Error c2678

Ok, so I have researched and researched and have been through my code dozens of times, and I can not seem to figure out why I keep getting:

error C2678: binary '>>' : no operator found which takes a left-hand operand of type 'std::istream'

here's a snippet of my code:

Code:

---

#include "ItemType.h"

void ItemType::addListing(ofstream& output) const
{
        output.open("prgmlisting.dat");

        if(!output.is_open())
                cout << "sorry cannot open file!" << endl;
        else
                {
                        cout << "please enter name of channel: ";
                        cin >> channel; //This is where I keep getting the error
                        output << channel << endl;
                }
}

---

Also note that I have included #include <string> and #include <iostream> in ItemType.h

You didn't show the definition of the variable causing the error, channel.

If channel is not a built-in type (bool, char, int, double, etc.) not a library class (such as std::string) that has overloaded the operator >>, then you need to explicitly overload operator>> to be able to use it like you did.