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passing struct member to function

PhoenixUprising (5)
Ok so I've tried searching for an answer to this but I can't seem to find anything like it. I'm trying to write a search function for a linked list as generic as possible. I want to be able to pass in the key to be searched for, the head of the list, and which member of the struct to search within. The problem is I don't know how to pass which member I want to search within to the function. Here is my general idea with the part I'm not sure how to do in caps. Let's assume the CreateList function create's a linked list of 100 full names with the last next pointer pointing to NULL;

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#include <string>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

struct testNode
{
	string firstName;
	string middleName;
	string lastName;
	testNode* next;
};

void SearchString(string Key, testNode* ptr, MEMBER_I_WANT_TO_BE_ABLE_TO_PASS_IN);

int main()
{
	string key;
        testNode* head;

        head = CreateList();
	
	cout << "What name would you like to search for: ";
	getline(cin, key);
	
	/*I want to be able to pass in the key, the head of the linked list as 
	 * well as which member of the struct to search within
	 */
	SearchString(key, head, MEMBER_I_WANT_TO_TO_PASS_IN is first);
	SearchString(key, head, MEMBER_I_WANT_TO_TO_PASS_IN is middle);
	SearchString(key, head, MEMBER_I_WANT_TO_TO_PASS_IN is last);
}

void SearchString(string key, testNode* ptr, MEMBER_I_WANT_TO_BE_ABLE_TO_PASS_IN)
{
	int count;
        count = 0;
	
        while(ptr != NULL)
	{
                if(ptr->MEMBER_I_WANT_TO_TO_PASS_IN == key)
		{
                        count++;
		}
		ptr = ptr->next;
	}
       
        cout << key << " was found " << count << " times!!\n";
}


Thanks in advance for your help.
closed account (D80DSL3A)
Use a character code to identify which member?
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void SearchString(string key, testNode* ptr, char memberCode)// memberCode = 'f', 'm' or 'l'
{
	int count = 0;
	
    while(ptr != NULL)
	{
		switch(memberCode)
		{
		case 'f':		
			if(ptr->firstName == key) count++;
			break;
		case 'm':		
			if(ptr->middleName == key) count++;
			break;
		case 'l':		
			if(ptr->lastName == key) count++;
			break;
		default:
			break;
		}
		ptr = ptr->next;
	}
	cout << key << " was found " << count << " times!!\n";
}

EDIT: Perhaps this is too simplistic?
Last edited on
PhoenixUprising (5)
Interesting, I hadn't thought of something like that (I sometimes over complicate things lol) but I like that idea. It's probably the method I'll end up using but I'm still curious as to whether what I'm asking is possible some how. Thanks for the suggestion.
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