cannot call member function without object

This program has the user input name/age pairs and then outputs them, using a class. Here is the code.

#include "std_lib_facilities.h"

class Name_pairs
{
public:
       bool test();
       void read_names();
       void read_ages();
       void print();
private:
        vector<string>names;
        vector<double>ages;
        string name;
        double age;
};

void Name_pairs::read_names()
{
     cout << "Enter name: ";
     cin >> name;
     names.push_back(name);
     cout << endl;
}

void Name_pairs::read_ages()
{
     cout << "Enter corresponding age: ";
     cin >> age;
     ages.push_back(age);
     cout << endl;
}

void Name_pairs::print()
{
     for(int i = 0; i < names.size() && i < ages.size(); ++i)
             cout << names[i] << " , " << ages[i] << endl;
}

bool Name_pairs::test()
{
   int i = 0;
   if(ages[i] == 0 || names[i] == "0") return false;
   else{
        ++i;
        return true;}
}


int main()
{
    cout << "Enter names and ages. Use 0 to cancel.\n";
    while(Name_pairs::test())
    {
     Name_pairs::read_names();
     Name_pairs::read_ages();
     }
     Name_pairs::print();
     keep_window_open();
}

However, in int main() when I'm trying to call the functions I get "cannot call 'whatever name is' function without object." I'm guessing this is because it's looking for something like variable.test or variable.read_names. How should I go about fixing this?

Solution 1:

You need to instantiate an object in order to call its member functions. The member functions need an object to operate on; they can't just be used on their own. The main() function could, for example, look like this:

int main()
{
   Name_pairs np;
   cout << "Enter names and ages. Use 0 to cancel.\n";
   while(np.test())
   {
      np.read_names();
      np.read_ages();
   }
   np.print();
   keep_window_open();
}

Solution 2:

If you want to call them like that, you should declare them static.

Solution 3:

just add static keyword at the starting of the function return type.. and then you can access the member function of the class without object:) for ex:

static void Name_pairs::read_names()
{
   cout << "Enter name: ";
   cin >> name;
   names.push_back(name);
   cout << endl;
}

Solution 4:

You are right - you declared a new use defined type (Name_pairs) and you need variable of that type to use it.

The code should go like this:

Name_pairs np;
np.read_names()