I'm using the textbook Beginning Visual C++ 6.0 and so far I find it very good. I'm in chapter 4 and I think I understand pointers, but I have a question about example 10. I've listed the code below. In the 'while loop' a pointer is being incremented. I understand what that is doing, but is there a way, using a 'cout' command to display the address of pbuffer for each character. I'm able to see them by installing a break point and watching pbuffer, but I was wondering if there is a way to code that output?

Thanks.



// EX4_10.CPP
// Counting string characters using a pointer

#include<iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    const int MAX = 80; // Maximum array dimension
    char buffer[MAX]; // Input buffer
    char* pbuffer = buffer; // Pointer to array buffer

    cout << "\nEnter a string of less than " // Prompt for input
         << MAX << " characters: \n";

    cin.getline(buffer, MAX, '\n'); // Read a string until \n

    // The only way I could figure out how to get the value of
    // pbuffer, was to run the program in debug mode and
    // install a break point at the 'cout' statement following
    // this 'while loop'.
    while(*pbuffer) // Continue until \0
    {
        pbuffer++;
    }

    // pbuffer - buffer calculates the length of the string.
    // pbuffer will contain the address of the last character in the string.
    // buffer will contain the address of the first character in the string.
    // When you subtract them you get the length of the string.
    // In my case the addresses were: pbuffer = 0012FF37 and buffer = 0012FF2C
    // The string I entered was 'Hello World'. When you subtract the two addresses
    // you get 11 decimal.
    cout << "\nThe string \"" << buffer
         << "\" has " << pbuffer - buffer << " characters." << "\n";

    return 0;
}

Hi,

I'm on Chapter 16.

For cout, the << operator is defined such that when a pointer to a char is on the right side(or an address of a char), the value at that address is displayed instead of the address.

If you try an example and use an int array, then you will be able to ouput the addresses using cout<<. That's because for cout, the operator << is defined differently when there is a pointer to an int on the right hand side.