fgetc - Extra newline

When reading characters from a file using fgetc, it seems to read an extra newline character at the end of the file even when a text editor (GVim) doesn't show one there. This happens on a Unix machine, but I don't have the problem when I run it in Windows. Anybody know why?

Here's the code:

Code:

int currChar = 'a';
char buffer[256];

FILE *input;

// ...

// Process each line of the input file
while (currChar != EOF)
{
	int i;

	// Read line
	for (i = 0; (currChar = fgetc(input)) != '\n' &&
			currChar != EOF;			i++)
	{
		buffer[i] = currChar;
	}

	buffer[i] = '\0';

	// Output each line
	printf("Buffer (%i): %s\n", i, buffer);
}

The input text file:

Code:

abc
x
y
z

The Unix output:

Code:

Buffer (3): abc
Buffer (1): x
Buffer (1): y
Buffer (1): z
Buffer (0):

The Windows output:

Code:

Buffer (3): abc
Buffer (1): x
Buffer (1): y
Buffer (1): z

There is a newline at the end of your file. Vim is just assuming (and smartly, I think) that you'll want a newline at the end of all lines of a text file. You can change this with:

Code:

:set binary noeol

That should allow you to save a file without the final newline.

No it's not reading an extra newline character; you sure you need the while loop? and NULL terminating the line should be done conditionally.

Originally Posted by itCbitC

No it's not reading an extra newline character;

What's it doing, then?

Originally Posted by itCbitC

you sure you need the while loop?

What else would I use?

Originally Posted by itCbitC

and NULL terminating the line should be done conditionally.

What would the condition be? I don't see why that would be necessary. If it's to ensure that i is less than 256, that's not necessary since this is a homework assignment and we can assume the length of the line is less than 256 characters.

Originally Posted by cas

There is a newline at the end of your file. Vim is just assuming (and smartly, I think) that you'll want a newline at the end of all lines of a text file. You can change this with:

Code:

:set binary noeol

That should allow you to save a file without the final newline.

This is a homework assignment, so I don't really have control over the input files.

Trace the loop when currentChar is EOF you will see why the NULL terminating and printing the string should be conditional as in.

Code:

if (currChar != EOF) {
    buffer[i] = '\0';
    printf("Buffer (%i): %s\n", i, buffer);
}

Whoops! you do need the while loop.