2 is declared, and then the constructor DayOfYear is called with the arguments 5 and 5 . The Constructor 07_CH07.fm Page 259 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM 260 Constructors and Other Tools result is conceptually equivalent to the following (although you cannot write it this way in C++): DayOfYear date1, date2; //PROBLEMS BUT FIXABLE date1.DayOfYear(7, 4); //VERY ILLEGAL date2.DayOfYear(5, 5); //VERY ILLEGAL As the comments indicate, you cannot place the above three lines in your program. The first line can be made to be acceptable, but the two calls to the constructor DayOfYear are illegal. A constructor cannot be called in the same way as an ordinary member func- tion is called. Still, it is clear what we want to happen when we write the above three lines, and that happens automatically when you declare the objects date1 and date2 as follows: DayOfYear date1(7, 4), date2(5, 5); The definition of a constructor is given in the same way as any other member func- tion. For example, if you revise the definition of the class DayOfYear by adding the con- structor just described, you need to also add a definition of the constructor, which might be as follows: DayOfYear::DayOfYear(int monthValue, int dayValue) { month = monthValue; day = dayValue; } Since the class and the constructor function have the same name, the name DayOfYear occurs twice in the function heading; the DayOfYear before the scope resolution opera- tor :: is the name of the class, and the DayOfYear after the scope resolution operator is the name of the constructor function. Also notice that no return type is specified in the heading of the constructor definition, not even the type void . Aside from these points, a constructor can be defined in the same way as an ordinary member function. As we just illustrated, a constructor can be defined just like any other member func- tion. However, there is an alternative way of defining constructors that is preferable to use. The previous definition of the constructor DayOfYear is completely equivalent to the following version: C ONSTRUCTOR A cc cc oo oo nn nn ss ss tt tt rr rr uu uu cc cc tt tt oo oo rr rr is a member function of a class that has the same name as the class. A constructor is called automatically when an object of the class is declared. Constructors are used to initialize objects. A constructor must have the same name as the class of which it is a member. 07_CH07.fm Page 260 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM Constructors 261 DayOfYear::DayOfYear(int monthValue, int dayValue) : month(monthValue), day(dayValue) {/*Body intentionally empty*/} The new element shown on the second line of the constructor definition is called the initialization section . As this example shows, the initialization section goes after the parenthesis that ends the parameter list and before the opening brace of the function body. The initialization section consists of a colon followed by a list of some or all the member variables separated by commas. Each member variable is followed by its ini- tializing value in parentheses. Notice that the initializing values can be given in terms of the constructor parameters. The function body in a constructor definition with an initialization section need not be empty as in the above example. For example, the following improved version of the constructor definition checks to see that the arguments are appropriate: DayOfYear::DayOfYear(int monthValue, int dayValue) : month(monthValue), day(dayValue) { if ((month < 1) || (month > 12)) { cout << "Illegal month value!\n"; exit(1); } if ((day < 1) || (day > 31)) { cout << "Illegal day value!\n"; exit(1); } } You can overload a constructor name like DayOfYear::DayOfYear , just as you can overload any other member function name. In fact, constructors usually are overloaded so that objects can be initialized in more than one way. For example, in Display 7.1 we have redefined the class DayOfYear so that it has three versions of its constructor. This redefinition overloads the constructor name DayOfYear so that it can have two argu- ments (as we just discussed), one argument, or no arguments. Notice that in Display 7.1, two constructors call the member function testDate to check that their initialized values are appropriate. The member function testDate is private since it is only intended to be used by other member functions and so is part of the hidden implementation details. We have omitted the member function set from this revised class definition of DayOfYear. Once you have a good set of constructor definitions, there is no need for any other member functions to set the member variables of the class. You can use the constructor DayOfYear in Display 7.1 for the same purposes that you would use the initialization section 07_CH07.fm Page 261 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM 262 Constructors and Other Tools Display 7.1 Class with Constructors (part 1 of 2) 1 #include <iostream> 2 #include <cstdlib> //for exit 3 using namespace std; 4 class DayOfYear 5 { 6 public: 7 DayOfYear(int monthValue, int dayValue); 8 //Initializes the month and day to arguments. 9 DayOfYear(int monthValue); 10 //Initializes the date to the first of the given month. 11 DayOfYear( ); 12 //Initializes the date to January 1. 13 void input( ); 14 void output( ); 15 int getMonthNumber( ); 16 //Returns 1 for January, 2 for February, etc. 17 int getDay( ); 18 private: 19 int month; 20 int day; 21 void testDate( ); 22 }; 23 int main( ) 24 { 25 DayOfYear date1(2, 21), date2(5), date3; 26 cout << "Initialized dates:\n"; 27 date1.output( ); cout << endl; 28 date2.output( ); cout << endl; 29 date3.output( ); cout << endl; 30 date1 = DayOfYear(10, 31); 31 cout << "date1 reset to the following:\n"; 32 date1.output( ); cout << endl; 33 return 0; 34 } 35 36 DayOfYear::DayOfYear(int monthValue, int dayValue) 37 : month(monthValue), day(dayValue) 38 { 39 testDate( ); 40 } This definition of DayOfYear is an improved version of the class DayOfYear given in Display 6.4. default constructor This causes a call to the default constructor. Notice that there are no parentheses. an explicit call to the constructor DayOfYear::DayOfYear 07_CH07.fm Page 262 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM . 258 Pitfall: Constructors with No Arguments 263 Explicit Constructor Calls 265 Tip: Always Include a Default Constructor 265 Example: BankAccount Class 268 Class Type Member Variables 274 7.2. are parts of the interface. All the declarations for private member functions are parts of the implementation. All member function definitions (whether the function is public or private) are parts. the initialization section 07_CH07.fm Page 261 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 12:58 PM 262 Constructors and Other Tools Display 7.1 Class with Constructors (part 1 of 2) 1 #include <iostream> 2