Initializing static array of strings (C++)?

Question

I can't for the life of me figure out how to do this properly. I have a class that needs to store some constants (text that corresponds to values in an enum type) - I have it declared like this (publicly) in my class:

const static char* enumText[];

And I'm trying to initialize it like this:

const char* MyClass::enumText[] = { "A", "B", "C", "D", "E" };

However gcc gives me the following error:

'const char* MyClass::enumText[]' is not a static member of 'class MyClass'

What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

I strongly suspect that this is some older g++ version that incorrectly treats const static char* [] there as static char* [] const rather than static const char* [] (because of static being in an "unusual" place). — Pavel Minaev
– Pavel Minaev, Commented Sep 3, 2009 at 22:45
Could you paste a complete and compilable piece of code into your answer which shows the problem? — sbi
– sbi, Commented Sep 4, 2009 at 7:58

David Rodríguez - dribeas · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-04 11:58:36Z

17

This code compiles:

struct X {
   static const char* enumtext[];
};

const char* X::enumtext[] = { "A", "B", "C" };

Check your code and find differences. I can only think that you did not define the static attribute in the class, you forgot to include the header or you mistyped the name.

edited Sep 4, 2009 at 11:58

answered Sep 3, 2009 at 22:26

David Rodríguez - dribeas

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4 Comments

E.M. Over a year ago

Line 5 should have X::enumtext or else you are just creating a new variable.

David Rodríguez - dribeas Over a year ago

That was a typo in the answer, I have corrected it. Anyway, the code does compile with gcc (both 4.0 in MacOSX and 4.3 in ubuntu)

gone Over a year ago

How would you do this if the data type was std::string instead of char*?

Owl Over a year ago

@gone then you'd probably want to use a vector<string> ... = {"str1","str2"}; etc.

E.M. · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-03 22:52:14Z

6

This compiles with gcc version 4.0.1:

#include <iostream>

class MyClass {
public:
    const static char* enumText[];
};

const char* MyClass::enumText[] = { "a", "b", "c" };

int main()
{
    std::cout << MyClass::enumText[0] << std::endl;
}

Compiled with:

g++ -Wall -Wextra -pedantic s.cc -o s

Are you sure that MyClass::enumText is referencing the right class?

edited Sep 3, 2009 at 22:52

answered Sep 3, 2009 at 22:43

E.M.

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Comments

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:34:09Z

2

Given the error message, it seems to me that you have a declaration of MyClass somewhere (in another header maybe?) that doesn't have enumText[] declared in it. The error message indicates that the compiler knows about MyClass, but it doesn't know about the enumText member.

I'd look to see if you have multiple declarations of MyClass lurking in the shadows.

Can you get wintermute's or T.E.D.'s examples to compile?

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:34

CommunityBot

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answered Sep 3, 2009 at 22:59

Michael Burr

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Comments

Alexis Wilke · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-23 21:27:28Z

2

As the compiler say, you're trying to define a static member of MyClass that would be a const char* array named enumText. If you don't have it's declaration in the class, then there is a problem.

You should have :

class MyClass
{
   //blah
   static const char* enumText[];
};

or maybe you didn't want a static member. If not, you shouldn't have to use a class in the name.

Anyway, that has nothing to do with array initialization.

edited Jun 23, 2019 at 21:27

Alexis Wilke

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answered Sep 3, 2009 at 22:21

Klaim

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2 Comments

snarf Over a year ago

Op says "I have it declared like this (publicly) in my class"

Michael Burr Over a year ago

@Snarfblam: but often what an OP says and reality are 2 different things - especially since what he says he's done should work.

T.E.D. · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-03 22:50:46Z

1

The following code compiles just fine for me in VS 2005:

class MyClass
{
const static char* MyClass::enumText[];
};
const char* MyClass::enumText[] = { "A", "B", "C", "D", "E" };

If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say that your initilization line is in a separate source file, and you forgot to #include the .h file that contains MyClass. That's exactly the kind of thing I screw up and do all the time.

Also, it seems quite likely to me that you have the const in the wrong spot (or not enough of them). The way you have it now, it isn't the array that is constant, or the pointers in the array; just the character elements within it.

edited Sep 3, 2009 at 22:50

answered Sep 3, 2009 at 22:40

T.E.D.

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