C++ getting ofstream access error when passed to a function

Question

For some reason the ofstream out with the iterator at the bottom is denying access to itself for some reason, something having to do with the pointer? Honestly, me and my friends have been trying to figure out what is wrong here for a long time. Even a veteran who has been coding for years couldn't help me. Any help is appreciated! here is the error:

Error 6 error C2248: 'std::basic_ofstream<_Elem,_Traits>::basic_ofstream' : cannot access private member declared in class 'std::basic_ofstream<_Elem,_Traits>'

as well as intellisense

7 IntelliSense: "std::basic_ofstream<_Elem, _Traits>::basic_ofstream(const std::basic_ofstream<_Elem, _Traits>::_Myt &_Right) [with _Elem=char, _Traits=std::char_traits]" (declared at line 1034 of "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\\VC\\include\\fstream") is inaccessible

/*
   estimate.cc  -- Program to estimate the cost of attendance for students -- Part 1

   This part will read the records, place them in separate vectors, sort them,
   and then write them out to separate files.

   Authors: Larry Morell,
   Aaron Wilson

   Strategy:

   Create a class for a general student called Student
   Divide students into three categories: Resident, Commuter, Onliner.
   Set up a class for each one of these categories to inherit from Student.


   The input file is called students.dat.  Its format is as follows.

   HourlyRate Fees CentsPerMile    -- first line

   The remaining lines are one of three formats, one line for each student

   R FirstName LastName GPA HoursRegistered Major MealPlan Housing   -- for resident student
   C FirstName LastName GPA HoursRegistered Major Miles MealPlan     -- for commuter student
   O FirstName LastName GPA HoursRegistered Major ISP_Cost           -- for onliner  student


   Modification History
   Date        Action
   10/30/15  -- Original version
   11/18/15  -- vectors program
   12/1/15   -- polymorphism, changing it to use only one vector and pointers

*/
using namespace std;
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>

class Student {
protected:
   string first, last;     // First and laast name
   float gpa;              // Grade point average
   int hoursRegistered;    // Number of hours registered for next semester
   string major;           // Declared major or "Undeclared

   static float hourlyRate;   // What the college charges per credit hour
   static float fees;         // The flat fees charged to each student
   static float costPerMile;  // Cost per mile for travel
public:

   // Constructors
   Student() {
      first = "Unknown";
      last = "Person";
      gpa = 0.0;
      hoursRegistered = 0;
   }

   Student(string fn, string ln, float gpa, int hours ) {
      this->first = fn;
      this->last =  ln;
      this->gpa = gpa;
      this->hoursRegistered = hours;
   }

   // Setters

   static void setHourlyRate(float hr) { hourlyRate = hr; }
   static void setFees(float f) { fees = f; }
   static void setCostPerMile(float cpm) { costPerMile = cpm; }

   // Getters

   string getMajor() const { return major; }
   string getName()  const { return first + ' ' + last; }
   string getFirst() const { return first; }
   string getLast()  const { return last; }
   int getHoursRegistered() const { return hoursRegistered; }
   float getBookCost() const { return  30.00*hoursRegistered ;}

   // Input routine

   bool read(istream &in) {
      in >> first >> last >> gpa >> hoursRegistered >> major;
      return in;
   }

   // Output routine
   void write (ostream &out) {
      out << first << ' ' << last << ' '
          << gpa << ' ' << hoursRegistered
          << ' ' << major;
   }
   // estimate -- determine the cost of attending next semester
   virtual void estimate(ofstream thisOut)
   {
   }
};

// Declare location of static variables as globals as required by C++
// These are variables that are shared by all instances of class Student
// and its descendants

float Student::hourlyRate;
float Student::fees;
float Student::costPerMile;

// Class Resident -- extends Student

class Resident : public Student {
protected:
   float mealPlan;
   float housing;
public:
   bool read(istream &in) {
      Student::read(in);
      in >> mealPlan >> housing;
      return in;
   }
   void write (ostream &out) {
      Student::write(out);   // Call the write routine inherited from Student
      out << ' ' << mealPlan << ' ' << housing;
   }
   virtual void estimate(ofstream thisOut) {
   thisOut << "Dear " + first + ' ' + last + ',' << endl << endl << "You are registered for " << hoursRegistered << " hours. Your costs for the upcoming year have been calculated as follows:" << endl;
   thisOut << "Tuition: " << fixed << '$' << (hoursRegistered * hourlyRate) << endl;

      thisOut << (hoursRegistered * hourlyRate) + fees + mealPlan + housing;
   }
};


// Class Commuter -- extends Student

class Commuter : public Student {
private:
    // Must contain  miles , mealplan
    float miles;
    float mealplan;
public:
  bool read(istream &in)  {
  Student::read(in);
  in >> mealplan >> miles;
  return in;
  }
  void write (ostream &out)  {
  Student::write(out);
  out << ' ' << mealplan << ' ' << miles;
  }
  virtual void estimate(ofstream thisOut) {
   thisOut << "Dear " + first + ' ' + last + ',' << endl << endl << "You are registered for " << hoursRegistered << " hours. Your costs for the upcoming year have been calculated as follows:" << endl;
   thisOut << "Tuition: " << fixed << '$' << (hoursRegistered * hourlyRate) << endl;
   thisOut << (hoursRegistered * hourlyRate) + (miles * costPerMile) + fees + mealplan;
   }
};

// Class Onliner  -- extends Student

class Onliner : public Student {
private:
    //   Must contain   ispcost
    float ispcost;
public:
    bool read(istream &in)  {
    Student::read(in);
    in >> ispcost;
    return in;
    }
    void write (ostream &out)  {
    Student::write(out);
    out << ispcost;
    }
    virtual void estimate(ofstream thisOut) 
    {
   thisOut << "Dear " + first + ' ' + last + ',' << endl << endl << "You are registered for " << hoursRegistered << " hours. Your costs for the upcoming year have been calculated as follows:" << endl;
   thisOut << "Tuition: " << fixed << '$' << (hoursRegistered * hourlyRate) << endl;

   thisOut << (hoursRegistered * hourlyRate) + fees + ispcost;
   }
};

// compareStudents -- returns whether or not s1 is less than s2

bool compareStudents(Student* s1, Student* s2) {
   return s1 -> getLast() < s2 -> getLast();
}

int main () {

   // Declare locals for holding input

   ifstream in ("students.dat");
   float hourlyRate, fees, costPerMile;

   // Read and store the hourly rate, fees and cost per mile

   in >> hourlyRate >> fees >> costPerMile;
   Student::setHourlyRate(hourlyRate);
   Student::setFees(fees);
   Student::setCostPerMile(costPerMile);

   // Read student records from the input file

   char studentType;
   vector <Student *> studentVector;
   while (in >> studentType) {
      if (studentType == 'R') {
         Resident *r = new Resident;
         r -> read(in);
         studentVector.push_back(r);
      }
      else if(studentType == 'C') {
        Commuter *c = new Commuter;
        c->read(in);
        studentVector.push_back(c);
      }
      else if(studentType == 'O') {
        Onliner *o = new Onliner;
        o->read(in);
        studentVector.push_back(o);
      }
      else { // These two lines will need to be replaced
         cout << "error: data in file is not correct" << endl;
      }
   }

   // Sort the entire resident list using the supplied comparison routine
   sort(studentVector.begin(), studentVector.end(), compareStudents);
   // Write the vectors to their respective files

ofstream out;
out.open("students.dat");
for (auto ptr: studentVector)  {
 ptr -> estimate(out);
}
out.close();
return 0;
}

Answer 1

You're passing the stream by value into the function, but streams cannot be copied.

Define the function as

virtual void estimate(ofstream& thisOut)

instead.

There are also a few places where you need to replace return in with return in.good() (or static_cast<bool>(in) ) for compatibility with C++11 and later.