No ouput from my function, please check?

Hi, I wrote a c file to output text, making sure it doesn't go over a maximum width:

Code:

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

#include "printer.h"

/* Print the given text to stdout, adding newlines as
 * necessary between words in order to keep the maximum line
 * length to the given specified value.
 */

void printText(const char *text, const int maxLineWidth) {
	int lineWidth = 0;
	int textEnd = 0;
	int i = 0;
	char currWord[strlen(text)+1];
	while (textEnd == 0) {
		int k = 0;
		while (isspace(text[i]) == 0) {
			if (text[i] == '\0') {
				textEnd = 1;
				break;
			}
			currWord[k++] = text[i++];
		}
		currWord[k] = '\0';
		if ((strlen(currWord) + lineWidth) <= maxLineWidth) {
			printf("&#37;s", currWord);
			lineWidth += strlen(currWord);
		}
		else {
			printf("\n%s", currWord);
			lineWidth = strlen(currWord);
		}
	}
	printf("\n");
}

int main() {
	printDescription("Hello, this is some text aligned to a maximum width of 15 characters.", 15);
	return 0;
}

instead of printing as it's supposed to it just hangs, waiting with no output, i assume it's to do with a loop condition and that its looping forever but i can't spot where and figure how to fix it. please help me out, thanks.

great board by the way, glad to be a part.

You never change the value that controls your loop, ie `textEnd`.

Code:

while (isspace(text[i]) == 0) {
			if (text[i] == '\0') {
				textEnd = 1;
				break;
			}
			currWord[k++] = text[i++];
		}

How can the character be a space AND a nul-terminator at the same time!?

Perhaps a better way to loop would be,

Code:

size_t len = strlen(text);
size_t i = 0;

for(i = 0; i < len; i++)
{
    /* blah */
}

What does isspace() return on the nul character?

If you want to see what happens, follow each printf with a
fflush(stdout)

Also, char currWord[strlen(text)+1]; is non-standard, and with a bit of thought, unnecessary.

Originally Posted by zacs7

Code:

while (isspace(text[i]) == 0) {}

How can the character be a space AND a nul-terminator at the same time!?

But doesn't while (isspace(text[i]) == 0) {} only do the things while it isn't a space? (as opposed to == 1 which would be while it is a space)
So it couldn't be both?

I used char currWord[strlen(text)+1] because I wanted to try and avoid dynamic memory. What can I change it to?

Thanks for your replies, only been doing C for 2 months (did a bit of Java before) so still gaining an understanding.

I suggest you draw a flow-chart and then implement it in C. Do you want to trim at words or characters? The latter being much easier.

> I used char currWord[strlen(text)+1] because I wanted to try and avoid dynamic memory.
Why avoid dynamic memory? It's a huge part of C. Perhaps Salem was hinting towards pointers...

i want to trim it at words

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_wrap

Perhaps try and implement the "Greedy algorithm". Your biggest challenge will probably be splting the text into 'words', while preserving spaces.

If you feel upto a challenge perhaps "The Knuth" algorithm could be good.

looks like the greedy algorithm is the same as what im trying to do with my code.

if i use dynamic memory allocation for currWord there's no possibility of a memory leak when a program using the function exits?

Yes, but you're diving straight into the coding. Do it on paper first, like how you're going to split words.

Do you know how to use pointers in C? If not, go and learn.

I had another try at it, starting over from scratch, after trying to understand pointers better and so I utilised them more here. Unfortunately this time the function, when run, just continually outputs blank space until I press cntrlC.
If anyone could take a look at my new version and explain why this is happening I'd appreciate it.

Code:

void printText(const char *text, const int maxLineWidth) {
	int wordLen = 0;
	int lineLen = 0;
	const char* wordEnd = NULL;
	int i = 0;
	while (isspace(*text) == 1) {
		text++;
	}
	wordLen = strcspn(text, " ");
	for (i = 0; i < wordLen; i++) {
		putchar(*text++);
	}
	lineLen = wordLen;
	while (*text != '\0') {
		while (isspace(*text) == 1) {
		text++;
		}
		wordLen = strcspn(text, " ");
		wordEnd = text + wordLen;
		if ((wordLen + lineLen) < maxLineWidth) {
			putchar(' ');
			while (text != wordEnd) {
				putchar(*text++);
			}
			lineLen += wordLen;
		}
		else {
			putchar('\n');
			while (text != wordEnd) {
				putchar(*text++);
			}
			lineLen = wordLen;
		}
	}
        putchar('\n');
}

int main() {
	printText("A sentence output to a maximum width of twenty characters per line.", 20);
	return 0;
}

someone?

There's a difference between a NULL pointer and the character \0. When text points to the end of the string, the pointer is still a normal pointer pointing to a memory address. However, *text will == 0.

oh okay, i'd been assuming that
text != NULL
and
*text != '\0'
were the same.
thanks.

just to make sure,
*text == 0
and
*text == '\0'
are exactly the same?

i fixed up that statement, but the output is still exactly the same.
more help?