Thread: Function Prototyping

There's a very cool and simple way to do this thing, and it only takes a little bit of code.

Here we go:

Code:

   void myPrint(char *text, ...)
   {
   	if(!text)
   		return;
   
   	char buff[512];
   
   	va_start(ap, text);
   	vsprintf(buff, text, ap);
   	va_end(ap);
   
   // Do whatever with buff, as now all of the %d's and %s's and %c's etc have been replaced correctly
   }

in your case the function declaration would be:

Code:

  void menuprn(char number[], char str[],...)

So just apply that to your function. Basically all you have to do is add a ... to the end of your function and then those 3 functions (the va_start, vsprintf, and va_end) in there, and it'll parse your buffer for you.

And don't feel bad about not being able to answer too many questions, we all had to start somewhere, so just keep learning and eventually you'll be able to help more and more from your experience!

-Hope that helps!
-Good luck with coding!

You also need

#include <stdarg.h>

Originally Posted by MiLo

Code:

void menuprn(char number[], char str[])            //Menu Printing
{
    textcolor(WHITE);
    putchar('\t');
    cprintf("%s ", number);
    textcolor(LIGHTGRAY);
    cprintf("%s", str);
    putchar('\n');
    return;
}

Beside the good answers you already received, I will add that you should be more consistent with your outputs.

The standard output is a stream called 'stdout'. It's used by standard functions like putchar() or printf() etc. (Details belong to your C-book)

You have taken the decision to use non standard functions provided originally by Borland (the 'conio' library) that deal almost directly with the screen hardware. (textcolor(), cprintf() etc.)

It is technically possible to mix the output and it makes sense when the meaning is different. For example.

printf ("Clear the screen\n");
clrscr();

If you execute this "as it", it will put a comment to the standard output (probably the screen) and clear the screen afterwards.

As long as the standard output is the screen, it doesn't make sense. But you must know that the standard output can be 'redirected', either by the command line

[system prompt] command > out.txt
[system prompt] command > com1

etc.

or by a standard function call (freopen()). Once redirected, the stdout outputs will be stored sequencially in a text file or some serial device (console, line printer etc.). It can help debugging. This technique is known as 'tracing'. Its useful when you are programming full screen (like yours) or graphics applications (GUI).

To come back to your code, you should replace the putchar() calls (stdout) by putch() (conio).

Originally Posted by MiLo

I put it all in the way i understood it, and it will run for me. Its not doing what its supposed to though. It prints the %d as a %d. This is what i have done:
<...>
Did i not stick it in properly? or is it something else.

You used the wrong buffer (it's buff and not str)

This probably what you want. conio and stdout have a different behaviour. Once again, be consistent and don't mix them unless you have a good reason to do it..

Code:

#include <conio.h>
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <stdio.h>

#define EOL "\n\r"

/* Menu Printing */
void menuprn (char number[],
              char str[],
              ...)
{
   if (str != NULL)
   {
      char    buff[512];
      va_list ap;

      va_start (ap, str);
      vsprintf (buff, str, ap);
      va_end (ap);

      textcolor (WHITE);
      cprintf ("%-8s ", number);
      textcolor (LIGHTGRAY);
      cprintf ("%s" EOL, buff);
   }
}

int main (void)
{
   int     aces[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4 };
   int     tOfKind[] = { 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
   int     playerNum = 2;

   menuprn ("(1)", "%-16s%8d", "Aces", aces[playerNum]);
   menuprn ("(7)", "%-16s%8d", "3 of a Kind", tOfKind[playerNum]);
   return 0;
}

Code:

D:\C-BOARD\M\MILO>bc proj.prj
(1)      Aces                   3
(7)      3 of a Kind            7

Originally Posted by MiLo

Ok, i haven't had a chance to try this out, but im wondering what you ment by i used the wrong buffer?

You have build a string in 'buff', but you have printed 'str' instead of 'buff'. I have fixed your code by printing 'buff' instead of 'str'.

Also what are the -16 and 8s. How do those work? (I'd like to understand what the code is doing so i can apply it to other stuff in the future)

This is a very basic question. Please open your C-book at search 'printf()' or the like. You will find an explanation about 'formatters'.

"%s" displays a string
"%10s" displays a string with 10 leading spaces or less
"%-10s" displays a string with 10 trailing spaces or less

I have done that to replace the '\t' because they are not interpreted by the conio functions.