C newbie-need help

[bigbluegator]

Hi guys, I'm very new to C programming and am trying to learn because I'm in molecular biology (x-ray crystallography) and being able to write simple programs is very useful for me.
here's the question:
I want to write a program that reads in a file having two columns of numbers. it will save each column of numbers in a separate array and then perform a math operation on the two paired numbers per row i.e. the data is:
2 1
3 4
2 5
2 8
9 10
it would read this file save the numbers in arrays and perform a math operation for each pair (i.e 2 1, 3 4, 2 5).
Once the operation is comuted it will write two new numbers from the math operations out into a new file.

Thanks for any help in advance.
Rob

[Hammer]

... and what have you tried so far?

Lookup:
fopen()
fgets()
strtol()
http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/smartfaq.cgi

Post something you've done, so we can guage what level of help you need.

[bigbluegator]

Here's waht I've written so far:
/*Converts coordinates between Cartesian and Polar */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
main()
{

FILE *InFile;
FILE *OutFile;
char InFileName[50];
char OutFileName[50];
int cmd;
float x, y, r, theta;
printf("***Welcome to my Coordinate Converting Progam***\n");
printf("Input file name: ");
scanf("%s", InFileName);
printf("Output file name: ");
scanf("%s", OutFileName);
printf("Conversion type: 1=cartesian to polar, 2=polar to cartesian, 3=end program \n");
for (; {
printf("Enter command: ");
scanf("%d", &cmd);
switch (cmd) {
case 1:
InFile = fopen(InFileName, "r");
fscanf(InFile, "%f %f", &x, &y);
r = sqrt(x*x+y*y);
theta = atan (y/x);
OutFile = fopen(OutFileName, "w");
fprintf(OutFile, "\n r = %f\n theta = %f", r, theta);
fclose(InFile);
fclose(OutFile);
break;
case 2:
InFile = fopen(InFileName, "r");
fscanf(InFile, "%f %f", &r, &theta);
x = r * cos (theta);
y = r * sin (theta);
OutFile = fopen(OutFileName, "w");
fprintf(OutFile, "\n x = %f\n y = %f", x, y);
fclose(InFile);
fclose(OutFile);
break;
case 3:
printf("Thank you for using Coordinate Converter\n");
return 0;
default:
printf("Please input an option from the menu\n");
printf("Conversion type: 1=cartesian to polar, 2=polar to cartesian, 3=end program \n");
break;
}
}
}

[Hammer]

and another one to read:
http://cboard.cprogramming.com/showthread.php?t=25765

Now, which part of the program is giving you trouble?

[XSquared]

Use code tags.

[bigbluegator]

Hammer:
Sorry I keep I am sillyI am sillyI am sillyI am sillying up the basics, it's just that I'm getting frustrated writing this code (I know it's pathetic).
It seems apparent to me that I'm going to have to input a while loop to keep reading in values from the input file but where to insert the loop is my major problem.
What I just posted compiles fine so I didn't want to mess with it too much before asking for help.
Thanks again

[bigbluegator]

Here's the code with code tags:

 /*Converts coordinates between Cartesian and Polar */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
main()
{
  
  FILE *InFile;
  FILE *OutFile;
  char InFileName[50];
  char OutFileName[50];
  int cmd;
  float x, y, r, theta;
  printf("***Welcome to my Coordinate Converting Progam***\n");
  printf("Input file name: ");
	 scanf("%s", InFileName);
	printf("Output file name: ");
	 scanf("%s", OutFileName); 
  printf("Conversion type: 1=cartesian to polar, 2=polar to cartesian, 3=end program \n");
  for (;;) {
    printf("Enter command: ");
    scanf("%d", &cmd);
    switch (cmd) {
      case 1:
        InFile = fopen(InFileName, "r");
	fscanf(InFile, "%f %f", &x, &y);
	r = sqrt(x*x+y*y);
	theta = atan (y/x);
	OutFile = fopen(OutFileName, "w");
	fprintf(OutFile, "\n r = %f\n theta = %f", r, theta);
	fclose(InFile);
	fclose(OutFile);
	break;
      case 2:
        InFile = fopen(InFileName, "r");
	fscanf(InFile, "%f %f", &r, &theta);
	x = r * cos (theta);
	y = r * sin (theta);
	OutFile = fopen(OutFileName, "w");
	fprintf(OutFile, "\n x = %f\n y = %f", x, y);
	fclose(InFile);
	fclose(OutFile);
	break;
      case 3:
      printf("Thank you for using Coordinate Converter\n");
      return 0;
      default:
      printf("Please input an option from the menu\n");
      printf("Conversion type: 1=cartesian to polar, 2=polar to cartesian, 3=end program \n");
      break;
    }  	
  }
}

[bigbluegator]

help...?

[sand_man]

intead of using an infinite for loop use a

while (cmd != 3){...

Its personal preference really but I think infinte for loops are bad practice.

[Stack Overflow]

This could be written in multiple ways.

This leads me to a few questions:

Q. 1) After you open the file, do you want to set the data to its own array per row? Speaking of which would look like:

2 1
3 4
2 5
2 8
9 10

As [2] is on row one and is the first index and [1] is also on row one but is index 2. Also, [3] is row two and index one while [4] is row two and index two?

Q. 2) Once you get the values, and do your operation, are you wanting to write the new data to a file?


I have done a similar program like this, excluding the mathematical operation and writing it to a new file, which is quite simple. Though, I would recommend using the C string library <string.h> for accomplishing this.

First I would write a funciton that splits the data from the file to its own lines, then read each line splitting per line to two numbers.

All you need is strchr(), just search for a new line, take the string and split it writing it to its own char[][] where that can hold words per array index.

I have some code examples if you'd like to see.


Hope this helps,
- Stack Overflow

[Salem]

        InFile = fopen(InFileName, "r");
	fscanf(InFile, "%f %f", &x, &y);
	r = sqrt(x*x+y*y);
	theta = atan (y/x);
	OutFile = fopen(OutFileName, "w");
	fprintf(OutFile, "\n r = %f\n theta = %f", r, theta);
	fclose(InFile);
	fclose(OutFile);

My guess is, you want to process the whole file, not just repeatedly the first line of the file

        InFile = fopen(InFileName, "r");
	OutFile = fopen(OutFileName, "w");
	while ( fscanf(InFile, "%f %f", &x, &y) == 2 ) {
		r = sqrt(x*x+y*y);
		theta = atan (y/x);
		fprintf(OutFile, "\n r = %f\n theta = %f", r, theta);
	}
	fclose(InFile);
	fclose(OutFile);

[bigbluegator]

thanks for the help guys, I'll give it a try and get back to you if I'm still having problems.
Sand_man, I agree with the infinte for loop comment, just seemed easier for some reason.

[sand_man]

you dont need to listen to me im just a drunk n00b

[DrakkenKorin]

may also want to error trap, esp when opening and closing files