Assigning a string to a char array in a structure in Turbo C++

Question

I should mention that I am on Turbo C++ (yes the old one) because it is required by my school.

I have a structure like this:

struct move{
 int power;
 int pp;
 char name[10];
 };

When I try to make a new variable if I do this:

move tackle;
tackle.pp = 10;
tackle.power = 20;
tackle.name = "tackle";

I get an error as:

Error NONAME00.CPP 11: Lvalue required

But this works:

move tackle = {20, 10, "tackle"}

it works.

What am I doing wrong?

P.S. line 11 is the tackle.name = "tackle", sorry if I was unclear earlier.

The mysterious line 11, where is it? Can you add a line count? — WorldSEnder, Jul 07 '15 at 15:07
I think just indicating which line produces the error will suffice. — Captain Obvlious, Jul 07 '15 at 15:12
possible duplicate of [Assigning a string of characters to a char array](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10088661/assigning-a-string-of-characters-to-a-char-array) — Captain Obvlious, Jul 07 '15 at 15:14
`because it is required by my school` A school who's intent is to turn out programmers who do not know C++ as it stands today (or even 17 years ago). — PaulMcKenzie, Jul 07 '15 at 15:44

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 07 '15 at 15:13

You can't assign to an array, but you can initialise it.

tackle.name = "tackle";

is an assignment, while

move tackle = {20, 10, "tackle"};

is an initialisation.

To replace the contents of the array, use strcpy:

strcpy(tackle.name, "tackle");

or, better, use string if you're allowed to:

#include <string>

struct move{
 int power;
 int pp;
 string name;
 };

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 07 '15 at 15:10

2

You are using a c-style string and you should initialize it via

strcpy(tackle.name, "tackle");

answered Jul 07 '15 at 15:10

marom

1

even better: `strncpy(tackle.name, "tackle", 9)` – WorldSEnder Jul 07 '15 at 15:12
@WorldSEnder `strncpy(dest, src, 9)` is not better - does not guarantee `dest` has a terminating `'\0'`. `tackle.name[0] = 0; strncat(dest, src, sizeof dest)` does. – chux - Reinstate Monica Jul 07 '15 at 16:00

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 07 '15 at 15:15

0

This line

tackle.name = "tackle";

tries to assign one array to another which not a supported operation in C or C++.

However initialization like char name[10] = "tackle" is fine by the standard and is supported.

answered Jul 07 '15 at 15:15

Alexander Balabin

3 Answers3