Returning array of character error in c++?

Question

I have these two files table.cpp and table.h in my program code apart from the main.cpp. The files are described as below

table.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include "table.h"

using namespace std;

// accessor function for Name
char* PeriodicTable::Name()
{
    return Name;
}

// accessor function for Symbol
char* PeriodicTable::Symbol()
{
    return Symbol;
}

table.h

#ifndef TABLE_H
#define TABLE_H

class PeriodicTable
{
    char Name[15], Symbol[3], GroupName[20], Block, State[25], Colour[15], Classification[20];
    int GroupNo, AtomicNo, PeriodNo;
    float Weight;

public:

    char* Name();
    char* Symbol();


};

#endif

but the problem is that the IntelliSense(since I am using Visual C++ Express 2010) shows a red curved underline below the name and symbol in the accessor function in table.cpp. I can't understand why???

"Intelli"sense is a big name... does it compile / link OK? As an aside I don't like having variables and functions with the same name... — Floris
– Floris, Commented Dec 12, 2013 at 17:01
IntelliSense is thinking you're returning a reference to a function. Btw, if you hold your mouse over that little red squiggly, it will tell you this. — WhozCraig
– WhozCraig, Commented Dec 12, 2013 at 17:03
You should move your #include <iostream> statement from your .cpp to your .h file. — Thomas Benard
– Thomas Benard, Commented Dec 12, 2013 at 17:05
VS 2010 and above use the EDG compiler front-end for IntelliSense. This is not some ghetto tool. If it throws red squiggles at you it's a good idea to hover your mouse over it. — IInspectable
– IInspectable, Commented Dec 12, 2013 at 17:14

pmr · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-12 17:11:05Z

4

Your member functions and member variables have the same name. This is not possible in C++. That's why various conventions exist for naming member variables, e.g. m_name, name_ etc. (NB: When dealing with underscores in identifiers make sure you don't use a reserved name by accident.)

You might wonder why and how that could possibly go wrong. In your example there clearly is no way to invoke operator() on char[15], but the problem is that the compiler only knows that after performing semantic analysis. There could also be cases where it is impossible to disambiguate. For example:

struct Func {
  void operator()() { };
};

struct C {
  Func f;
  void f() {}
};

int main() {
  C c;
  c.f(); // which one?
}

edited Dec 12, 2013 at 17:11

answered Dec 12, 2013 at 17:05

pmr

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