Counting Characters

[jrdoran]

How do I write a program to count the number of characters in an external file. I have most of it down , this is what I have so far:

{
	FILE*  file;
	char	fileName[MaxStringLength];
	char	c;
	int	  numChars;
	
	printf( "Enter the name of a file to show: " );
	fgets( fileName, sizeof( fileName ), stdin );
	if( fileName[strlen( fileName ) -1] == '\n' );
		fileName[strlen( fileName ) -1] = '\0';
	
	file = fopen( filename, "r" );
	
	if( file == NULL )
	{
		printf( "Unable to open file: %s\n", fileName );
		return( 1 );
	}
	
	numChars = 0;
	while( (c = fgetc( file )) != EOF ) //not sure if this is right.
	{
	
	}	
	
	return( 0 );
}

[ssharish2005]

why not use strchr to find a char in a string. strchr('\n')

and to count the number of char's in the string

have a count variables with in the while loop and increment that every time u a read char from the file, and when reached the EOF file print the count

ssharish2005

[Dave_Sinkula]

How do I write a program to count the number of characters in an external file. I have most of it down , this is what I have so far:

Good first poke.

	char	c;
	/* ... */
	while( (c = fgetc( file )) != EOF ) //not sure if this is right.

Since fgetc returns an int, c should be an int.

	printf( "Enter the name of a file to show: " );
	fgets( fileName, sizeof( fileName ), stdin );

I like to add an fflush(stdout); after the prompt to make sure I can see it.

	if( fileName[strlen( fileName ) -1] == '\n' );
		fileName[strlen( fileName ) -1] = '\0';

I believe what ssharish2005 was saying is what the FAQ shows.

	file = fopen( filename, "r" );

Depending on your needs, you may want to open the file in binary mode ("rb").

	if( file == NULL )
	{
		printf( "Unable to open file: %s\n", fileName );
		return( 1 );
	}

EXIT_FAILURE, EXIT_SUCCESS, or 0 would be standard.

	while( (c = fgetc( file )) != EOF ) //not sure if this is right.
	{
		/* probably a good place to increment your counter */
	}