I intended to initialize a pointer to an array of objects of the class 'Port.h'. To do so, first a pointer of type 'Port' is initialized, then the constructor of this class is called for every element of the array.
int main(){
Port *ports;
for (int m = 0; m < M; m++){
// Initialize
ports[m] = Port(***PARAMETERS***);
// ...
}
// ...
}
I am getting the following error when running the code:
error C4700: uninitialized local variable 'ports' used
Before you could start loading pointers into your array, you need to initialize the array itself:
Port *ports = new Port[M];
However, your class lacks default constructor, so the above declaration will not work. You could make an array of pointers instead, and use it like this:
Port **ports = new Port*[M];
When you put data into the array of pointers, you need to use operator new:
ports[m] = new Port(***PARAMETERS***);
// ^^^
Since ports holds pointers now, you need to use pointer syntax to access Port's members:
ports[m]->memberFunction(param1, param2); // Note the use of '->' in place of a dot '.'
Once you are done working with the array, you need to delete the individual Port objects, and then delete[] the ports array to avoid memory leaks:
for (int m = 0 ; m != M ; m++) {
delete ports[m];
}
delete[] ports;
Note: much code is dedicated to management of memory now. To avoid having to write this code, use standard collections and smart pointers.
The error message is clear enough: variable ports was not initialized
Port *ports;
So it has any arbitrary value.
You need to allocate memory for the array that you are going to use. For example
Port *ports = new Port[M];
And it would be better if instead of the dynamically allocated array you would use class std::vector. For example
std::vector<Port> ports( M, Port(***PARAMETERS***) );
At the very least, you should allocate a zone for that pointer:
#define M 15 /* or whatever you want */
Port *ports = new Port[M];
Don't forget to deletethe array later, perhaps by ending your main with
delete[] ports;
But I believe you should not use a pointer to an array zone, but a vector, e.g.
std::vector<Port> ports;
Read more about std::vector. You probably want to call its resize or its push_back or emplace_back methods (assuming C++11). So if you can construct some Port(12,"abc"); you would call:
ports.emplace_back(12,"abc");
to construct and add such a port at the end of your ports vector.
