Arrays and enums in an extended control

poppabaggins

Hi, I'm completely new to C++ as a whole, so there might be a simple answer to my question, so here goes. I'm trying to write a program that will have the screen broken up into zones, or areas, each with a Point (location) a Size, an Image, and an array of terrain types (an enum). Trying to include a bitmap in my class made the compiler tell me that I couldn't mix managed and unmanaged types. To try to work around this, I tried extending the PictureBox control, but this has given me even more headaches. Basically, I can't figure out how to declare/use an array in an extended control.

#pragma once

using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
using namespace cli; //something I think MSDN said I had to do

namespace MapEdit
{
//better than a "magic number". there can only be 3 different types of terrain per square
//used in the TerrainTypes array
const int MAX_TERRAIN = 3;

public ref class Zone : public System::Windows::Forms::PictureBox
{
	
public:
	enum Terrain //says I can't mix types
	{
		Plain,
		Hill,
		Wood,
		Marsh,
		Stream,
		River,
		ShoreLine,
		Impassable
	};
	
	array<byte^> ^TerrainTypes; //this doesn't work
	int TerrainTypes\[3\]; //neither does this.

... All of my errors (except the parts where I try to use these faulty enum/ array) come from this block. Frankly, I'm at a loss as to how to fix this. Also, if someone could tell me how to include a Bitmap in an unmanged class, that would be nice too. Thanks, Christian

led mike

poppabaggins wrote:

Trying to include a bitmap in my class made the compiler tell me that I couldn't mix managed and unmanaged types. To try to work around this

Rather than work around by making something up yourself I would strongly suggest that you learn C++/CLI. There are excellent tutorial articles on CLI here at CodeProject. Look under the "Chapters" in the site menu. Of course I would also strongly recommend you learn C++ first and then learn C++/CLI. I mean CLI is an extension so it seems rather obvious that one learns the root before the extension, but what do I know right?

led mike

Mark Salsbery

Are you trying to make an array of enums? If so, why did you try to create a byte (whatever that is) array and an int array? First, you can't embed a native enumeration in a ref class. Second, once you have a managed enum class, you can create an array that stores the enum type...

enum class Terrain
{
	Plain,
	Hill,
	Wood,
	Marsh,
	Stream,
	River,
	ShoreLine,
	Impassable
};

array<Terrain> ^TerrainTypes;

Mark Salsbery Microsoft MVP - Visual C++ :java:

Mark Salsbery

led mike wrote:

it seems rather obvious that one learns the root before the extension

:laugh: Good one. You hang out on the C# board....it's pretty obvious there's a whole new generation of "programmers" that have completely bypassed the fundamentals. :beer:

Mark Salsbery Microsoft MVP - Visual C++ :java:

led mike

Mark Salsbery wrote:

it's pretty obvious there's a whole new generation of "programmers" that have completely bypassed the fundamentals.

they also seem to mostly bypass thinking. ;) It's likely a symptom of Drag and Drop development. Vee Bee Stupid :jig:

led mike

poppabaggins

Thanks, I was trying to come up with some sort of sensible code from searching the internet, but nothing seemed to work for me. Basically, I'm working off of what little I know from C# and the small amount of information I can get from my professor after class. It obviously wasn't working well for me. This is part of a project for school, but my book has absolutely nothing on managed c++. I would take the time to learn C++/cli, but this project is due at the end of the semester, and I have so many other things I'm reading now for classes/personal study/entertainment. I'll get to it eventually, but I have a lot of other things I'm doing now.