could not convert '& fileInput' from 'std::ifstream* to 'std::ifstream'

I have taken the code from this website http://www.coderslexicon.com/file-chunking-and-merging-in-c/ but it doesn't compile properly.
I have no idea what I did wrong, can somebody help?
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#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>


void joinFile(char *chunkName, char *fileOutput);
void chunkFile(std::string, std::string, unsigned long);
int getFileSize(std::ifstream);

int main(){
	std::string answer;
	std::cout << "do you need to chunk or join?" << std::endl;
	std::cin >> answer;
	
	if (answer == "chunk"){
		std::cout << "what's the name of the file" << std::endl;
		std::string name; std::cin >> name;
		std::cout << "what is the size (bytes) you want it to be chunked in?" << std::endl;
		unsigned long size;std::cin >> size;
		chunkFile(name, "nsugh", size);
	}
		
	else if( answer == "join") {
		std::cout << "what's the name of the list of files" << std::endl;
		std::string name; std::cin >> name;
		std::cout << "sorry this is still under construction " << std::endl;
	}
	else { 
	std::cout << "please type a valid response.";
	
	}
	
	
	
}


// Chunks a file by breaking it up into chunks of "chunkSize" bytes.
void chunkFile(std::string fullFilePath, std::string chunkName, unsigned long chunkSize) {
	using namespace std;
	ifstream fileStream;
	fileStream.open(fullFilePath, ios::in | ios::binary);

	// File open a success
	if (fileStream.is_open()) {
		ofstream output;
		int counter = 1;

		string fullChunkName;

		// Create a buffer to hold each chunk
		char *buffer = new char[chunkSize];

		// Keep reading until end of file
		while (!fileStream.eof()) {

			// Build the chunk file name. Usually drive:\\chunkName.ext.N
			// N represents the Nth chunk
			fullChunkName.clear();
			fullChunkName.append(chunkName);
			fullChunkName.append(".");

			// Convert counter integer into string and append to name.
			char intBuf[10];
			itoa(counter,intBuf,10);
			fullChunkName.append(intBuf);

			// Open new chunk file name for output
			output.open(fullChunkName.c_str(),ios::out | ios::trunc | ios::binary);

			// If chunk file opened successfully, read from input and 
			// write to output chunk. Then close.
			if (output.is_open()) { 
				fileStream.read(buffer,chunkSize);
				// gcount() returns number of bytes read from stream.
				output.write(buffer,fileStream.gcount());
				output.close();

				counter++;
			}
		}

		// Cleanup buffer
		delete(buffer);

		// Close input file stream.
		fileStream.close();
		cout << "Chunking complete! " << counter - 1 << " files created." << endl;
	}
	else { cout << "Error opening file!" << endl; }
}


// Finds chunks by "chunkName" and creates file specified in fileOutput
void joinFile(std::string chunkName, std::string fileOutput) {
	using namespace std;
	string fileName;

	// Create our output file
	ofstream outputfile;
	outputfile.open(fileOutput, ios::out | ios::binary);

	// If successful, loop through chunks matching chunkName
	if (outputfile.is_open()) {
		bool filefound = true;
		int counter = 1;
		int fileSize = 0;

		while (filefound) {
			filefound = false;

			// Build the filename
			fileName.clear();
			fileName.append(chunkName);
			fileName.append(".");

			char intBuf[10];
			_itoa(counter,intBuf,10);
			fileName.append(intBuf);

			// Open chunk to read
			ifstream fileInput;
			fileInput.open(fileName.c_str(), ios::in | ios::binary);

			// If chunk opened successfully, read it and write it to 
			// output file.
			if (fileInput.is_open()) {
				filefound = true;
				fileSize = getFileSize(&fileInput);
				char *inputBuffer = new char[fileSize];

				fileInput.read(inputBuffer,fileSize);
				outputfile.write(inputBuffer,fileSize);
				delete(inputBuffer);

				fileInput.close();
			}
			counter++;
		}

		// Close output file.
		outputfile.close();

		cout << "File assembly complete!" << endl;
	}
	else { cout << "Error: Unable to open file for output." << endl; }

}

// Simply gets the file size of file.
int getFileSize(std::ifstream *file) {
	file->seekg(0,std::ios::end);
	int filesize = file->tellg();
	file->seekg(std::ios::beg);
	return filesize;
} 


the error I get from the compiler is this:
main.cpp: In function 'void joinFile(std::__cxx11::string, std::__cxx11::string ':
main.cpp:136:28: error: could not convert '& fileInput' from 'std::ifstream* {aka std::basic_ifstream<char>*}' to 'std::ifstream {aka std::basic_ifstream<char> '
fileSize = getFileSize(&fileInput);
Last edited on
The compiler is telling you that you're trying to convert a pointer to an std::ifstream to an std::ifstream itself.
They are different.

ex:
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int a = 9;
int* p = &a;

a is an int, p is a pointer-to-int.

But your actual problem is that your function prototype on line 9 (in your post) doesn't match the function definition on line 152.

Change line 9 to
int getFileSize(std::ifstream*);


Last edited on
Thank you so much, I get it now
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