Issue: Unable to Use [] Operator on mINI::INIStructure Parameter in Function

[aghaeifar]

Hi,

I am encountering an issue when working with the mINI::INIStructure type in a function. Here is the scenario:

I read my .ini file in main.cpp as follows:

mINI::INIFile file(config_file);
mINI::INIStructure ini;
if (!file.read(ini)) {
    std::cout << "Failed to read config file: " << config_file << "\n";
    return 1;
}

Later, I have a function that accepts a mINI::INIStructure object as a parameter:

void my_func(mINI::INIStructure ini)

Inside this function, I cannot use the [] operator on the ini parameter. When I try to access the structure like this:

ini["GENERAL"]["work_dir"];

It results in a compilation error. However, using the .get method works without any issues:

ini.get("GENERAL").get("work_dir");

Compiler Error:

error C2678: binary '[': no operator found which takes a left-hand operand of type 'const mINI::INIStructure' (or there is no acceptable conversion)

My Question:

Is this behavior expected? Or is there something I am doing incorrectly?

Thank you for your help!

[metayeti]

Your function should accept (mINI::INIStructure& ini) or (mINI::INIStructure const&), so you're dealing with the reference rather than a copy. Or I believe at the very least it should accept a (const mINI::INIStructure). Definitely something to look into for future versions though, so thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[aghaeifar]

Thank you for your suggestion! I hesitated to use a reference because, in my specific application, the function might modify the content, and I wanted to avoid unintended side effects.