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c++codeblocksifstream

C++ does not name a type error in Codeblocks

I'm trying to compile this simple C++ program in Code Blocks:

#include <string>
#include <fstream>
#include <streambuf>
#include <sstream>

std::ifstream t("C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts-backup.txt");
std::stringstream buffer;
buffer << t.rdbuf();

And I get this error:

||=== Build: Debug in hostapp2 (compiler: GNU GCC Compiler) ===|

C:\Users\Flights Trainer\Desktop\hostapp2\main.cpp|7|error: 'buffer' does not name a type|

||=== Build failed: 1 error(s), 0 warning(s) (0 minute(s), 0 second(s)) ===|

I've been googling "does not name a type" all night and everything I've found points to using a class before it has been declared but I dont understand where I am doing that.

What am I doing wrong?

Solution

  • You can't put arbitrary statements at the file scope in C++, you need to put them in a function.

    #include <string>
#include <fstream>
#include <streambuf>
#include <sstream>

int main () {
    //These are now local variables
    std::ifstream t("C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts-backup.txt");
    std::stringstream buffer;

    //We can write expression statements because we're in a function
    buffer << t.rdbuf();
}