How would I set up my function to accept a string and store it into the array?

Your get_str function doesn't return anything (void), yet you're trying to assign the return value :

>> table->rec[y].state[strlen(table->rec[y].state)-1] = get_str("Please enter a state: ", string);

The left-hand side of the assignment also looks a bit odd :

>> table->rec[y].state[strlen(table->rec[y].state)-1]

How is table->rec[y].state defined ?

This is the whole code but when I change my function to character and returning string I still get a bunch of random characters for the 2 strings. I was told that I could pass in an empty string but I didn't quite understand how that would still help the whole thing and get it to store into my table.

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <cstdio>
#include <stdio.h>

struct customers
{
	int cust_id;
	char cust_name[19];
	char state[3];
	char discount;
	double balance_due;
	int order_out;
};

struct myRecords
{
	customers rec[10];
};

using namespace std;

//functions go here
void loadFile(FILE *, struct myRecords*, char[]);
void listFile(struct myRecords*);
int binarySearch(struct myRecords*, int);
void addRecord(struct myRecords*);
int get_int(char[50]);
char get_char(char[50]);
void get_str(char [50], char[50]);
float get_float(char[50]);

int main()
{	
	char buffer[50];
	int counter = 0;
	int cust_id;
	int menu;
	
	myRecords table, *point_table;
	point_table = &table;
	
	menu = get_int("Please enter a selection: \n 1. Load the file\n 2. List the file\n 3. Search the file\n 4. Add a record\n 5. Exit\n");
	
	while (menu != 5)
	{
		if(menu == 0) 
		{ 
			menu = get_int("Please enter a selection: \n 1. Load the file\n 2. List the file\n 3. Search the file\n 4. Add a record\n 5. Exit\n"); 
		} 
		else if(menu == 1)
		{ 
			FILE *fp;
			fp = fopen("ASSIGNV1.DAT", "r");
			if (fp == NULL)
			{
				printf ("Error opening file! ");
			}
			loadFile(fp, point_table, buffer); 
			menu == 0;
		}
		else if(menu == 2)
		{
			listFile(point_table);
			menu = get_int("Please enter a selection: \n 1. Load the file\n 2. List the file\n 3. Search the file\n 4. Add a record\n 5. Exit\n"); 
		}
		else if(menu == 3)
		{
			cust_id = get_int("Please enter a customer id: ");
			binarySearch(point_table, cust_id);
			menu = get_int("Please enter a selection: \n 1. Load the file\n 2. List the file\n 3. Search the file\n 4. Add a record\n 5. Exit\n");
		}
		else if (menu == 4)
		{
			addRecord(point_table);
			menu = get_int("Please enter a selection: \n 1. Load the file\n 2. List the file\n 3. Search the file\n 4. Add a record\n 5. Exit\n");
		}
		else if (menu == 5)
		{
			exit(1);
		}
		else 
		{
			printf("Please enter a valid menu selection!\n");
			menu = get_int("Please enter a selection: \n 1. Load the file\n 2. List the file\n 3. Search the file\n 4. Add a record\n 5. Exit\n");
		}
	}
}//end of main

/***********************
*Function to load file *
***********************/
void loadFile(FILE *fp, struct myRecords* table, char buffer[])
{
	int counter = 0;
	
	while(!(feof(fp)))
	{
		fgets(buffer, 20, fp);
		table->rec[counter].cust_id = atoi(buffer);
		fgets(table->rec[counter].cust_name, 20, fp);
		table->rec[counter].cust_name[strlen(table->rec[counter].cust_name)-1] = '\0'; 
		fgets(table->rec[counter].state, 20, fp);
		table->rec[counter].state[strlen(table->rec[counter].state)-1] = '\0';
		fgets(buffer, 20, fp);
		table->rec[counter].discount = buffer[0];
		fgets(buffer, 20, fp);
		table->rec[counter].balance_due = atof(buffer);
		fgets(buffer, 20, fp);
		table->rec[counter].order_out = atoi(buffer);
		++counter;
	}
	fclose(fp);
}
/***********************
*Function to list file *
***********************/
void listFile(struct myRecords *table)
{
	int x;
	printf ("Cust ID\t Cust Name\t       State   Disc.     Bal Due      Order Out\n");
	for (x=0; x < 10; x++)
	{	
		if(table->rec[x].cust_id == 999)
		{
			x = 10;		
		}
		else
		{
			printf ("\n%i\t%-20s\t%-7s\t%c\t%0.2f\t\t%i", table->rec[x].cust_id, table->rec[x].cust_name, table->rec[x].state, table->rec[x].discount, table->rec[x].balance_due, table->rec[x].order_out);
		}
	}
}
/****************************
*Function for Binary Search *
****************************/
int binarySearch (struct myRecords *table, int cust_id)
{
	int x;
	int last;
	for (x=0; x < 10; x++)
	{	
		if(table->rec[x].cust_id == 999)
		{
			last = x;
            x = 10;	
        }
	}
	int first=0, middle, position=-1;
	bool found=false;
	while (!found && first <= last)
	{
		middle = (first + last) / 2;
		if (table->rec[middle].cust_id == cust_id)
		{
			found = true;
			position = middle;
		}
		else if (table->rec[middle].cust_id > cust_id)
		{
			last = middle - 1;
		}
		else
		{	
			first = middle + 1;
		}
	}
	
	if (position == -1)
	{
		printf ("RECORD NOT IN DATABASE!");
	}
	else
	{
		printf ("\n%i\t%-20s\t%-7s\t%c\t%0.2f\t\t%i", table->rec[middle].cust_id, table->rec[middle].cust_name, table->rec[middle].state, table->rec[middle].discount, table->rec[middle].balance_due, table->rec[middle].order_out);
	}
	return position;
}
/**************************
*Function to add a record *
**************************/
void addRecord (struct myRecords *table)
{
	char string[50];
	int x;
	int y;
	for (x=0; x < 10; x++)
	{	
		if (table->rec[x].cust_id == 999)
		{
            y = x;
			x = 10;		
		}
	}
	table->rec[y].cust_id = get_int("Please enter customer id: ");
	table->rec[y].cust_name[strlen(table->rec[y].cust_name)-1] = get_str("Please enter customer name: ");
	table->rec[y].state[strlen(table->rec[y].state)-1] = get_str("Please enter a state: ", string);
	table->rec[y].discount = get_char("Please enter discount type: ");
	table->rec[y].balance_due = get_float("Please enter a balance due: ");
	table->rec[y].order_out = get_int("Please enter how many orders are out: ");
    table->rec[y+1].cust_id = 999;
}
/**************************
*Function to get integers *
**************************/
int get_int(char prompt[50])
{
	char buf[50];
	int i;
	printf("\n %s", prompt);
	gets(buf);
	i = atoi(buf);
	return i;
}

/****************************
*Function to get characters *
****************************/
char get_char(char prompt[50])
{
	char c[50];
	printf("\n %s", prompt);
	gets(c);
	return c[0];
}
/*******************************
*Function to get float numbers *
*******************************/
float get_float(char prompt[50])
{
	char buffer[50];
	float r;
	printf("\n %s", prompt);
	gets(buffer);
	r = atof(buffer);
	return r;
}
/*************************
*Function to get strings *
*************************/
void get_str(char prompt[], char string[])
{
	printf("\n %s",prompt);
	gets(string);
}

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Great! Got it working, thanks so much!

Glad to have been of assistance :)