From 7351186baf7251c287353275885793a4668626dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joel Thomas <joel.thomas@trenser.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:05:19 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] Refactor shortlisted candidates access and fix index check

<UserStory> EMP0012 : Employee Management </UserStory>

<Changes>
 - Changed getShorlistedCandidates() to return by value instead of reference
 - Updated controller and service method signatures accordingly
 - Fixed off-by-one error when selecting shortlisted candidate
</Changes>

<Review>
Smitha Mohan
</Review>
---
 Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.cpp     | 2 +-
 Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.h       | 2 +-
 .../Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.cpp        | 2 +-
 .../Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.h          | 2 +-
 Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/views/MenuHelper.cpp                | 2 +-
 5 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.cpp b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.cpp
index 1f095ee..ee04e1c 100644
--- a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.cpp
+++ b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ bool ZenvyController::updateDesignation(const std::string& id,Enums::EmployeeDes
 	return m_employeeManagementService->updateDesignation(id,designation);
 }
 
-std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>>& ZenvyController::getShorlistedCandidates()
+std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>> ZenvyController::getShorlistedCandidates()
 {
 	return m_employeeManagementService->getShorlistedCandidates();
 }
diff --git a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.h b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.h
index 78b3123..0fbe2b8 100644
--- a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.h
+++ b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/controllers/ZenvyController.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public:
 		void updateProfile(const std::string&,const std::string&);
 		std::pair<Enums::EmployeeType, std::vector<std::shared_ptr<const Employee>>> searchEmployee(const std::string&);
 		bool updateDesignation(const std::string&,Enums::EmployeeDesignation);
-		std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>>& getShorlistedCandidates();
+		std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>> getShorlistedCandidates();
 
 		template <typename ...Types>
 		Employees getEmployees(Types ...types)
diff --git a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.cpp b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.cpp
index d9add47..855e445 100644
--- a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.cpp
+++ b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.cpp
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ void EmployeeManagementService::saveEmployees()
 	generalEmployeeFileManager.save(generalEmployees);
 }
 
-std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>>& EmployeeManagementService::getShorlistedCandidates()
+std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>> EmployeeManagementService::getShorlistedCandidates()
 {
 	candidateMap candidates = m_dataStore.getCandidates();
 	std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>> shortlistedCandidates;
diff --git a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.h b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.h
index 4cd2da2..a292c31 100644
--- a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.h
+++ b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/services/EmployeeManagementService.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ public:
 	void updateProfile(const std::string&,const std::string&);
 	std::pair<Enums::EmployeeType, std::vector<std::shared_ptr<const Employee>>> searchEmployee(const std::string&);
 	std::shared_ptr<const Employee> getCurrentEmployee();
-	std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>>& getShorlistedCandidates();
+	std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Candidate>> getShorlistedCandidates();
 	void loadEmployees();
 	void saveEmployees();
 
diff --git a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/views/MenuHelper.cpp b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/views/MenuHelper.cpp
index d1d4ba3..bba68d0 100644
--- a/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/views/MenuHelper.cpp
+++ b/Trenser.Zenvy/Trenser.Zenvy/views/MenuHelper.cpp
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ void addShortlistedCandidateAsEmployee(const std::shared_ptr<ZenvyController>& c
     auto currentEmployee = controller->getCurrentEmployee();
     Enums::EmployeeType employeeType;
     Enums::EmployeeDesignation employeeDesignation = Enums::EmployeeDesignation::INVALID;
-    if (index > 0 && index < shortlistedCandidates.size())
+    if (index > 0 && index <= shortlistedCandidates.size())
     {
         employeeType = getEmployeeType(currentEmployee->getEmployeeType());
         std::shared_ptr<Candidate> candidate = shortlistedCandidates[index - 1];