Key Letter and return as char

[Jester87]

I am very new to this and working on a project that requires me to use char getKeyLetter as an input method, but the instructions also state that it won't be possible to get a solution by the method being in char. My task is to make this method gather an single letter from the user and then return it back to the main() as a char.

The char will be used in a statement also gathered by the user. Then use this key letter to remove, replace, and count the letter in the statement. I pretty much have the rest of the code, but getting the KeyLetter has me stumped. Could anyone suggest if i'm supposed to use a string or int or what? I realize I have to convert whatever I use to char before returning by a functional return.

Here is my partially written code for this method. I have no idea how to accomplish this. I know I haven't done my else statements yet, I'm just trying to get the output right first.

  // gets inputs
string getKeyLetter()
{  
   string getKeyLetter;
   cout << "Please enter a SINGLE letter to act as key:" << endl;
   if (getKeyLetter.length() != 1);
   {
      cin.get();
   }
   string getKeyLetter = "Please enter a SINGLE letter to act as key:";
   char *keyLetter = new char[getKeyLetter.length() != 1];
   strcpy(keyLetter, getKeyLetter.c_str());
   delete[] keyLetter;

   return keyLetter;
}

[Code Apperentice]

I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish with your code? Can you tell us what you think each line is supposed to do and maybe we can help you fix it.

[Code Apperentice]

If you want just one letter, you're heavily complicating it,

string getKeyLetter()
{
    string letter = "PLACEHOLDER"; //Initialise variable
    while(letter.length() != 1){
        cout << "Please enter one letter to act as key: ";
        cin >> letter;
    }
    return letter;
}

[Jester87]

honestly, I was lost. I have been trying to find exactly how to accomplish what i want. I was trying to find something to convert the string to a char, but I wasn't truly sure how to accomplish it. That's where lines 10-13 got me confused, as I was trying to implement how the heck to do it, from looking up how to convert a string to char. Then just last night after posting this, I found that when I missed classes, due to personal issues, the prior week's assignment covered do and while loops.

So your code here, so I make sure I'm grasping this, is that the placeholder statement actually creates a type of buffer? I will modify it a bit to create a loop when more than one character, or no character is put in. I'll keep you posted if I have troubles. Thank you for the help.

The assignment stated to return it as a char. Is there a way to do this, or do I convert the string to a char in the main()?

[Jester87]

ok so my code is working so far. Thank you so much for your help CodeApprentice. I got the letter and the phrase portions working with the do-while loops. I'll come back here if I have issues with replacing the letter or removing it in the phrase.

[Jester87]

Ok, so I have gotten my phrase as well as my letter and returned them, but I get external error on my maskLetter method. I think the problem is that the returned letter is a string and not a char, but I'm not really sure. The compiler doesn't show that there is anything wrong in the actual coding portion of the method, so that's why I assume it's because I have no char. Where am I going astray? Thank you.

#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

// method prototypes
string getKeyLetter();
string getstring();
string maskLetter();
string removeLetter();
int countKey();

int main()
{
   getKeyLetter();
   getstring();
   maskLetter();


   cout << "String with '" << getKeyLetter() << "' masked:" << maskLetter();

}

// gets inputs
string getKeyLetter()
{
   string letter = "PLACEHOLDER";
   do{
   cout << "Please enter a SINGLE letter to act as key:";
   cin >> letter;
   } 
   while (letter.length() !=1);

   return letter;
}

string getstring()
{
   string theString;
   do{
      cout << "Please enter a phrase or sentence >= 4: \n";
      cin >> theString;
   }
   while (theString.length() < 4);

   return theString;
}

//process inputs and send back to main.
string maskLetter(string theString, char letter)
{
   string mask = theString;
   replace(mask.begin(), mask.end(), ' ', '-');

   return mask;
}