Why wont this work?

Code:

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

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    _explode(argv[0]);
    system("pause"); //Yes... I know this is bad.
    return 0;
}


void _explode(char arg[])
{
    char delims[] = "\/";
    char *result = NULL;
    //char arg[] = "This \ is / a \message for you"; //this works
    result = strtok(arg, delims);
    while (result != NULL)
    {
        printf("Result is \"%s\"\n", result);
        result = strtok(NULL, delims);
    }
}

I want my programs path (argv[0]) to be passed to my _explode function. I wish that it's last entry will be the programs name. E.g. Myprogram.exe. Why wont it work?

-Thanks.

Well one thing I noticed is that char *result is not pointing to any valid memory. You need to allocate some memory before you start trying to assign values to it.

Thanks for the quick reply, but it points to the result of strtok(). I haven't programmed in C for quite a long time, so I have picked up some bad habits. I think there's something wrong with how I'm parsing the argument of argv[0], because it works fine if I don't parse and argument, and uncomment the local variable 'arg'.

//char arg[] = "This \ is / a \message for you"; //this works
Are you are saying that this piece of code gives the error? If so it is because C does not allow you to assign strings. Although I don't know if I am helping or not right now lol

Originally Posted by camel-man

//char arg[] = "This \ is / a \message for you"; //this works
Are you are saying that this piece of code gives the error? If so it is because C does not allow you to assign strings. Although I don't know if I am helping or not right now lol

No, the above code doesn't work as I would like it to, but this code works:

Code:

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

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    _explode();
    system("pause"); //Yes... I know this is bad.
    return 0;
}


void _explode()
{
	char delims[] = "\/";
    char *result = NULL;
    char arg[] = "This \ is / a \message for you"; //this works
    result = strtok(arg, delims);
    while (result != NULL)
    {
        printf("Result is \"%s\"\n", result);
        result = strtok(NULL, delims);
    }
}

With the exception of only one slash being effective at splitting the string. This is driving me crazy.

Originally Posted by inu11byte

Code:

    char delims[] = "\/";

You mean "\\/" there, don't you? Print it (printf("delims is '%s'\n", delims);), and you'll see what I mean.

Your _explode() function will also modify argv[0] in place, leaving either an empty string or the initial path component there.

If you just want the final component, perhaps

Code:

#include <string.h>

#if defined(macintosh)
#define  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_CHAR   ':'
#define  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_STRING ":"
#elif defined(_WIN32) || defined(_WIN32_WCE) || defined(__DOS__)
#define  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_CHAR   '\\'
#define  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_STRING "\\"
#else
#define  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_CHAR   '/'
#define  DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_STRING "/"
#endif

char *base_name(char *path)
{
    char *final;

    if (!path)
        return NULL;

    final = strrchr(path, DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR_CHAR);
    if (final)
        return final + 1;

    return path;
}

would be better? You can then use base_name(argv[0]) whenever you need just the file name (base name) of the current process.

Ah, forgot that the backslash was an escape character... Momentary lapse of knowledge... Hahaha. You're code looks good, but base_name() wont take argv[] as a parameter. :/

Originally Posted by inu11byte

You're code looks good, but base_name() wont take argv[] as a parameter. :/

Why should it?

argv[] is an array of strings, argv[0] being the path used to execute the current process, argv[1] (if argc > 1) being the first command line parameter, and so on.

Never-mind, all is working well. Thank you very much! Could you tell me why my code wasn't working? Just out of curiosity. Also, why is the function base_name a pointer? Just curious.

Originally Posted by Nominal Animal

Why should it?

argv[] is an array of strings, argv[0] being the path used to execute the current process, argv[1] (if argc > 1) being the first command line parameter, and so on.

Sorry, I don't get what you mean. I wanted my path 'C:\users\*****\Desktop\myfile.exe' to just be 'myfile.exe'.

Ah, just re-read your post. I was meaning argv[0], not argv[]. Sorry about the confusion. Your code worked as expected. Thanks.

If you just want the last component, then perhaps
p = strrchr(path,'\\');

Thank you, Salem. Can anybody answer my questions? Why could I pass an the argument 'argv[0]' into my original program? And why is the point of making a function a pointer?

Originally Posted by inu11byte

Why could I pass an the argument 'argv[0]' into my original program?

argv[0] has type `char *' and your function accepts an argument of type `char []'. In C, these two are equivalent.

However, the following may work but is probably not correct:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

void pause(){printf("Press enter to continue...\n");getchar();}
void tokenize_arg(char a[]);

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    tokenize_arg(argv[0]);
    pause();
}

void tokenize_arg(char a[])
{
    char delims[] = "/\\";
    char *token = strtok(a, delims);
    while (token != NULL)  {
        printf("Got a token \"%s\"\n", token);
        token = strtok(NULL, delims);
    }
}

If I run this on my Windows machine, I get the correct output (drive name, directory, directory, then my program name). However, argv[] is not in general a modifiable array. So you should better make a copy before using strtok():

Code:

void tokenize_arg(char a_readonly[])
{
    char a[strlen(a_readonly)+1];
    strcpy(a, a_readonly);

    char delims[] = "/\\";
    char *token = strtok(a, delims);
    while (token != NULL)  {
        printf("Got a token \"%s\"\n", token);
        token = strtok(NULL, delims);
    }
}