calling a function within a class in c++?

Question

class CBAY_ITEM
{
public:

    string name = enterName();
    string condition = enterCondition();

};

when I compile, it gives 4 errors, which say

1.a function call cannot appear in a constant-expression

2.ISO C++ forbids initialization of member 'name'

3.making 'name' static

4.invalid in-class initialization of static data member of non-integral type 'std::string'

what am I doing wrong here??

Answer 1

You cannot initialize members at their declaration in C++03, unless they are static const members being initialized with constant expressions. Constant expressions cannot contain function calls in C++03.

Either switch to C++11 (-std=c++11 or -std=c++0x with gcc or clang) or initialize the members in the CBAY_ITEM's constructor. If you have several constructors that perform a common initialization, you can move the common initialization to a helper init method.

class CBAY_ITEM {
  std::string name;
  std::string condition;
public:
  CBAY_ITEM() : name(enterName()), condition(enterCondition())
    {}
};

Answer 2

Do you want to initialize those values in your class? Use a constructor.

#include <string>
std::string enterName();
std::string enterCondition();
class CBAY_ITEM
{
public:
  std::string name;
  std::string condition;
  CBAY_ITEM() {
    name = enterName();
    condition = enterCondition();
  }
};