Expected primary-expression before 'enum' C++

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

I am trying to code a simple program containing of two enums in c++:

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    enum userchoice
    {
        Toyota = 1,
        Lamborghini,
        Ferrari,
        Holden,
        Range Rover
    };
    
    enum quizlevels
    {
        Hardquestions = 1,
        Mediumquestions, 
        Easyquestions
    };  

    return 0;
}

but it says expected primary-expression before 'enum'.

What I have tried:

I have tried to search some solutions but i cant find any

Posted 7-Apr-21 21:25pm

iwanttoaskquestions

Updated 7-Apr-21 23:23pm

CPallini

v2

Add a Solution

2 solutions

Solution 2

As correctly noted by Richard, the actual problem of your code is the blank in the identifier: 'Range Rover' is not a valid identifier. On the other hand, enums are allowed inside functions.

Posted 7-Apr-21 23:23pm

CPallini

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-07T21:41:00

Solution 1

1) You don't define enums inside a method: they are declared outside
2) You cannot include a space in any name - function, variable, type, class, struct, or enum.
3) It's a good idea to use consistent naming conventions - and capitalizing the first letter of each word makes things a lot more readable!

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;


enum userchoice
    {
    Toyota = 1,
    Lamborghini,
    Ferrari,
    Holden,
    RangeRover
    };

enum quizlevels
    {
    HardQuestions = 1,
    MediumQuestions,
    EasyQuestions
    };

int main()
    {
    return 0;
    }

Posted 7-Apr-21 21:41pm

OriginalGriff

Comments

iwanttoaskquestions 8-Apr-21 3:50am

thank you very much.

OriginalGriff 8-Apr-21 3:57am

You're welcome!

Richard MacCutchan 8-Apr-21 4:11am

Nothing wrong with having enums inside functions in C/C++. I've been doing it for years.

OriginalGriff 8-Apr-21 4:38am

You're right - it must have been the space in Range Rover that confused GDB when I tried his code.
Add the space back and the error returned is decidedly unhelpful ...

main.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
main.cpp:8:1: error: expected primary-expression before ‘enum’
 enum userchoice
 ^~~~

Richard MacCutchan 8-Apr-21 4:42am

This is what I got from Microsoft's compiler:

C:\Users\rjmac\Documents\VSCode\C++>cl -nologo -EHsc -RTC1 -W3  cp.cpp
cp.cpp
cp.cpp(9): error C2146: syntax error: missing '}' before identifier 'Rover'
cp.cpp(10): error C2143: syntax error: missing ';' before '}'
cp.cpp(19): error C2059: syntax error: 'return'
cp.cpp(20): error C2059: syntax error: '}'
cp.cpp(20): error C2143: syntax error: missing ';' before '}'

OriginalGriff 8-Apr-21 5:14am

For tiny stuff like that, I use the GDB compiler at

https://www.onlinegdb.com/online_c++_compiler

It's fast to load, and supports Python, PHP, and so on as well. Great for a quick syntax check!

Richard MacCutchan 8-Apr-21 5:35am

I use VSCode and have both code windows and command windows open. I can quickly switch between C#, C++, Java, Javascript, PHP, Powershell, Python and even VB.NET. I have a simple make.cmd file in each subdirectory to run a build and test very quickly.

And with VSCode's remote feature I can even open a Linux window through WSL, and run gdb builds there.

CPallini 8-Apr-21 5:24am

5.However, Richard is right. The enums are allowed inside functions.