Why doesn't my counter work in my recursive function?

[vaultDweller]

I'm trying to use a counter in this recursive function below and it doesn't seem to be counting each time but only once. Why is it doing this and how can I fix it? Thanks!

  int lengthOJP (int D) {
	int count = 1;
	if (D == 1) { // Base case

			count++; // Counter
			cout << "count = " << count << endl;

		} else if ((D % 2) != 0) { // odd numbers

			D = ((D * 3) + 1); // if D is odd

			count++;
			lengthOJP(D); // Recursive Call

		} else { // even

			D /= 2;
			count++;
			lengthOJP(D);

		}
return count;

	}

[AbstractionAnon]

And just how are you returning count from nested calls?

[vaultDweller]

I had return at the end of the function and it didn't (code edit) do anything. Where should I put it?

[AbstractionAnon]

That will return the count to the caller.

What does the caller do with the value?
Hint: lines 13 and 19 ignore the return value.

[vaultDweller]

Ohhh okay I see! I didn't realize I wasn't passing count on the the next iteration call of the function, it works now, thank you!