Create objects in conditional c++ statements

Question

I am learning c++, and I just got to the object oriented chapter. I have a question about creating objects inside if statements.

The problem I'm working on says to create a class that will display a report header. The class has a default constructor that sets the company name and report name to a generic thing, and also, if the user wants, has a constructor that takes two arguments (strings company name and report name).

The problem says, specifically, "A two-parameter default constructor should allow these [company and report names] to be specified at the time a new Report object is created. If the user creates a Report object without passing any arguments, use the default values. Otherwise, use user specified values for the names."

So my question is, how to create these objects? I understand how to create an object without any arguments (i.e. Report newobj;), and also with arguments (i.e. Report newobj(string string);). Basically, I get how to create these objects initially at the top of my main function. But is it possible to create them inside if statements based on user choices? Here is what I have so far and, obviously, it doesn't work:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include "report.h"
using namespace std;

bool enter_company_name();           // return true if user wants to enter company name
bool print_form();              // return true if user wants to print in formatted output

int main()
{
  string company_name,
    report_name;
  bool name = false,
    format = false;

  name = enter_company_name();
  format = print_form();

  if (name)
    {
      cout << "Enter company name: ";
      getline(cin, company_name);
      cout << "Enter report name: ";
      getline(cin, report_name);
      Report header(company_name, report_name);  // THIS IS MY PROBLEM
    }
  else
      Report header;  // THIS IS MY PROBLEM

  if (format)
    header.print_formatted();
  else
    header.print_one_line();

  return 0;
}

bool enter_company_name()
{
  char choice;

  cout << "Do you want to enter a name?\n>";
  cin >> choice;

  if (choice == 'y' || choice == 'Y')
    return true;
  else
    return false;
}

bool print_form()
{
  char choice;

  cout << "Do you want to print a formatted header?\n>";
  cin >> choice;

  if (choice == 'y' || choice == 'Y')
    return true;
  else
    return false;
}

So I want to create an object using default values if none are specified, or create one with the user values if that's the choice given. I just can't figure out how to do it interactively in c++. I have not been able to find any similar questions anywhere so far.

The closest thing I've come across uses pointers to do something similar to what I want to do, but the book I'm using has not gotten to pointers yet, and I want to try to figure out a way to do it that stays within the bounds of the chapter I'm working in (i.e. not using pointers).

I didn't include the header file or class implementation file because I don't think they are relevant here.

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

First off, you cannot create an object within a conditional statement and use it after the conditional statement: the two branches of the conditional statement create a scope each and any object created within in destroyed a the end of the branch. That is, you need to come up with a different approach. The simplest approach is probably to delegate the creation of the object to a function which returns the objects as appropriate:

Report makeReport() {
    if (enter_company_name()) {
        ...
        return Report(name, company);
    }
    return Report();
}

...
Report report = makeReport();

An alternative approach is to use the ternary operator to conditonally create the Report one way or another:

bool get_company_name = enter_company_name();
std::string name(get_company_name? read_name(): "");
std::string company(get_company_name? read_company(): "");
Report report = get_company_name? Report(name, company): Report();

All of these approaches assume that the Report class is actually copyable.

Answer 2

I don't know if I understood your question correctly but can't you just declare report before the if/else block and then initialize inside it?

Report header;

if (...) {
  header = Report();
else
  header = Report(name,company);

Or in a shorter way:

Report header; // calls default constructor

if (shouldInitializeWithParams) {
  header = Report(name,company);
}

Of course this requires you to have the empty constructor defined.

Answer 3

We don't know whether class Report is copy-able, so better to use pointers.

Report * header;

if (...) {
  header = new Report();
else
  header = new Report(name,company);

// after all don't forget
delete header;

and of course you should use header pointer like that

header->print_formatted();

Answer 4

The simplest thing that comes to mind is performing a little refactoring on the code flow. Create a function that processes the input and returns the constructed object:

Report loadReport() {
    if (user_input()) {
        // read input
        return Report(name,company);
    } else {
        return Report();
    }
}

Then call the function from main. The small change in the design is the introduction of a function whose single responsibility is creating a Report from user input, which actually makes sense as a function.

Answer 5

You can use an rvalue reference to bind in place to either constructed object.

struct Foo
{
  Foo(int bar): bar(bar) {}

  int bar
};

Foo&& f = condition ? Foo(4) : Foo(5);

f.bar = 1000; 

Answer 6

As of C++17, you can now use std::optional for this task - it avoids dynamic memory allocation, it avoids two-phase construction of the object, and it doesn't require the type to be movable or copyable. It allows you to delay the construction of the object while keeping it on the stack and also still being exception-safe. If you construct it in every branch you can safely use it afterward with no performance penalty. It will also work as a class member allowing you to avoid the problem with the class constructor initializer for it, unlike the rvalue reference solution. Demo: https://gcc.godbolt.org/z/vbe5eh

#include <optional>

struct UseCtorA final {};
struct UseCtorB final {};
struct Report final
{
    Report() = delete;
    Report(Report const &) = delete;
    Report(Report &&) = delete;
    Report &operator=(Report const &) = delete;
    Report &operator=(Report &&) = delete;

    Report(UseCtorA, char c) : v{1} { if(c == 't'){ throw 3; } }
    Report(UseCtorB) : v{2} {}

    constexpr auto getValue() const noexcept { return v; }

private:
    int v;
};

int main(int nargs, char const *const *args)
{
    std::optional<Report> report;
    if(nargs > 2)
    {
        report.emplace(UseCtorA{}, args[1][0]);
    }
    else
    {
        report.emplace(UseCtorB{});
    }
    return report->getValue();
}

If you are stuck in an older compiler that only supports C++11, you can make your own really dumb version of std::optional for this express purpose by using a union and placement new:

struct Empty final {};
template<typename T>
struct Optional
{
    Optional() noexcept : unused{} {}
    ~Optional() noexcept(noexcept(v.~T()))
    {
        if(constructed_successfully)
        {
            v.~T();
        }
    }
    template<typename... Args>
    auto emplace(Args &&... args) -> T &
    {
        if(constructed_successfully)
        {
            v.~T();
            constructed_successfully = false;
        }
        T &r = *new (&v) T(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
        constructed_successfully = true;
        return r;
    }
    auto operator->() noexcept -> T *
    {
        return &v;
    }

private:
    union
    {
        T v;
        [[no_unique_address]] Empty unused;
    };
    bool constructed_successfully = false;
};

The generated assembly is identical to with std::optional: https://gcc.godbolt.org/z/vzGz9E

Though, I would recommend using an existing library to supplement your lack of access to std::optional instead of rolling your own like I have done above - my version doesn't work for copying or moving.

Answer 7

I'm not sure if I understood your question properly. Apologies if you read the answer and realise that that's the case.

But nevertheless, I think the main strategy would be to make use of constructor overloading. ie, you define constructors for both: the case when no parameters are passed and the case when parameters are passed. The former(what you refer to as default constructor) will initialise the company and report names to default values. The latter will assign the parameters received, to the comapany and report names.

As for the use of pointers: you can avoid it by 'declaring' a lot of objects of type 'Report'(class). For eg, you can create an array of header(objects). And then you can 'define' it as and when the user responds.

But by using pointers, you're doing everything in runtime(dynamic assignment) whereas when using arrays(or declaring many objects): the amount is fixed. This can be inefficient.