help! string literals

I am new to C programming, i am currently working on a program where i must accept keyboard input and reproduce the text after eliminating white space. unless the text is in a string literal, then it must be reproduced with spaces. i have the first part (printing without spaces) but im not quite sure how to make it print normally within string literals....can anyone help me? here is my code

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
   int c;
   
   printf("This program eliminates whitespace from an input stream,\n");
   printf("except from within string literals in double quotes.\n");
   printf("\n");
   printf("Type characters, and enter EOF after <enter> to finish:\n");
   
   while ((c = getchar()) != EOF) 
      if ( c != ' ') 
      putchar(c);
      
   system("pause");
   return 0;
}

What about your previous thread? cyberfish gave you a nice answer.

the answer cyberfish gave is to advanced for what i am trying to do. i mean its probably not that complicated...but we have only just learned about file copying, word counting, line counting and arrays. i can't use bool.

Can you provide an example of a string literal and one that is not.

ok sorry maybe i'm not using the correct terminology, when i say
hi i am new to c programming......i need it to print hiiamnewtocprogramming........this is what my program currently does....but additionally, when i use quotes and say......."hi i am new to c programming" i need it to print exactly that "hi i am new to c programming"

haha i guess you go to fccj to huh?? I'm having the same problem

Originally Posted by cakestler

the answer cyberfish gave is to advanced for what i am trying to do. i mean its probably not that complicated...but we have only just learned about file copying, word counting, line counting and arrays. i can't use bool.

I think that cyberfish's answer is straightforward. Instead of using bool, use an int. You do not have to worry about counting... all you need to worry about is: do I ignore whitespace, or not? For that, you need to know if you are currently processing a string literal.

you don't need a flag. test each character and loop through literals.

Code:

char *quoted_ws(char *s)
{
    char *p = s, *q = s;
    while (*p)
        if (!*q) *p = '\0';
        else if (isspace(*q)) ++q;
        else if ((*p++ = *q++) == '"') while ((*p++ = *q++) != '"') ;
    return s;
}

easy.

Originally Posted by Meldreth

you don't need a flag. test each character and loop through literals.

Code:

char *quoted_ws(char *s)
{
    char *p = s, *q = s;
    while (*p)
        if (!*q) *p = '\0';
        else if (isspace(*q)) ++q;
        else if ((*p++ = *q++) == '"') while ((*p++ = *q++) != '"') ;
    return s;
}

easy.

Easy to crash this program you mean? just pass the string with one quote in it...

And perhaps a little more advanced solutions, as well...

Easy to crash this program you mean? just pass the string with one quote in it...

it's a homework assignment, not a display routine in the stock exchange. but if you want to nitpick then the flag solution won't work either because if it sees a quote it won't know if the quote is terminated or not. the output will be wrong unless you write a case to find the string literals first and figure out how to handle an odd number of them.

Code:

char *quoted_ws(char *s)
{
    int quotes[256] = {0};
    int n = 0;
    int i, j, k = 0;
    for (i = 0; s[i]; i++) if (s[i] == '"') quotes[n++] = i;
    for (i = 0, j = 0; s[i]; )
    {
        if (!s[j]) s[i] = '\0';
        /* ignore the last unpaired quote */
        else if (j == quotes[k] && k < n)
        {
            while (j <= quotes[k+1]) s[i++] = s[j++];
            k += 2;
        }
        else if (isspace(s[j])) ++j;
        else s[i++] = s[j++];
    }
    return s;
}

i think you'll agree that this is a little too advanced to be an assignment for someone new to c.

but if you want to nitpick then the flag solution won't work either because if it sees a quote it won't know if the quote is terminated or not

It does not need to know.

There is no requirement to work "correct" on incorrect input.

But any program has an absolute requirement - It cannot crash no matter what user input it receives

Originally Posted by vart

It does not need to know.

There is no requirement to work "correct" on incorrect input.

But any program has an absolute requirement - It cannot crash no matter what user input it receives

that's stupid. a program absolutely cannot crash, but it's ok if it gives wrong results as if they were right. hypocrites are not allowed to criticize my methods until they correct their own.

but it's ok if it gives wrong results as if they were right

Maybe you should learn to read before you start interpreting my saying?

Originally Posted by vart

There is no requirement to work "correct" on incorrect input.

But any program has an absolute requirement - It cannot crash no matter what user input it receives

you think a program can give incorrect results on incorrect input but shouldn't ever crash. i don't see any other way to interpret this and i say you're a hypocrite because you condemn crashing but allow an even worse situation. silently wrong output can be mistaken for correct output, a crash can't be overlooked.

if you didn't mean what you wrote, you should learn to write, smartass.