Getting Input from a Function - c++

Question

I've been having a problem in c++ where I call a function which assigns some values to things, but those assignments are lost after the function has been completed. Here is my code:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

void Input(string a, string b){

    cout << "Input a: \n";
    cin >> a;
    cout << endl;

    cout << "Input b: \n";
    cin >> b;
    cout << endl << "Inputen Strings (still in the called function): \n";
    cout << a << " " << b << endl << endl;
};

int main(){
    string c = "This didn't";
    string d = "work";

    Input(c,d);

    cout << "Inputen Strings (now in the main function): \n";
    cout << c + " " + d << endl;

    return 0;
};

So that whenever I run it, (inputting "Hello" and then "World") the program runs as follows:

Input a:

Hello

Input b:

World

Inputen Strings (still in the called function):

Hello World

Inputen Strings (now in the main function):

This didn't work

I don't know why it's only temporarily saving the values. Any help is appreciated!

Answer 1

change your method signature to accept the address of the variables "&"

void Input(string &a, string &b)

without the "&" operator you are just sending copy's of the variable into the function, with the "&" address-of operator you are passing the variables by reference