Want this code to loop forever (kinda) but having problems...

Hey I got this loop that I want to loop forever unless the user types Exit. This is my current code; when C++ builds the program, it starts up the command prompt, and it's totally blank. Nothing but a cursor.

VB Code:

int i = 0;
int a = 0;
    while (i == a);
    {
        cout <<"The armory trainer behind the counter speaks:\n";
        cout <<"Armory Trainer: Welcome to the armory. Enter the number\n of the item you would"
             <<" like to buy:\n#1 Helmet = 200g\n#2 Shield = 500g\n#3 Armor = 900g\n"
             <<"#4 Dagger = 10g\n#5 Scimetar = 400g\n#6 ShortSword = 1000g\n"
             <<"#7 LongSword = 2000g\n#8 Exit\n\nArmory Trainer: So, what will it be?";
        cin >> item;
        if (item == Helmet)
        {
            Shelmet -= 1;
            cout <<"You got a helmet.";
            plyrGold -= 200;
        }
        else if (item == Shield)
        {
            Sshield -= 1;
            cout <<"You receive a shield.";
            plyrGold -= 500;
        }
        else if (item == Armor)
        {   
            Sarmor -= 1;
            cout <<"Wow! You got some heavy duty Armor";
            plyrGold -= 900;
        }
        else if (item == Dagger)
        {
            Sdagger -= 1;
            cout <<"You got a dagger.";
            plyrGold -= 10;
        }
        else if (item == Scimetar)
        {
            Sscimetar -= 1;
            cout <<"You have received a Scimetar";
            plyrGold -= 400;
        }
        else if (item == Shortsword)
        {
            Sshortsword -= 1;
            cout <<"Wow! You got a Shortsword.";
            plyrGold -= 1000;
        }
        else if (item == Longsword)
        {
            Slongsword -= 1;
            cout <<"Amazing! You got an awsome Longsword!";
            plyrGold -= 2000;
        }
        else if (item == Exit)
        {
            return;
        }
        else
        {
            cout <<"The item you have asked for is one we \n"
                 <<"don't carry.";
        }
    }

Thanks!
Ríçk

( i am guessing you put this in the int main(void) or something and left it out for convenience)

i'm not sure if it helps, but is it possible to put:
while(1==1)
instead of while(i==a)

oh, and i think i may have read somewhere that while() loops need ; at the end, but perhaps that is do while() loops.

You need to put a couple of cout << flush statements in. It's not displaying the contents of the buffer because it doesn't think it needs to just yet.

the only problem is that you have a semi-colon after the while() statement.. it's not incorrect syntaxwise, but logically all it's doing is looping -nothing- forever

try the semicolon after the last close-squiggly-bracket "}" of the while loop

while(i==a)
{
//***blablabla***
};

Oh, and instead of having two integer variables at the start, just have one bool variable:

bool a=true;
while(a)

etc...

Why would you need to put a semicolon after the last } ?
I never do that and it works perfect

Yeah, sorry about that. I'm only relatively new to C++, i think i'm getting it mixed up with something.

Ok, cool
I just wanted to make sure I did everything right, I'm pretty new to c++ myself...