Thread: Expand

  1. #1
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    Expand

    Hi! I've been working through the C Programming Language Second Edition, and I'm stumped on one of the exercises. Exercise 3-3 has me baffled. The task is as follows:
    Exercise 3-3. Write a function expand(s1,s2) that expands shorthand notations like a-z in the
    string s1 into the equivalent complete list abc...xyz in s2. Allow for letters of either case and digits,
    and be prepared to handle cases like a-b-c and a-z0-9 and -a-z. Arrange that a leading or trailing -
    is taken literally.

    So far I've written the expand function as:
    Code:
    void Expand(char s1[], char s2[]) {
        int i = 0;
        int y = 0;
        while((s2[i++] = 0) != '\0') /* clear  s2 */
    	;
        for(i = 0; s1[i] != '\0'; ) {
    	int start = s1[i++];
    	/* advance i until a new type is found to handle cases like a-b-c-d */
    	if(isdigit(start)) {
    	    for( ; isdigit(s1[i]) || s1[i] == '-'; i++)
    		;
    	}
    	else if(islower(start)) {
    	    for( ; islower(s1[i]) || s1[i] == '-'; i++)
    		;
    	}
    	else if(isupper(start)) {
    	    for( ; isupper(s1[i]) || s1[i] == '-'; i++)
    		;
    	}
    	else {		   /* if they are not the same type, exit the function */ 
    	    printf("Invalid character\n");
    	    return;
    	} 							       
    	int end = s1[i-1];
            /* check if start and end are the same type, and don't go over bounds */
    	if(isdigit(start) && isdigit(end)) {
    	    while(start <= end)
    		s2[y++] = start++;
    	}
    	else if(islower(start) && islower(end)) {
    	    while(start <= end) 
    		s2[y++] = start++;
    	}
    	else if(isupper(start) && isupper(end)) {
    	    while(start <= end) 
    		s2[y++] = start++;
    	}
    	else {
    	    printf("Invalid character");
    	    return;
    	}
        }
        return;
    }
    However, for some reason if I pass it a string like a-z0-9, it is adding on -9 at the end of it. My output would be: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789-9

    Can someone please help me diagnose the problem, I'm completely baffled.

  2. #2
    ATH0 quzah's Avatar
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    You need to nul terminate your s2 string when you are done sticking things in it.


    Quzah.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  3. #3
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    Thank you, that fixed it. I don't understand where the extra characters were coming from however, could you please explain?

  4. #4
    Registered User TheBigH's Avatar
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    If you don't terminate your string with a '\0', printf will continue past the end of the string until it finds one somewhere else. In your case, I think it is picking up the remnants of the input string, ie. the last few characters of "a-z0-9". But this behaviour is not guaranteed; it depends on what is stored where in memory. When I tried it I got several lines of gibberish.
    Code:
    while(!asleep) {
       sheep++;
    }

  5. #5
    [](){}(); manasij7479's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ASCII View Post
    Thank you, that fixed it. I don't understand where the extra characters were coming from however, could you please explain?
    Alongside H's serious explanation, here is a silly joke that illustrates the point .
    Two strings walk into a bar and sit down.
    The bartender says, “So what’ll it be?”
    The first string says, “I think I’ll have a beer quag fulk boorg jdk^CjfdLk jk3s d#f67howe%^U r89nvy~~owmc63^Dz x.xvcu”
    “Please excuse my friend,” the second string says, “He isn’t null-terminated.”
    Last edited by manasij7479; 10-02-2011 at 02:29 PM.

  6. #6
    ATH0 quzah's Avatar
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    That joke doesn't really work in C, because you aren't a string if you aren't nul terminated. I know it's supposed to be a C joke, but it just bug people like me.

    /buzzkill


    Quzah.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  7. #7
    [](){}(); manasij7479's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by quzah View Post
    That joke doesn't really work in C, because you aren't a string if you aren't nul terminated. I know it's supposed to be a C joke, but it just bug people like me.

    /buzzkill

    Quzah.
    Ok.. modification.. [Two const char* `s walk into,....~] but the string version is much more repeatable in human company...

  8. #8
    ATH0 quzah's Avatar
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    A string and a dude that you think is a string walk into a bar...


    Quzah.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by quzah View Post
    A string and a dude that you think is a string walk into a bar...
    Quzah.
    A guy with a sense of humour and Quzah walk into a bar...

  10. #10
    ATH0 quzah's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CommonTater View Post
    A guy with a sense of humour and Quzah walk into a bar...
    A guy with a lousy sense of humor and Quzah walk into the bar...


    I've got a great sense of humor. That joke just wasn't funny.


    Quzah.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by quzah View Post
    I've got a great sense of humor.
    Notwithstanding evidence to the contrary...


    That joke just wasn't funny.
    Ok... no argument on that part.

  12. #12
    [](){}(); manasij7479's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by quzah View Post
    That joke just wasn't funny.
    Of course it wasn't.
    Only totally pointless jokes can be funny.

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