What does it mean to create an object

Apparently, I am having trouble figuring out how to get this code to work. I am a newbie to this kind of stuff, so I would like to know what to do and how to do it. Here is the code:

#include <SFE_BMP180.h>
#include <Wire.h>

// You will need to create an SFE_BMP180 object, here called "pressure":

SFE_BMP180 pressure;

#define ALTITUDE 1655.0 // Altitude of SparkFun's HQ in Boulder, CO. in meters

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("REBOOT");

  // Initialize the sensor (it is important to get calibration values stored on the device).

  if (pressure.begin())
    Serial.println("BMP180 init success");
  else
  {
    // Oops, something went wrong, this is usually a connection problem,
    // see the comments at the top of this sketch for the proper connections.

    Serial.println("BMP180 init fail\n\n");
    while(1); // Pause forever.
  }
}

void loop()
{
  char status;
  double T,P,p0,a;

  // Loop here getting pressure readings every 10 seconds.

  // If you want sea-level-compensated pressure, as used in weather reports,
  // you will need to know the altitude at which your measurements are taken.
  // We're using a constant called ALTITUDE in this sketch:
  
  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("provided altitude: ");
  Serial.print(ALTITUDE,0);
  Serial.print(" meters, ");
  Serial.print(ALTITUDE*3.28084,0);
  Serial.println(" feet");
  
  // If you want to measure altitude, and not pressure, you will instead need
  // to provide a known baseline pressure. This is shown at the end of the sketch.

  // You must first get a temperature measurement to perform a pressure reading.
  
  // Start a temperature measurement:
  // If request is successful, the number of ms to wait is returned.
  // If request is unsuccessful, 0 is returned.

  status = pressure.startTemperature();
  if (status != 0)
  {
    // Wait for the measurement to complete:
    delay(status);

    // Retrieve the completed temperature measurement:
    // Note that the measurement is stored in the variable T.
    // Function returns 1 if successful, 0 if failure.

    status = pressure.getTemperature(T);
    if (status != 0)
    {
      // Print out the measurement:
      Serial.print("temperature: ");
      Serial.print(T,2);
      Serial.print(" deg C, ");
      Serial.print((9.0/5.0)*T+32.0,2);
      Serial.println(" deg F");
      
      // Start a pressure measurement:
      // The parameter is the oversampling setting, from 0 to 3 (highest res, longest wait).
      // If request is successful, the number of ms to wait is returned.
      // If request is unsuccessful, 0 is returned.

      status = pressure.startPressure(3);
      if (status != 0)
      {
        // Wait for the measurement to complete:
        delay(status);

        // Retrieve the completed pressure measurement:
        // Note that the measurement is stored in the variable P.
        // Note also that the function requires the previous temperature measurement (T).
        // (If temperature is stable, you can do one temperature measurement for a number of pressure measurements.)
        // Function returns 1 if successful, 0 if failure.

        status = pressure.getPressure(P,T);
        if (status != 0)
        {
          // Print out the measurement:
          Serial.print("absolute pressure: ");
          Serial.print(P,2);
          Serial.print(" mb, ");
          Serial.print(P*0.0295333727,2);
          Serial.println(" inHg");

          // The pressure sensor returns abolute pressure, which varies with altitude.
          // To remove the effects of altitude, use the sealevel function and your current altitude.
          // This number is commonly used in weather reports.
          // Parameters: P = absolute pressure in mb, ALTITUDE = current altitude in m.
          // Result: p0 = sea-level compensated pressure in mb

          p0 = pressure.sealevel(P,ALTITUDE); // we're at 1655 meters (Boulder, CO)
          Serial.print("relative (sea-level) pressure: ");
          Serial.print(p0,2);
          Serial.print(" mb, ");
          Serial.print(p0*0.0295333727,2);
          Serial.println(" inHg");

          // On the other hand, if you want to determine your altitude from the pressure reading,
          // use the altitude function along with a baseline pressure (sea-level or other).
          // Parameters: P = absolute pressure in mb, p0 = baseline pressure in mb.
          // Result: a = altitude in m.

          a = pressure.altitude(P,p0);
          Serial.print("computed altitude: ");
          Serial.print(a,0);
          Serial.print(" meters, ");
          Serial.print(a*3.28084,0);
          Serial.println(" feet");
        }
        else Serial.println("error retrieving pressure measurement\n");
      }
      else Serial.println("error starting pressure measurement\n");
    }
    else Serial.println("error retrieving temperature measurement\n");
  }
  else Serial.println("error starting temperature measurement\n");

  delay(5000);  // Pause for 5 seconds.
}

What do I have to put into the SME_BMP180 object?

C++ (the foundation for the Arduino system) is considered to be an "object oriented" language. That means that you can work with objects that contain both data and methods to act on that data. Other language paradigms keep the data and the methods separate.

That code contains a reference to a library. That contains the methods and the data structures required to work with this particular sensor. You have an actual sensor connected, so you need to create an object of that type.

The power of objects is not used in this code. You can't connect more than one of these particular sensors. The code would look pretty much the same in plain-old-C without objects. But for other libraries and other sensors, you can have many more than just one object.

This code

SFE_BMP180 pressure;

creates a SFE_BMP180 type object named pressure. In the remaining code you reference that object as pressure, and access its properties and methods by e.g.

 status = pressure.startTemperature();

Working with objects is just like talking to people in real life, like "Mary do this", "Ken do that".

But what would the code need to look like in order for this to work? You guys kind of lost me.

If it doesn't work for you, please show the compiler error messages.

SkylerC:
But what would the code need to look like in order for this to work? You guys kind of lost me.

In what way is the code not working already? What happens when you try it?

It says that "SFE_BMP180 does not name a type". I think it means that I haven't defined its purpose, but I am not very sure what it really means. Does this info help?

You missed to #include the library header, that declares the SFE_BMP180 type. More probably the first error should say that the SFE_BMP180.h header file could not be found. Did you install that library already?

Hi Skyler, you need to download and install the SFE_BMP180 library. See here.

Can someone post the library download because I am having trouble with that too.

SkylerC:
Can someone post the library download because I am having trouble with that too.

If you google "SFE-BMP180 Arduino" the first hit is from Sparkfun. It is a bit long, but incredibly detailed instructions on how to use this thing, links to the libraries, how to install them, all that stuff.