Proper use of ifstream and Funtions

[Sevrene]

This is the code I've attempted to use:

/************************
Purpose of the Program: Read an input file for gene information and sort the information into different arrays to be reffered to to check for specific letters in specific location.
Input: "dna.txt"
Output: "DNAanalysis.txt"
Main Algorithm:
Assumptions: "dna.txt" will not be altered and only holds the gene info of four individuals.
Program Limitations: Hardcoded for the reading of four people and only four people at any given time.
************************/

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;

// Functions

void input(ifstream &); // Get input file dna.txt
void read(char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], ifstream);

int main()
{
	ifstream inFile; 
	ofstream outFile; 
	char Person1GeneA[444], Person1GeneB[444], Person2GeneA[444], Person2GeneB[444], Person3GeneA[444], Person3GeneB[444], Person4GeneA[444], Person4GeneB[444]; // Char arrays for each gene's data
	
	input(inFile); // Opens input file dna.txt
	
	read(Person1GeneA, Person1GeneB, Person2GeneA, Person2GeneB, Person3GeneA, Person3GeneB, Person4GeneA, Person4GeneB, inFile);

	return 0;
}

// Functions

void input(ifstream & inFile) // Get input file dna.txt
{
	inFile.open("dna.txt"); // attempt to open the input file
	if (!inFile)	// did it open?
	{
		cout << "Error opening input file dna.txt. Exiting program." << endl;
		exit(0);
	}
}

void read(char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], char[], ifstream inFile)
{

}

I'm a little stumped as to why my read function is telling me that my inFile is a deleted function and how I would go about properly doing this to get my dna.txt into my read function. Thanks in advance!

[jlb]

You should be passing the ifstream (or better yet istream) by reference.

Also what why all the arrays? Why not use std::string?

[Sevrene]

This is an assignment specifically for understanding of arrays, so I'm under the impression that I must use arrays to solve this for full marks.

Also that worked perfectly! Such a simple fix! Thanks!

[tpb]

It's kind of silly to have a function just to open the file. Instead, add that to the readfile function. And you can simplify the interface by using an array of structs.

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std;

struct Person {
    char geneA[444];
    char geneB[444];
};

void readfile(Person *people);

int main() {
    Person people[4];
    readfile(people);
    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
        cout << people[i].geneA << '\n' << people[i].geneB << '\n';
    return 0;
}

void readfile(Person *people) {
    ifstream fin("dna.txt");
    if (!fin) {
        cerr << "Error opening input file dna.txt. Exiting program." << endl;
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
        fin.getline(people[i].geneA, 444);
        fin.getline(people[i].geneB, 444);
    }
    // fin automatically closes at the end of the function
}