// strgback.cpp -- a function that returns a pointer to char
#include <iostream>
char * buildstr(char c, int n);     // prototype
int main()
{
    using namespace std;
    int times;
    char ch;

    cout << "Enter a character: ";
    cin >> ch;
    cout << "Enter an integer: ";
    cin >> times;
    char *ps = buildstr(ch, times);
    cout << ps << endl;
    delete [] ps;                   // free memory
    ps = buildstr('+', 20);         // reuse pointer
    cout << ps << "-DONE-" << ps << endl;
    delete [] ps;                   // free memory
    // cin.get();
    // cin.get();
    return 0;
}

// builds string made of n c characters
char * buildstr(char c, int n)
{
    char * pstr = new char [n + 1];
    pstr[n] = '\0';         // terminate string
    while (n-- > 0)
        pstr[n] = c;        // fill rest of string
    return pstr; 
}