XINPUT_GAMEPAD_A does not work unless you hold down the button when program starts

Question

So I am using xinput with my program, it is all set up and working so I can detect my xbox one controller. I want to be able to detect when a button on the controller is pressed. The procedure I use works if I hold down the button when the program starts. I have the if command setup inside a while so it constantly executes although for some reason the value does not change when I press A on my controller.

So basically, if I hold down A when the program is opening it works and returns the cout on the screen. Although if I want to press it a little after the program has started (which is what I want to work) it does not detect it.

Here is my code:

using namespace std;
XINPUT_STATE state;

bool A_button_pressed;
int online;
int test;

int main() {
    if (XInputGetState(0, &state) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
    {
        online = 1;
        cout << "I could find a controller, it is an Xbox Controller" << endl;
    } else {
        online = 2;
        cout << "Unable to find controller, searching..." << endl;
    }
    cout << A_button_pressed << endl;
        cout << "Active" << endl;
        while (online == 1) {
            bool A_button_pressed = ((state.Gamepad.wButtons & XINPUT_GAMEPAD_A) != 0);
            cout << A_button_pressed << endl;
            if (A_button_pressed = ((state.Gamepad.wButtons & XINPUT_GAMEPAD_A) != 0)) {
                cout << "You pressed a button, congrats, game over..." << endl;
            }
        };
}

As far as I know I am including all of the correct libraries in the correct order:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <Xinput.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "Xinput.lib")
#pragma comment(lib, "Xinput9_1_0.lib")

Answer 1

Your problem is that you are only calling XInputGetState once at startup. You must call XInputGetState every frame that your program runs so that your state info can be updated.