First let me start out that saying Pointers are probly my least favorite part of programming. I can get pointers to work with single variables and I think I can as well for single structures, when it comes to pointers and arrays I understand slightly but not fully.

Now when it comes to making a pointer to an Array of structures I feel dumbfounded and have been struggling over this for a few days.

I am trying to make a pointer to the array of Structures and using the pointer send the array to the display function showCarInfo().

I have looked through just about every book I can at my college library and none of them have any information on using Pointers and Structure Arrays. I know that people will not do my homework for me here and I have what i've been trying posted below, this is part of my final Exam and any help would be appreciated.

#include <cstring>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

const int SIZE = 3;

struct CarInfo
{
       string carMake;
       string carModel;
       int carYear;
       string carColor;
};

void getCarInfo(CarInfo [], int);
void showCarInfo(CarInfo [], int);

int main()
{
    CarInfo cars[SIZE], *carsPtr; 
    carsPtr = cars;  
      
    getCarInfo(cars, SIZE);
    
    showCarInfo(cars, SIZE);
    
    system("PAUSE");
    return 0;
}    

void getCarInfo(CarInfo cars[], int SIZE)
{
   for ( int i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++ )
   {   
       cout << "Enter the Car Make: ";
       cin >> cars[i].carMake;
   
       cout << "Enter the Car Model: ";
       cin >> cars[i].carModel;

       cout << "Enter the Car Year: ";
       cin >> cars[i].carYear;

       cout << "Enter the Car Color: ";
       cin >> cars[i].carColor;
       
       cout << endl;
   }
}

void showCarInfo(CarInfo cars[], int SIZE)
{
     cout << "Car #:" << setw(10) << "Make"
                      << setw(10) << "Model"
                      << setw(10) << "Year"
                      << setw(10) << "Color"
                      << endl;
     cout << "----------------------------------------------" << endl;
     for ( int j = 0 ; j < SIZE ; j++) 
     {

         cout << "Car " << (j + 1) << ":" << setw(10) << cars[j].carMake
                                          << setw(10) << cars[j].carModel
                                          << setw(10) << cars[j].carYear
                                          << setw(10) << cars[j].carColor
                                          << endl;
     }
}

If what I understand is correct I have properly assigned carsPtr the memory address of cars[0]. However whenever I try to display anything ,after having recieved the input, using the code:

cout << *(carsPtr+1).carMake;

I get the following errors:
H:\COMS-171 Winter\Projects\FE1.cpp In function `int main()':
27 H:\COMS-171 Winter\Projects\FE1.cpp `carMake' has not been declared
27 H:\COMS-171 Winter\Projects\FE1.cpp request for member of non-aggregate type before ';' token

My book did not have more than a few sentences on Pointers to Arrays of Structures and using multiple books this is the best I have been able to come up with so far. If I can just get the pointer to work I'm fairly certain I can get it to the function with ease.

As I recall, you can use

cout << ( *(carsPtr + 1) ).carMake;
or
cout << (carsPtr + 1)->carMake;

dunno which is prefered though... it's been way too long since I coded anything on a regular basis.