Switch statement-invalid conersion from char to int

[jpanther]

hello everyone,
I'm not sure whats going on with my switch statement. I have a enumerated type value of 0,1,2,or 3 that I am passing into my function. I want to convert that int value to a string, but I am getting an error message on (name=): invalid conversion from'const-char' to int. I thought I could convert an int to a string. Line 27,28 on the first section of code and line 11 on the second pertains to the switch statement. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

	while(!exitLoop)
	{
		choice = mainMenu();				//returns the verified input from main menu
		choice = menuValidation(choice);
		
		if (choice == 'D' || choice == 'd')					//if choice is 'D' exit the loop														
			exitLoop = true;
		cout << endl;
		choice = static_cast<int>(choice);					//change status of choice from char to int
		if(choice == '1')										
		{
			displayOccupiedOffices(total, buildingArray);
			total =calculateCurrentStat(buildingArray, numLawyer, numParalegal, numAssistant);
		//	cout << "choice 1= " << choice;
		}
		else if(choice == '2')
		{
			displayOccupiedOffices(total, buildingArray);
			total =calculateCurrentStat(buildingArray, numLawyer, numParalegal, numAssistant);
			//cout << "choice 2= " << choice;
		}
		else
		{
			displayEmptyOffices(buildingArray);					//displays all empty offices
			enumType = optionThree(flrNum, officeLetter);		//displays option 3 questions (floor number, column letter, and occupant type)
			officeNum = convertLetterToNumber(officeLetter);	//converts the office letter to a numeric value
			buildingArray[flrNum][officeNum] = enumType;		//adds the occupant type to the 2D array (enumerated type)
			//occupantName = displayOccupantType(enumType);		//occupantName becomes the string value of the enumerated type name
			newOccupancyMessage(occupantName, flrNum, officeLetter, buildingArray); 			//displays new occupant message
			total =calculateCurrentStat(buildingArray, numLawyer, numParalegal, numAssistant);	//re-calculates all current status in the array
			//cout << "choice 3= " << choice;
		}
	}

int main()
{
	//variables	
	officeBuilding buildingArray;	//2D array
	int officeCount = 0;			//total count for occupied offices in the binary file
	bool results;					//readFile return
	bool exitLoop = false;			//exits the main loop if true
	char choice;					//return value for user input from menu options
	int numLawyer = 0, numParalegal = 0, numAssistant = 0; 	//individual count for Lawyer, paralegal, and assisant
	int flrNum, 					//
		enumType,					//return value from function optionThree
		officeNum,
		total;

enum occupantType {EMPTY, LAWYER, PARALEGAL, ASSISTANT};

  //************************************************************************************
string displayOccupantType(int name) 
{
	//variables
	
	switch (name)
	{
		case 0:
			name = "Empty";
			break;
		case 1:
			name = "Lawyer";
			break;
		case 2:
			name = "Paralegal";
			break;
		case 3:
			name = "Assistant";
	}
	return name;
}

[dhayden]

name is an int but name = "Empty"; tries to assign a string to it. C++ won't allow that. In C++, a variable's type never changes. That's okay, you just need a different variable. Since it's the return value of a function. I'll use "result" which is what I always use for this purpose:

string displayOccupantType(int name) 
{
	//variables
	string result;
	
	switch (name)
	{
		case 0:
			result = "Empty";
			break;
		case 1:
			result = "Lawyer";
			break;
		case 2:
			result = "Paralegal";
			break;
		case 3:
			result = "Assistant";
			break;
		default:
			result = "UNKNOWN";
			break;
	}
	return result;
}

I added a default case that returns "UNKNOWN." This is handy for debugging.

[E0p9LyTq]

You can also change the parameter type to your enum type. That way you can use the enum labels in your case statements. It also will prevent you from passing a value not in your enum:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

enum occupantType {EMPTY, LAWYER, PARALEGAL, ASSISTANT};

std::string displayOccupantType(occupantType name);

int main()
{
   std::cout << displayOccupantType(EMPTY) << "\n";
   std::cout << displayOccupantType(LAWYER) << "\n";
   std::cout << displayOccupantType(PARALEGAL) << "\n";
   std::cout << displayOccupantType(ASSISTANT) << "\n";

   // now can't pass any value other than what is defined in the enum
   // std::cout << displayOccupantType(125) << "\n";
   
   return 0;
}

std::string displayOccupantType(occupantType name)
{
   //variables

   switch (name)
   {
      case EMPTY:
         return "Empty";

      case LAWYER:
         return "Lawyer";

      case PARALEGAL:
         return "Paralegal";

      case ASSISTANT:
         return "Assistant";

      default:
         return "";
   }
}

[jpanther]

Thank you for your input. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Your help is greatly appreciated.