printing a string via a function/pointer/array/i don't know what i'm talking about

ok so the assignment is for the user to enter some ........ and then the program prints it out, then pritns the number of characters, words, lines, etc. I'm trying to modify the first function 'getstring' so it sends the string back into main to get printed. My first question is at the end what does this mean:

Code:

string[count] = '\0';

? well what does '\0' mean? my second question is how can i modify that function to print int he main? changing the main function isn't allowed.

Code:

 #include <stdio.h>

#define SIZE 200

void getString( char* );
void parseString( char*, int*, int*, int* );
int isWhiteSpace( char );

int main()
{
    char string[SIZE]; // The string that stores the users input
    int lines = 0;     // The total number of lines the user inputs
    int words = 0;     // The total number of words the user inputs
    int chars = 0;     // The total number of chars the user inputs

    // Get input from the user and put it in "string"
    getString( string );
    // Parse the string and count the # of lines, words and characters
    parseString( string, &lines, &words, &chars );

    // Print the text that the user entered
    printf( "\n\nHere is the text you entered:\n" );
    printf( "%s", string );

    // Print the number of lines, words and characters
    printf( "\n\nLines: %d\n", lines );
    printf( "Words: %d\n", words );
    printf( "Chars: %d\n", chars );

    return 0;
}

/**
 * This function gets input from the user
 * and stores it in the string which is
 * passed into the function.
 */
void getString( char *string )
{
    char c;
    int count = 0;

    while( (c = getchar()) != '^' && count < SIZE-1)
    {
        string[count++] = c;
    }
    string[count] = '\0';
}

/**
 * This function iterates through "string"
 * and counts the number of lines, words and
 * chars. The totals are stored at the locations
 * that are referred to by the three pointers
 * to integers.
 */
void parseString( char *string, int *lines_ptr, int *words_ptr, int *chars_ptr )
{
    /**
     * Suggestion: Use two pointers to iterate through
     * the string and find where words begin and calculate
     * all the totals.
     *
    char *prev; // Previous location in string
    char *curr; // Current location in string
    */
}

Originally Posted by DLR

My first question is at the end what does this mean:

Code:

string[count] = '\0';

? well what does '\0' mean? my second question is how can i modify that function to print int he main? changing the main function isn't allowed.

First, '\0' is the null termination of the string. Second, it looks like a '^' breaks the loop.

Code:

hello world^


Here is the text you entered:
hello world

Lines: 0
Words: 0
Chars: 0

Originally Posted by Dave_Sinkula

First, '\0' is the null termination of the string. Second, it looks like a '^' breaks the loop.

Code:

hello world^


Here is the text you entered:
hello world

Lines: 0
Words: 0
Chars: 0

oh duh ^
that's why nothign was working

ok now i'm trying to figure out how to make it count the number of characters

You've already got a great example in the function getString.

[edit]But I suppose the syntax might be a bit confusing as passed to your parse routine.

Code:

   for ( ; *string; ++string )
   {
      *chars_ptr += 1;
   }

[edit=2]Or

Code:

   int i;
   for ( i = 0; string[i] != '\0'; ++i )
   {
      *chars_ptr += 1;
   }

thanks dave_sinkula once i somehow get started i get the hang of it
we'll see how it goes from here

here's what i got for counting lines

Code:

  for(j=0; string[j] !='\0'; ++j)
   {
	   if (string[j] == '\n')
	   
	   { 
		   *lines_ptr +=2;
	   }

now i'm trying to figure otu how to use

Code:

isspace()

to count words. I was going to do something along the lines of have isspace count the number of spaces, then add 1 to that number to get the number of words, but that wouldn't work if there were more than 1 space in a row.

ok well this is what i ahve so far

Code:

void parseString( char *string, int *lines_ptr, int *words_ptr, int *chars_ptr )
{
	
	 int i;
	 int j;
	 int k;

   for (i=0; string[i] !='\0'; ++i )
   {
      *chars_ptr += 1;
   }

   for(j=0; string[j] !='\0'; j++)
   {
	   if (string[j] == '\n')
	   
	   { 
		   *lines_ptr +=2;
	   }
	   
   }

		for (k=0; string[k] !='\0'; ++k)
	{
		if (string[k] == ' ')
		{
			*words_ptr +=2;
		}

		}



    
}

if you run it you will see that it has a few problems. I can't figure out how to fix them though.
problem 1: if there is only 1 line of characters it will say 0, otherwise it seems to work fine
problem 2: if there's more than 1 space between words it counts taht as a word.

Before you get too much further along, I'd say use the recommendation.

Code:

void parseString( char *string, int *lines_ptr, int *words_ptr, int *chars_ptr )
{
    /**
     * Suggestion: Use two pointers to iterate through
     * the string and find where words begin and calculate
     * all the totals.
     *
     */
   char *prev; // Previous location in string
   char *curr; // Current location in string

This means changing the loop control a bit.

Code:

   for ( curr = string, prev = curr; *curr != '\0'; prev = curr, ++curr )

Now, you can use this same loop once to get all three counter values. For example, since the loop iterates through each character, always bump the character count in the loop. For newlines, check if the current character is a newline to see whether you bump its counter.

Code:

      *chars_ptr += 1;
      if ( *curr == '\n' )
      {
         *lines_ptr += 1;
      }

Regarding the use of isspace, just think about what might define a "word". Perhaps if the current character is a space and the previous character was not a space.

There are little issues given the input routine as well, but I'll leave that for a later round. But I should also note that the function getchar returns an int, so you should really declare c as an int in your function getString.