fscanf() and fgetc()

Let's say I have a file with the following characters

i suck at this

and I use fscanf() to access the text file.
After accessing 'i' , will the file pointer skip over i to the white space? Or will it continue to pt at i?

In simple terms, is there any difference in the behaviour of the file pointer after using fscanf() and fgetc() to access a text file?

Pier.

fgetc() will read only one character, whereas fscanf() will read whatever you have told it to, and more if you're not careful. The internal file pointer will end up being moved relative to the number of bytes reads.

Depending on what you're doing, fgets() may be the way to go.

Unless you're confident the input data is always going to be well structured, I'd suggest avoiding fscanf().

Originally posted by Hammer

Depending on what you're doing, fgets() may be the way to go.

Unless you're confident the input data is always going to be well structured, I'd suggest avoiding fscanf().

You're suggesting that I read each line using fgets and then process it internally using sscanf ?

Pier.

Originally posted by MadStrum!
You're suggesting that I read each line using fgets and then process it internally using sscanf ?

I'm suggesting using fgets() to grab the input line. This way you can limit the number of characters read in, and you won't overflow an array buffer (assuming you do it correctly).

How you do process the buffer depends on what you want to do with it.

But if you want the quick solution, yes, you can use sscanf(). Here's a sample to get you going.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
  char buf[BUFSIZ];
  char word[BUFSIZ];
  char *p = buf;
  int wordlen;
  
  if (fgets(buf, BUFSIZ, stdin) != NULL)
  {
    while (sscanf(p, "%30s%n", word, &wordlen) == 1)
    {
      printf ("Word %d >%s<\n", wordlen, word);
      p += wordlen;
    }
  }
  return 0;
}

I suppose you could use fscanf() instead (as you suggested). It all comes down to what you want to do with the data and how much you trust it to be formatted correctly.

Ok! Another simple question....
How do I detect it when fgets reads in a blank line?

Pier.

a blank line is only a \n sign so just

compare the string inputted by fgets with "\n" ....

Ok! Damm I must have lost a memory module or something...

Pier.