Trying to replace % with %% in a string

Howdy,

I have a program that reads filenames from a file and then displays them on the screen. The problem is that some of the file names contain the percent sign and that throws off printf.

I know that %% will display the percent sign, but how would I go through a string and replace % with %% everytime it appears in the filename in C?.


What is the easiest way to do this?

Is there a way to get around searching for the %, then reallocating the character array, then inserting the first piece of the code, add % , then add the second piece...blah blah blah (then the sound of me jumping off the bridge since my deadline ain't met.)

Thanks

Will

The buffer must be large enough to hold the extra '%' character(s). use a pointer to step through the string. When a '%' is found, call memmove() to shift everything right one byte then insert another '%'. Don't forget to increment the pointer.

I'm kind of new at C. Could you run me through how to do that? Use memmove to create an extra byte on the array?

Thanks,
Will

This is incorrect:

Code:

printf(filename);

You should never pass user input (or input from a file) to the first argument of printf. This is precisely because of the problem of possible embedded % characters. In general, you should only use a string literal.

Any of the following are correct:

Code:

printf("%s", filename);
fputs(filename, stdout);
puts(filename); /* Adds a new-line to end of the output. */

Thanks, your printf help completely solved my problem and it has been fixed on time!

Thanks again,
Will

I have a program that reads filenames from a file and then displays them on the screen. The problem is that some of the file names contain the percent sign and that throws off printf.

well, it reads for me

Code:

#include<stdio.h>

int main()
{
    char str[30];
    FILE *fp;
    
    if((fp = fopen("test%test.txt","r"))==NULL)
    {
        printf("Error: File cannot be opened\n");
        getchar();
        return 1;
    }
    fgets(str,30,fp);
    printf("%s",str);
    getchar();
    return 0;
}
/* my output
hello%hello

test file
hello%hello
*/

ssharish2005

Originally Posted by willz99ta

I'm kind of new at C. Could you run me through how to do that? Use memmove to create an extra byte on the array?

Thanks,
Will

memmove does not create anything, it just moves text from one pace to another, which opens up one or more bytes so that you can change them to something else.

Code:

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
	char str[255] = "c:\\Hello%World%Another%World";
	char * ptr;
	for(ptr = str; *ptr; ptr++)
	{
		if(*ptr == '%')
		{
			memmove(ptr+1,ptr,strlen(ptr));
			*ptr++ = '%';
		}
	}
	printf("%s\n", str);
	system("pause");
	
	return 0;
}