Error: Conversion to non-scalar type

Question

I am making a set of derived classes for an assignment. I am instructed to use char arrays (c-strings). When I compile I keep getting the error:

Homework11.cpp: In function âint main()â:
Homework11.cpp:72: error: conversion from âchar [10]â to non-scalar type âBusinessâ requested
Homework11.cpp:73: error: conversion from âchar [10]â to non-scalar type âBusinessâ requested
Homework11.cpp:74: error: conversion from âchar [10]â to non-scalar type âAccountâ requested
Homework11.cpp:75: error: conversion from âchar [10]â to non-scalar type âAccountâ requested

I am fairly certain that my problem is originating up where I try to set the instance variable Name to the argument sent in. Here is my code with comments in where I believe the problems may be.

#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <cstring>
using namespace std;

class Person{
public:
        Person() {}
        Person(char theName[]) {strcpy(name,theName);}
        void getName(char theName[]) // I think the problem may be here or in the line above
                { theName = name;}
private:
        char name[80];
 };

class Account : public Person{
public:
        Account() :accountNum(0),balance(0) {}
        Account(int actNo, char theName[])
                :Person(theName),accountNum(actNo),balance(0) {}
        void setBal(float theBalance)
                {balance = theBalance;}
        void deposit(float numDeposited)
                { balance = balance + numDeposited;}
        float withdraw(float numWithdrawn)
                { balance = balance -numWithdrawn;
                  return numWithdrawn;}
        float getBal() {return balance;}
        void printBal();
private:
        int accountNum;
        float balance;
};

 class Business : public Account{
 public:
        Business() : checkFee(0.0) {}
        Business(int actNo, char theName[])
                : Account(actNo, theName),checkFee(0.0) {}
        float withdraw(float numWithdrawn)
                {float newBalance = getBal()-numWithdrawn-checkFee;
                 setBal(newBalance);
                  return numWithdrawn;}
        void setFee(float fee) {checkFee = fee;}
 private:
        float checkFee;
};

void Account::printBal()
{
        char name[80];
        getName(name);
        cout<<setw(10)<<"Account # "<<accountNum<<setw(10)<<
              name<<setw(10)<<balance<<endl;
}


int main()
{
        char businessName1[10]="Business1";
        char businessName2[10] ="Business2";
        char regularName1[10] = "Regular1";
        char regularName2[10] = "Regular2";

       //The following 4 lines are the ones I am getting the error for
        Business bs1 = (1,businessName1);
        Business bs2 = (2,businessName2);
        Account rg1 = (1, regularName1);
        Account rg2 = (2, regularName2);

        cout<<"Intially: "<<endl;
        rg1.printBal();
        rg2.printBal();
        bs1.printBal();
        bs2.printBal();

        bs1.deposit(1000.00);
        bs2.deposit(1000.00);
        rg1.deposit(1000.00);
        rg2.deposit(1000.00);

        cout<<"----------------------------------------"<<endl;
       cout<<"After adding 1000.00 to all accounts:"<<endl;
        rg1.printBal();
        rg2.printBal();
         bs1.printBal();
        bs2.printBal();

        bs1.setFee(1.00);
        bs1.withdraw(500);
        bs2.withdraw(500);
        bs1.deposit(250);
        bs2.deposit(250);
        rg1.withdraw(500);
        rg2.deposit(500);

        cout<<"---------------------------------------"<<endl;
        cout<<"Finially:"<<endl;
        rg1.printBal();
        rg2.printBal();
        bs1.printBal();
        bs2.printBal();

        return 0;
}

Answer 1

The proper syntax would be Business bs1(1,businessName1);. If you want to use =, you can also use copy intialization Business bs2 = Business(2,businessName2);.

The former is known as direct initialization. They aren't exactly the same thing though, see Is there a difference in C++ between copy initialization and direct initialization? for in-depth information.

In Business bs1 = (1,businessName1); the 1 and array businessName1 are separated by the comma operator. The comma operator evaluates the first operand, i.e. 1 and throws away the results and returns the value of the second operand, which is an array in your case. In other words, your code is the equivalent of Business bs1 = businessName1;. This is why the error message says it cannot convert a char[10] to a Business object.