So I have a structure I'm making, which I can also make a class, but when I try to get the properties of them...it gives me random letters. Like completely random. I'm seeing stuff like "(▌ ¶∞♥!¶↑♥!¶≤ ≈ ¶⌠ ☻!¶≈ Ç┌ ¶√ Φ`◄¶ ◄▬¶Ç┌ ¶√ Ç☻V♫√ ╨┘ ¶⌠ ╨┘ ¶⌠ 0│".
I've trimmed it down to something completely basic, and I'm still clueless as to why it's doing this.
struct Example
{
const char* Whatever = "Hello";
};
And when I do this
Example* exampleObj;
print(exampleObj->Whatever);
It brings up the random letters. The random letters vary from execution to execution of the program.
A pointer is a variable that holds the address in memory were an object resides. So declaring a pointer is not enough, you also need to create something for it to point at. That means you need to set aside some memory in-which you can put your object.
Example* exampleObj; // at the moment exampleObj contains spurious data
That is just a pointer. But you have not created anything for it to point at. If you try accessing it you are accessing spurious garbage!
So to allocate a chunk of memory containing a valid object you need to use new like this:
Example* exampleObj = new Example; // new returns a chunk of valid memory
Now the pointer is assigned a valid memory address that contains the object you just created using new.
NOTE:
There is often no need to allocate your objects manually using new. Instead you can use an automatic variable rather than a pointer:
Example exampleObj; // note no * means its not a pointer but a whole object
SOLUTION:
So we have 2 ways to solve your problem. Create a new object and assign its address to your pointer or create an automatic object:
// Solution 1:
Example* exampleObj = new Example; // Must remember to delete (smart pointer?)
print(exampleObj->Whatever);
// Solution 2 (usually MUCH better)
Example exampleObj;
print(exampleObj.Whatever); // note: uses . rather than ->