Not efficient.

[Unregistered]

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

int main()
{
unsigned int a, b, c, wh;

char *array[3]={ "smelly",
"Hello world",
"piece of cake hellol asdjfksd asdfsf adsfa sfaafa"};

printf("Please enter the array that you wish to truncate");
scanf("%d", &wh);

for(a=0; a<50; a+=5)
{
for(b=0; b<wh; b++)
{
for(c=a; c<(a+5); c++)
{
if ( c < strlen(array[b]) )
printf( "%c", array[b][c] );
}
printf( "\n" );
}
printf( "-----\n" );
}
return 0;
}

If I assign number '3' to the address of variable 'wh', the loops
truncate the array just fine. The problem is when I
assign the number '1' to the address of variable 'wh', the loops truncate
as usual but I found out that this is not efficient because the outer loop
still loops until it reaches 50 bytes, while the first array just contains 6 bytes!
How do I stop the outer loop loops when it is end of the first array?

I had tried many ways to solve this but to no avail.
Please help!

[Engineer]

I would use a "goto".

Basically, you define a tag in your program (for example right after the loop):

mytag:

and then inside the loop when you reach the end of the string and you want to exit you call:

goto mytag;

This will break you out of all the loops you are in and continue the execution of the program from the tag that you previously defined.

[Salem]

> for(a=0; a<50; a+=5)

You need to add another condition here
for(a=0; a<50 && /*something else */; a+=5)

Or you have
if ( condition ) break;

Somewhere inside the for(a loop.

[pinko_liberal]

Originally posted by Engineer
I would use a "goto".

The purists may crucify you for this statement .

[*pointer]

the only problem with goto is that it has the potential to be abused and make a program very difficult to follow, so it's considered bad practice. if you use it once to get out of a bind and it doesn't cause any problems and keeps the code shorter, then more power to you.

[pinko_liberal]

It is a sensible way out of a deeply nested loop .

[quzah]

> How do I stop the outer loop loops when it is end of the first
> array?

Functions. Functions are your friend.

Or, you could add an additional check to the outside loops.
Redesign your program. This is rather brutal looking. What is the purpose of the program? Identify it's overall purpose, then break it down into smaller tasks.

Quzah.

[cozman]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Engineer
I would use a "goto".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The purists may crucify you for this statement .

I'm not a purist but i'll still crucify you... GOTO statements make code horrible, i once used them and found they are pretty much the antithesis of good coding... if i'm looking at some code and i see a GOTO i immediately close it before my mind can be tainted with such blasphemy.

(j/k mostly, i'm just not a fan of spaghetti code)

[Engineer]

You can crusify me as many time as you want, Cozman!

I have been using goto's occasionally for more than 3 years now and never ran into any problems. I use them in my personal code, I use them at work, I use them everywhere I possibly can (j/k).

Anyway, I really think that if you don't overdo it using goto's, you can actually improve you code (let's say 1 or 2 goto's if you really need them), but I do agree with you that making a spaghetti out of C code using goto's can make you debugging life a living hell.

Cheers.

[cozman]

>>You can crusify me as many time as you want, Cozman!
hmm... sounds like a bad religious pick up line

>>Anyway, I really think that if you don't overdo it using goto's, you can actually improve you code (let's say 1 or 2 goto's if you really need them), but I do agree with you that making a spaghetti out of C code using goto's can make you debugging life a living hell.

Yeah you're right, i have seen a few places where they are more efficient than other methods, just not part of my personal style.

[Engineer]

Maybe this came out wrong, but I really wasn't trying to pick you up.

Glad that you see my point.

[Engineer]

Maybe this came out wrong, but I really wasn't trying to pick you up.

Glad that you see my point.

[cozman]

sure you weren't (j/k)

[Unregistered]

Dear All,
There is a new problem. If I assign number '2' to the variable wh, the outermost loop of course has to terminate when it reaches the end of the biggest size of array. In this case, the variable 'a' has to be 10 bytes instead of 6 bytes.

I was wondering if I can used 'bubble sort' to sort the array (if it's more than 1 array) in ascending manner.
So, I just return the strlen(array[0]) which got the highest length. Thus, the outermost loop will loop until the end of the biggest size of array!

Please correct me if I'm wrong. All critics are welcome!
Lastly, thank you for all of your anticipation.

[Troll_King]

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

int main() 
{ 
	unsigned int i, wh; 

	char *array[3]={ "smelly", "Hello world", "piece of cake hellol asdjfksd asdfsf adsfa sfaafa"}; 

	printf("Please enter the array that you wish to truncate"); 
	scanf("%d", &wh); 

	for(i = 0; i < strlen(array[wh - 1]); i++)
	{
		if((i+1) % 5 == 0)
		{
			printf("\n");
			continue;
		}else
		{
			printf("%c", array[wh-1][i]);
		}
	}
	printf("\n");

	return 0; 
}

Just make sure you enter 1 for array[0], 2 for array[1], 3 for array[2]. Get it. Try it!