Class in parameter of function (Arduino) does not compile - class

Question

I am trying to create a simple class in C++, but I keep getting the compilation errors:
main:2: error: variable or field 'doSomething' declared void
main:2: error: 'person' was not declared in this scope
main:
class person {
public:
int a;
};
void doSomething(person joe) {
return;
}
main() and stuff would go here, but even if I include main(){}, the errors still occur. I also tried adding 2 closed parentheses after joe, but then that creates the error:
main: In function 'void doSomething(person (*)())':
main:8: error: request for member 'a' in 'joe', which is of non-class type 'person (*)()'
Any help is greatly appreciated. (I hope this isn't something really stupid I'm missing, because I've been researching for hours).
Edit: I found out this is an Arduino-specific error. This post answers it.

Answer 1

I found out after reading this post that a way to work around this is:
typedef struct person{
public:
int a;
};
void doSomething(void *ptr)
{
person *x;
joe = (person *)ptr;
joe->a = 3; //To set a to 3
//Everything else is normal, except changing any value of person uses "->" rather than "."
return;
}
main()
{
person larry;
doSomething(&larry);
}
So essentially it is:
-Change class to typedef struct
-in the parameter, replace newtype with void *something
-add person *x; and x = (person *)ptr; to the beginning of the function
-whenever accessing type property, use -> rather than .

Answer 2

I'm not a expert but when I try to do what you want to do, I do it this way:
//create an instance of my class
MyAwesomeClass myObject;
void myFunction(MyAwesomeClass& object){
//do what you want here using "object"
object.doSomething();
object.doSomethingElse();
}
void setup() {
//setup stuff here
myObject.init();
}
void loop() {
//call myFunction this way
myFunction(myObject);
}
As I said, I'm not a C++ expert but it does the job.
Hope it helps!

Answer 3

My guess is, you have an invalid syntax error somewhere in the declarations above "class person...". Can you copy and paste the whole file?