error: c++ [map] does not name a type

Question

I've written the following as part of a text command parser for a text adventure game.

I'm attempting to associate a string input by a user to an item in an enum class. The following is in my header file:

#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

enum class Noun
{
    // Interrogation subjects
    name,                   // ask the subject his name
    base,                   // where is the base?
    attack,                 // when will the attack be?

    invalid
};

map < string, Noun > knownNouns;
knownNouns["name"]      = Noun::name;
knownNouns["base"]      = Noun::base;
knownNouns["attack"]    = Noun::attack;

Noun parseNoun(string &noun)
{
    auto n = knownNouns.find(noun);
    if ( n == knownNouns.end() ) {
        return Noun::invalid;
    }
    return n->second;

When I put this through the compiler, I get the following:

nouns.h:46:1: error: 'knownNouns' does not name a type
 knownNouns["name"]      = Noun::name;
 ^
nouns.h:47:1: error: 'knownNouns' does not name a type
 knownNouns["base"]      = Noun::base;
 ^
nouns.h:48:1: error: 'knownNouns' does not name a type
 knownNouns["attack"]    = Noun::attack;
 ^
nouns.h: In function 'Noun parseNoun(std::string&)':
nouns.h:52:10: error: 'n' does not name a type
     auto n = knownNouns.find(noun);
          ^
nouns.h:53:10: error: 'n' was not declared in this scope
     if ( n == knownNouns.end() ) {
          ^
nouns.h:54:16: error: 'Noun' is not a class or namespace
         return Noun::invalid;
                ^
nouns.h:56:12: error: 'n' was not declared in this scope
     return n->second;
            ^

This is my first time attempting to use maps and enums, and I'm not sure what it is I did wrong. I'm also not terribly familiar with the use of auto vars, so that's a bit of cargo-cult programming on my part. I'm hoping I understood its implementation and the error will clear once I resolve the type definition problem I'm having.

edit: That's embarassing. I copy pasted a mistake that I had already corrected. the code still does not compile when (i.e., the same issue occurs when)

map < string, Noun > knownNouns;
knownNouns["name"]      = Verb::name;
knownNouns["base"]      = Verb::base;
knownNouns["attack"]    = Verb::attack;

is corrected as

map < string, Noun > knownNouns;
knownNouns["name"]      = Noun::name;
knownNouns["base"]      = Noun::base;
knownNouns["attack"]    = Noun::attack;

Answer 1

You can't place non-declaration constructs directly in namespace scope.

A C++ translation unit is a sequence of declarations.

Non-declaration statements such as assignments must be inside function bodies.

---

Fixed code:

#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

enum class Noun
{
    // Interrogation subjects
    name,                   // ask the subject his name
    base,                   // where is the base?
    attack,                 // when will the attack be?

    invalid
};

map< string, Noun > knownNouns = 
{
    { "name", Noun::name },
    { "base", Noun::base },
    { "attack", Noun::attack }
};

auto parseNoun( string const& noun )
    -> Noun
{
    // auto n = knownNouns.find(noun);
    // if ( n == knownNouns.end() ) {
        // return Noun::invalid;
    // }
    // return n->second;
    return Noun::invalid;
}

Here knownNouns is initialized. It's not an assignment, even if the = looks very much like an assignment.