Why isn't my program reading my file properly?

Hi all, I'm trying to get my program to read from a file that has both characters and integers (names and scores in a class). The file is set up like this with 30 names and scores:

Elizabeth 74

How do I make my program print this as shown? Every time I try to do it I get a whole bunch of weird characters (like a bunch of Os or Hs all in a line), and it's driving me mad. I even tried replacing all the names and scores in my file with just letter grades to test it, and it still didn't work properly. What am I doing wrong? I checked the FAQ, but it didn't mention anything like this. Also, is it possible to set up an array with the names and scores just like I've shown up there? I need to use the scores later in my program to calculate the class average, the highest score, and the lowest score. I'll provide the code I have now (which isn't much, admittedly) as well as the text file.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>

#define ARRAY_SIZE 30

int main(void)
{
    FILE* spStudents;
    float average = 0;
    char students;
    int scores;
    
    printf("Welcome! This program will read a text file containing names\n");
    printf("and scores of 30 students enrolled in a class. The program will\n");
    printf("arrange the list by score, find the class average, find the\n");
    printf("student with the lowest score, and find the student with\n");
    printf("the highest score.\n\n");
    
    spStudents = fopen("L:\\CIS 161\\Chapter VIII pt 1\\students.txt", "r");
    if (spStudents == NULL)
       {
         printf("Error opening students.txt for reading\n");
         exit (100);
       }
       
    printf("Here are the students and scores unsorted:\n");  
    
    fclose(spStudents);
      
  system("PAUSE");	
  return 0;
}

Here are the contents of my text file (these are all made up names and scores, by the way):

Brendon 82
Abigail 77
Ethan 72
Madeline 88
Caleb 90
Connor 69
Emma 71
Jacob 80
Jack 91
Elizabeth 74
Andrew 84
Gabriel 92
Chloe 93
Ian 73
Isaac 89
Claire 98
Evan 75
Rachel 85
David 86
Carly 78
Jake 79
Amber 66
Henry 81
Aubrey 70
Julianna 83
Hunter 68
Joseph 62
Lucy 99
Erin 59
Jason 94

Ok, I'll bite.

As far as I can tell, your code compiles and runs, with no bugs. It also doesn't do anything, and makes no attempt at what you say it should do. It also doesn't exhibit the erroneous behavior that you claim it should... so:

• Are you sure you've posted the correct source?
• Have you tried compiling and running the source that you've posted?

Use a function such as fscanf to actually read from the file.

Originally Posted by Cactus_Hugger

Ok, I'll bite.

As far as I can tell, your code compiles and runs, with no bugs. It also doesn't do anything, and makes no attempt at what you say it should do. It also doesn't exhibit the erroneous behavior that you claim it should... so:

• Are you sure you've posted the correct source?
• Have you tried compiling and running the source that you've posted?

Yes and yes.

I added this a little while ago, which is giving me the weird results:

Code:

    printf("Here are the students and scores unsorted:\n");  
    fscanf(spStudents, "%c %d", &students, &scores);
    printf("%c %d\n", &students, &scores);
    
    fclose(spStudents);

Here is what it's giving me:

Welcome! This program will read a text file containing names
and scores of 30 students enrolled in a class. The program will
arrange the list by score, find the class average, find the
student with the lowest score, and find the student with
the highest score.

Here are the students and scores unsorted:
o 2293608
Press any key to continue . . .

I tried it with a while loop as well, but all it did was give me the same result 30 times.

%c reads 1 char
%s reads unknown number of chars till it encounters whitespace or EOF

Okay, I did a bit more work, and it's displaying all the names and scores right, but I'm having problems figuring out how to keep a total of all the scores so I can use them to find the average and who has the highest and lowest scores. Here's my code so far:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>

#define ARRAY_SIZE 30

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    FILE* spStudents;
    int average;
    char buffer[10001];
    char student[ARRAY_SIZE];
    int score;
    int sum;
    int target;
    
    printf("Welcome! This program will read a text file containing names\n");
    printf("and scores of 30 students enrolled in a class. The program will\n");
    printf("find the class average, find the student with the lowest\n");
    printf("score, and find the student with the highest score.\n\n");
    
    spStudents = fopen("L:\\CIS 161\\Chapter VIII pt 1\\students.txt", "r");
    if (spStudents == NULL)
       {
         printf("Error opening students.txt for reading.\n");
         exit (100);
       }
    
    fgets(buffer, 10000, spStudents);
    
    printf("Here are the names and scores:\n");
    while(feof(spStudents) == 0)
    {
       sscanf(buffer, "&#37;s%d", student, &score);
       printf("%s %d\n", student, score);
       fgets(buffer, 10000, spStudents);
    }    
    score += sum;
    average = sum / 30;
    printf("\nThe class average is: %d\n", &average);
    if (score == 99)
       {
          printf("The person with the highest score is: %s\n", &student);
       }
    if (score == 59)
       {
          printf("The person with the lowest score is: %s\n\n", &student);
       }
    printf("If you're looking for a particular score, please enter it, and\n");
    printf("I'll tell you if someone has that score: ");
    scanf("%d", &target);
    if (target == score)
       {
          printf("%s has that score!\n", &student);
       }
    if (target != score)
       {
          printf("Sorry, no one has that score.\n");
       }
    
    fclose(spStudents);
      
  system("PAUSE");	
  return 0;
}

score += sum;
you want it oppposite

also sum should be initialized before loop

Originally Posted by vart

score += sum;
you want it oppposite

also sum should be initialized before loop

Alright, I did that, but it's still giving me a huge number for some reason.

I did the math myself, and sum is supposed to be equal to 2408, so the average is supposed to be about 80. When I run the program, it gives me an average of 2293608, which is obviously WAY off.

you did one thing or both from suggested?

Originally Posted by vart

you did one thing or both from suggested?

Both. Here's the code I have now:

Code:

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

#define ARRAY_SIZE 30

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    FILE* spStudents;
    int average;
    char buffer[10001];
    char student[ARRAY_SIZE];
    int score;
    int sum;
    int target;
    
    printf("Welcome! This program will read a text file containing names\n");
    printf("and scores of 30 students enrolled in a class. The program will\n");
    printf("find the class average, find the student with the lowest\n");
    printf("score, and find the student with the highest score. It will also\n");
    printf("let you type in a score and tell you whether or not someone\n");
    printf("has that score.\n\n");
    
    spStudents = fopen("L:\\CIS 161\\Chapter VIII pt 1\\students.txt", "r");
    if (spStudents == NULL)
       {
         printf("Error opening students.txt for reading.\n");
         exit (100);
       }
    
    fgets(buffer, 10000, spStudents);
    
    sum += score;
    
    printf("Here are the names and scores:\n");
    while(feof(spStudents) == 0)
    {
       sscanf(buffer, "%s%d", student, &score);
       printf("%s %d\n", student, score);
       fgets(buffer, 10000, spStudents);
    }    
    
    average = sum / 30;
    printf("\nThe class average is: %d\n", &average);
    if (score == 99)
       {
          printf("The person with the highest score is: %s\n", &student);
       }
    if (score == 59)
       {
          printf("The person with the lowest score is: %s\n\n", &student);
       }
    printf("If you're looking for a particular score, please enter it, and\n");
    printf("I'll tell you if someone has that score: ");
    scanf("%d", &target);
    if (target == score)
       {
          printf("%s has that score!\n\n", &student);
       }
    if (target != score)
       {
          printf("Sorry, no one has that score.\n\n");
       }
        
    fclose(spStudents);
      
  system("PAUSE");	
  return 0;
}

Code:

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

#define ARRAY_SIZE 30

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    FILE* spStudents;
    int average;
    char buffer[10001];
    char student[ARRAY_SIZE];
    int score;
    int sum;
    int target;
/* It's always a good habit to initialize your variables. This code would give a runtime error in Visual Studio (which means you're doing
 something wrong). */
    
    printf("Welcome! This program will read a text file containing names\n");
    printf("and scores of 30 students enrolled in a class. The program will\n");
    printf("find the class average, find the student with the lowest\n");
    printf("score, and find the student with the highest score. It will also\n");
    printf("let you type in a score and tell you whether or not someone\n");
    printf("has that score.\n\n");
    
    spStudents = fopen("L:\\CIS 161\\Chapter VIII pt 1\\students.txt", "r");
    if (spStudents == NULL)
       {
         printf("Error opening students.txt for reading.\n");
         exit (100);
       }
    
    fgets(buffer, 10000, spStudents);
/* You are lying to fgets. Your buffer is 10001 chars. Use sizeof(buffer) instead. */

    sum += score;
/* You are trying to add a number into an unitialized variable from an unitialized variable. Result? Never what you expect. Initialize 
both to 0 and maybe remove the line. */
    
    printf("Here are the names and scores:\n");
    while(feof(spStudents) == 0)
    {
       sscanf(buffer, "&#37;s%d", student, &score);
/* Extremely unsafe. Read http://cpwiki.sf.net/Buffer_overrun */

       printf("%s %d\n", student, score);
       fgets(buffer, 10000, spStudents);
    }    
    
    average = sum / 30;
/* Pointless. sum == 0 at this point */

    printf("\nThe class average is: %d\n", &average);
    if (score == 99)
       {
          printf("The person with the highest score is: %s\n", &student);
/* Will not result in what you expect. Read http://cpwiki.sf.net/A_pointer_on_pointers */
       }
    if (score == 59)
       {
          printf("The person with the lowest score is: %s\n\n", &student);
/* Same here. See above. */
       }
    printf("If you're looking for a particular score, please enter it, and\n");
    printf("I'll tell you if someone has that score: ");
    scanf("%d", &target);
    if (target == score)
       {
          printf("%s has that score!\n\n", &student);
       }
    if (target != score)
       {
          printf("Sorry, no one has that score.\n\n");
       }
        
    fclose(spStudents);
      
  system("PAUSE");	
  return 0;
}

See my comments.