[need help] Initializing Objects in Control Structures

[mbayabo]

I'm having trouble initializing Objects while they're inside if else statements. I'm using Visual C++ 2008.

for instance:

class Account {
  Account();
  Account(int = idnum, double creditLimit = 500.00);
  Account(double initBal, int idnum, double creditLimit = 100.00);
public:
  somefunction();
};

if (a > 0 && b > 0) {
  Account customer(a,b);
} else {
  Account customer;
}

customer.somefunction();

it would me this error:

error C2065: 'customer' : undeclared identifier
error C2228: left of '.somefunction' must have class/struct/union

i know that this means, i just don't know if there's a better way to do this.

i'm required to take account information and initialize the object depending on the user's input.

i was thinking i'd use if else statements then create the object, but apparently that doesn't work.

[Danny]

Your object declarations are restricted to the scope of their blocks:

if (a > 0 && b > 0) {
Account customer(a,b); //visible only until the }
}
else {
Account customer; //same here
}

If you want a single object that changes its state according the if-condition, declare that object outside:

Account customer;

if (a > 0 && b > 0) {
  customer= Account(a,b);
} else {
  //the else isn't needed any more! customer is default initialized anyway
}

//now use account

Of course, you can use a more elegant solution: define a member function that changes the values of idnum and creditLimit instead of relying on the constructor.