File Input / Output Help?

05-15-2002, 09:18 PM

i am trying to write a program that would read data from a file and create a set of html (web) pages. How should i start?

Prompt the user for a file name, which will contain artist/CD information. Artist/CD information will include: 1) artist name, 2) format (CD, Cassette, Vinyl), 3) release date, 4) label, 5) cost, 6) image file name, and 7) biography (less than 256 characters).

India Arie CD 3/27/2001 Motown 15.99 india.jpg Recent newcomer to the music

Jill Scott CD 7/18/2000 Hidden Beach 16.99 jill.jpg Scott is a modern R&B singer from Philadelphia

Maxwell ? Cassette 8/21/2001 Columbia 17.99 Maxwell.jpg soul singer Maxwell (his middle name) had to suffer the ignominy of his record company sitting on his debut album

Where the format is: <artist first name> <artist last name> <format> <date> <label> <cost> <image name> <bio>

The fields are separated by spaces, and the biography (which includes spaces) is the last field on the line. If the artist does not have a last name, the last name field is a “?”.

Operation
You will process the data from the file (maximum of 100 artists), storing it in a struct called Artist, which should include first and last name, as well as biography. The Artist struct will include a struct called, Label, which will include the format, date, label, and cost.

Output
You will construct a sequence of web pages (see a sample web page), where each artist will have a web page, named, <artist first name>_<artist last name>.html; where of course last name may not exist. For example, “India_Arie.html” and “Maxwell.html”. Each html file is in the following format (India Arie is shown as an example):

<html>
<head>
<title>india_arie</title>
</head>
<body>
<img SRC="india.jpg" BORDER=0 height=170 width=170>
 Name: India Arie
 Format: CD
 Release Date: 3/27/2001
 Label: Motown
 Cost: $15.99
 Biography: Recent newcomer to the music
  
</body>
</html>

Hints please.

sean345 · 05-15-2002, 09:40 PM

What I would do is read the entire line into a string using fgets. Then you can capture the various parts into other strings by going through the original string and looking for spaces. When you get to the last description you just strcpy the entire thing starting at the beginning because it is last item.

Then you can output your code to another file/screen.

Some functions that might help.
strpcy()
strncpy()

- Sean

05-17-2002, 11:49 PM

Oh thanks prelude, i posted in the wrong thread.......sorry
this is the correct one.

and i did try this

Code:

iDataRead = fscanf(fpDataFile,"%s %c %f", cpTemp,&cTemp,&fTemp);

and i still get access violation and + a warning if i use scanf as incompatible types.

There is something wrong with the code, it just stops.......right after i have enter path for the file name, say artists.txt

which has the following inside.
India Arie CD 3/27/2001 Motown 15.99 india.jpg Recent newcomer to the music
Jill Scott CD 7/18/2000 Hidden Beach 16.99 jill.jpg Scott is a modern R&B singer from Philadelphia
Maxwell ? Cassette 8/21/2001 Columbia 17.99 Maxwell.jpg soul singer Maxwell (his middle name) had to suffer the ignominy of his record company sitting on his debut album

please help, i am this far and now am stuck.

Code:

/ **************************************************
**********/
// Preprocessor Directives
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

#define SUCCESSFUL		1	// Return value
#define FAILED			0	// Return value
#define MAX_STR_SIZE	256	// Max string/filename size
#define MIN_FORMAT		8	// Max minimum format fields
#define MAX_ARTISTS		100	// Max artists allowed in data file
#define FIELDS_COMPLETE	2	// Return value for successful consecutive 
#define THREE_FIELDS	3	// Return value for 3 fields successfully read


/ **************************************************
**********/
// Global Declarations

typedef struct
	{
	 char	*cpFormat;
	 char	*cpDate;
	 char	*cpLabel;
	 float	fCost;
	} LABEL;								// Artist label-related info

typedef struct
	{
	 char	*cpFirstName;
	 char	*cpLastName;
	 LABEL	laLabel;
	 char	*cpImageFile;
	 char	*cpBio;							// Artist info
	} ARTIST;

char gcFileName[MAX_STR_SIZE]	= {' '};	// Stores file name
int giArtistQty					= 0;		// Artist quantity in data file


/ **************************************************
**********/
// Prototype Declarations
int getFile();
void processFile(ARTIST *);
void renderHTML(ARTIST *);


/ **************************************************
**********/
// Main Function
void main(){
	
	// Local Declarations
	ARTIST *arList = NULL;
	
	// Statements
	if(getFile() == SUCCESSFUL){
		arList = (ARTIST *)malloc(sizeof(ARTIST)*giArtistQty);
		processFile(arList);
		renderHTML(arList);
	}// if
}

/ **************************************************
**********/
// Function Definitions
/*----------------------------------------
Name	: getFile
Comments: Validates the format of the file
Return	: integer
----------------------------------------*/
int getFile(){

	// Local Declarations
	//char cRead		= ' ';	// Stores char for reading
	char cCheck			= ' ';	// Stores char for checking
	int c				= 0;	// Counter
	FILE *fpDataFile	= NULL;	// FILE structure
	int iDataRead		= 0;	// Counter
	char *cpTemp		= NULL;	// Temp string storage
	char cTemp			= ' ';
	float fTemp			= 0;

	// Statements
	printf("\nEnter the path and file name and press <ENTER> : ");
	scanf("%s", gcFileName);
	fpDataFile = fopen(gcFileName, "r");
	if(fpDataFile == NULL){
		printf("\n\n\aERROR:	File does not exist.");
		return FAILED;
	}
	
	cpTemp = (char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*MAX_STR_SIZE);

	do{
		iDataRead = fscanf(fpDataFile,"%s %s %s %s", cpTemp,cpTemp,cpTemp,cpTemp);
		if(iDataRead == EOF && c == 0){
			printf("\n\n\aERROR:	File is empty.");
			return FAILED;
		}

		iDataRead = fscanf(fpDataFile,"%s %c %f", cpTemp,cTemp,fTemp);
		if(iDataRead != THREE_FIELDS && iDataRead != EOF){
			
			do{
				iDataRead = fscanf(fpDataFile,"%s %c %f", cpTemp,cTemp,fTemp);
			} while(iDataRead != THREE_FIELDS && iDataRead != EOF && cTemp != '\n');
		
			if(cTemp == '\n'){
				printf("\n\n\aERROR:	File contents improperly formatted.");
				return FAILED;
			}
		}
		if(iDataRead != EOF){
			do{
				cCheck = cTemp;
				iDataRead = fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s%c", cpTemp, cTemp);
			}while(cTemp != '\n' && iDataRead != EOF);
			c++;
			if(c >= MAX_ARTISTS){
				printf("\n\n\aERROR:	File cannot contain data for more than %d artists.", MAX_ARTISTS);
				return FAILED;
			}// if
		}// if
	} while(iDataRead != EOF);
	giArtistQty = (cCheck == '\n')?(c-1):c;
	fclose(fpDataFile);
	free(cpTemp);
	return SUCCESSFUL;
}


/*----------------------------------------
Name	: processFile
Comments: Stores data from file into structure
Return	: void
----------------------------------------*/
void processFile(ARTIST *arList){

	// Local Declarations
	char *cpTemp1		= NULL;	// Temp string storage
	char *cpTemp2		= NULL;	// Temp string storage
	FILE *fpDataFile	= NULL;	// FILE pointer
	int a				= 0;	// Counter
	char cChar			= ' ';	// Temp character storage

	// Statements
	cpTemp1 = (char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*MAX_STR_SIZE);
	cpTemp2 =	(char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*MAX_STR_SIZE);
	fpDataFile = fopen(gcFileName, "r");

	for(a=0;a<giArtistQty;a++){
		
		fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s", cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->cpFirstName = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp1))+1));
		*( (arList+a)->cpFirstName ) = '\0';
		strcat( (arList+a)->cpFirstName, cpTemp1);
		
		fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s", cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->cpLastName = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp1))+1));
		*( (arList+a)->cpLastName ) = '\0';
		if(*cpTemp1 != '?'){
			strcat( (arList+a)->cpLastName, cpTemp1 );
		}	
		
		fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s", cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->laLabel.cpFormat = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp1))+1));
		*( (arList+a)->laLabel.cpFormat ) = '\0';
		strcat( (arList+a)->laLabel.cpFormat, cpTemp1);
		
		fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s", cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->laLabel.cpDate = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp1))+1));
		*( (arList+a)->laLabel.cpDate ) = '\0';
		strcat( (arList+a)->laLabel.cpDate, cpTemp1);

		*cpTemp2 = '\0';
		if(fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s %f", cpTemp1, &((arList+a)->laLabel.fCost)) 
!= FIELDS_COMPLETE){
			do{
				strcat(cpTemp2, cpTemp1);
				strcat(cpTemp2, " ");
			}while(fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s %f", cpTemp1, 
&((arList+a)->laLabel.fCost)) != FIELDS_COMPLETE);
		}// if
		strcat(cpTemp2, cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->laLabel.cpLabel = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp2))+1));
		*( (arList+a)->laLabel.cpLabel ) = '\0';
		strcat( (arList+a)->laLabel.cpLabel, cpTemp2 );
		
		fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s", cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->cpImageFile = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp1))+1));
		*( (arList+a)->cpImageFile ) = '\0';
		strcat( (arList+a)->cpImageFile, cpTemp1 );

		*cpTemp2 = '\0';
		if(fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s%c", cpTemp1, &cChar) == FIELDS_COMPLETE && 
cChar != '\n'){
			do{
				strcat(cpTemp2, cpTemp1);
				strcat(cpTemp2, " ");
			}while(fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s%c", cpTemp1, &cChar) != EOF && cChar 
!= '\n');
		}
		strcat(cpTemp2, cpTemp1);
		(arList+a)->cpBio = (char 
*)malloc(sizeof(char)*((strlen(cpTemp2))+1));
		*((arList+a)->cpBio) = '\0';
		strcat( (arList+a)->cpBio, cpTemp2 );
		
	}// for

	fclose(fpDataFile);
	free(cpTemp2);
	free(cpTemp1);

}



/*----------------------------------------
Name	: renderHTML
Comments: Creates HTML pages from artist data
Return	: void
----------------------------------------*/
void renderHTML(ARTIST *arList){

	// Local Declarations
	int	a				= 0;	// Counter
	FILE *fpHTML		= NULL;	// FILE pointer
	FILE *fpIndex		= NULL;	// FILE pointer
	char *cpFileName	= NULL;	// HTML file name

	// Statements
	cpFileName = (char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*MAX_STR_SIZE);
	fpIndex = fopen("index.html", "w");
	fprintf(fpIndex,"<html>\n<head>\n<title>Music Artists</title>\n</head>\n<body>\n");
	fprintf(fpIndex,"<h1 align=\"center\"><u>Music Artists</u></h1>\n");
	fprintf(fpIndex,"<p align=\"left\">Make your selection from the list below:</p>\n<ul>\n");

	for(a = 0;a < giArtistQty;a++){
		
		*cpFileName = '\0';
		strcat(cpFileName, (arList+a)->cpFirstName);
		strcat(cpFileName, "_");
		strcat(cpFileName, (arList+a)->cpLastName);
		strcat(cpFileName, ".html");
		fpHTML = fopen(cpFileName, "w");
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<html>\n<head>\n<title>%s %s</title>\n</head>\n<body>\n",(arList+a)->cpFirstName,(arList+a)->cpLastName);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<img SRC=\"%s\" BORDER=0 height=170 width=170>\n",(arList+a)->cpImageFile);
		free((arList+a)->cpImageFile);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<br><b>Name</b>: %s %s\n",(arList+a)->cpFirstName,(arList+a)->cpLastName);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<br><b>Format</b>: %s\n", 
(arList+a)->laLabel.cpFormat);
		free((arList+a)->laLabel.cpFormat);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<br><b>Release Date</b>: %s\n",(arList+a)->laLabel.cpDate);
		free((arList+a)->laLabel.cpDate);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<br><b>Label</b>: %s\n",(arList+a)->laLabel.cpLabel);
		free((arList+a)->laLabel.cpLabel);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<br><b>Cost</b>: $%.2f\n",(arList+a)->laLabel.fCost);
		fprintf(fpHTML,"<br><b>Biography</b>: %s\n<br> \n</body>\n</html>",(arList+a)->cpBio);
		free((arList+a)->cpBio);
		fclose(fpHTML);
		fprintf(fpIndex,"  <li>\n  <p align=\"left\"><a href=\"%s\">%s %s</a></li>\n",cpFileName,(arList+a)->cpFirstName,(arList+a)->cpLastName);
		free((arList+a)->cpFirstName);
		free((arList+a)->cpLastName);
		
	}

	free(arList);
	fprintf(fpIndex,"</ul>\n<br> \n</body>\n</html>");
	fclose(fpIndex);
	free(cpFileName);

}

**Prelude** · 05-18-2002, 10:20 AM

>and i still get access violation and + a warning if i use scanf as incompatible types.
I meant change *all* occurances of fscanf, your current code still has several calls to that function where non pointer arguments are not passed as an address. The program also bombs right about here:

Code:

do{
  strcat(cpTemp2, cpTemp1);
  strcat(cpTemp2, " ");
}while(fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s %f", cpTemp1, &((arList+a)->laLabel.fCost)) != FIELDS_COMPLETE);

My recommendation is to lay aside all of your current program and start working on it in pieces. First write the code to input the data and get it working perfectly, then process it, then write it out in HTML format. Before moving on to the next section, test the one you just wrote thoroughly or you'll end up hunting bugs for a very long time as you are now.

-Prelude

05-15-2002, 09:18 PM	#1
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	File Input / Output Help? i am trying to write a program that would read data from a file and create a set of html (web) pages. How should i start? Prompt the user for a file name, which will contain artist/CD information. Artist/CD information will include: 1) artist name, 2) format (CD, Cassette, Vinyl), 3) release date, 4) label, 5) cost, 6) image file name, and 7) biography (less than 256 characters). India Arie CD 3/27/2001 Motown 15.99 india.jpg Recent newcomer to the music Jill Scott CD 7/18/2000 Hidden Beach 16.99 jill.jpg Scott is a modern R&B singer from Philadelphia Maxwell ? Cassette 8/21/2001 Columbia 17.99 Maxwell.jpg soul singer Maxwell (his middle name) had to suffer the ignominy of his record company sitting on his debut album Where the format is: <artist first name> <artist last name> <format> <date> <label> <cost> <image name> <bio> The fields are separated by spaces, and the biography (which includes spaces) is the last field on the line. If the artist does not have a last name, the last name field is a “?”. Operation You will process the data from the file (maximum of 100 artists), storing it in a struct called Artist, which should include first and last name, as well as biography. The Artist struct will include a struct called, Label, which will include the format, date, label, and cost. Output You will construct a sequence of web pages (see a sample web page), where each artist will have a web page, named, <artist first name>_<artist last name>.html; where of course last name may not exist. For example, “India_Arie.html” and “Maxwell.html”. Each html file is in the following format (India Arie is shown as an example): <html> <head> <title>india_arie</title> </head> <body> <img SRC="india.jpg" BORDER=0 height=170 width=170> <br><b>Name</b>: India Arie <br><b>Format</b>: CD <br><b>Release Date</b>: 3/27/2001 <br><b>Label</b>: Motown <br><b>Cost</b>: $15.99 <br><b>Biography</b>: Recent newcomer to the music <br>  </body> </html> Hints please.

05-15-2002, 09:40 PM	#2
sean345 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 346	What I would do is read the entire line into a string using fgets. Then you can capture the various parts into other strings by going through the original string and looking for spaces. When you get to the last description you just strcpy the entire thing starting at the beginning because it is last item. Then you can output your code to another file/screen. Some functions that might help. strpcy() strncpy() - Sean __________________ If cities were built like software is built, the first woodpecker to come along would level civilization. Black Frog Studios
sean345 is offline

05-18-2002, 10:20 AM	#4
Prelude Code Goddess Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 9,664	>and i still get access violation and + a warning if i use scanf as incompatible types. I meant change all occurances of fscanf, your current code still has several calls to that function where non pointer arguments are not passed as an address. The program also bombs right about here: Code: do{ strcat(cpTemp2, cpTemp1); strcat(cpTemp2, " "); }while(fscanf(fpDataFile, "%s %f", cpTemp1, &((arList+a)->laLabel.fCost)) != FIELDS_COMPLETE); My recommendation is to lay aside all of your current program and start working on it in pieces. First write the code to input the data and get it working perfectly, then process it, then write it out in HTML format. Before moving on to the next section, test the one you just wrote thoroughly or you'll end up hunting bugs for a very long time as you are now. -Prelude __________________ My best code is written with the delete key.
Prelude is offline

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
A development process	Noir	C Programming	32	12-19-2009 10:15 AM
fscanf in different functions for the same file	bchan90	C Programming	5	12-03-2008 09:31 PM
Dikumud	maxorator	C++ Programming	1	10-01-2005 06:39 AM
File Input and Output, simple.	Vber	C Programming	5	11-17-2002 02:57 PM
Simple File Creation Algorithm	muffin	C Programming	13	08-24-2001 03:28 PM