Thread: Function not working! :*(

Here is the program I am working on. It is very simple and is going to be used for a school project... but I am getting an error on my character function. Here is the code.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
#define WAIT 999999999
int wait(void);
char menu(char com[30]);
FILE *fp;

int main()
{
    
    char Name[20], Pass[20], File[30];
    char Fpass[20], Fname[20], command[30];
    int suffix = '.txt';
    printf("Enter the name of the file: ");
    scanf("%s", &File);
    if(strchr(File, suffix))
    {
      fp = fopen(File, "r");
    }
    else
    {
      printf("*Error* \nMake sure to put the suffix at the end of the file name!\n");
      printf("Ending program...");
    }
    printf("Enter name: ");
    scanf("%s", &Name);
    printf("Enter pass: ");
    scanf("%s", &Pass);
    fscanf(fp,"%s", &Fname);
    if(strcmp(Name, Fname) != 0)
    {
       printf("Either the user or the password is incorrect!\n");
       printf("Ending program...");
       wait();
       system("exit");
    }
    fscanf(fp,"%s", &Fpass);
    if(strcmp(Pass, Fpass) != 0)
    {
       printf("Either the user or the password is incorrect!\n");
       printf("Ending program...");
       wait();
       system("exit");
    }
    printf("Logging in...\n");
    wait();
    do{
    printf("Command: ");
    scanf("%s", &command);
    menu(command);
    command = menu();
    }while(strcmp(command, "quit") != 0);
}
int wait(void)
{
     int x; 
     for(x = 0; x < WAIT; x++)
     ;
     return x;
}
char menu(char com[30])
{
    char com[30];
    if(strcmp(com, "user") == 0)
    {
       char New_user[20], New_pass[30];
       printf("Enter username: ");
       scanf("%s", &New_user);
       fscanf("Enter password: ");
       scanf("%s", &New_pass);
       printf("Creating new user...");
       fscanf(fp, "%s\n", &New_user);
       fscanf(fp, "%s\n", &New_pass);
       fscanf(fp, "----------------");
       printf("Done!\n");
    }
    return com;
}

I am getting an error on line 7... too few arguments to function 'char menu(char*)
line 53: at this point in file
" : incompatible types in assignment of 'char' to 'char[30]' in function 'char menu(char*)';
line 65: declaration of 'char com[30] shadows a paramter
" : [warning] address of local variable 'com' returned
line 71: cannot convert 'const char*' to 'FILE*' for argument '1' to 'int fscanf(FILE*, const char*,...)'
line 79: invalid conversion from 'char*' to 'char'


These are all the errors verbatim that I received in the program, any help would help ALOT! Thanks all

hey thanks for the help, but i am still learning and i had to learn with a crash course through a 1980's learn C in 21 days. But past the excuses sorry for putting on crappy code. After i posted it i fixed a whole bunch of the problems, but i still need to know how to make a function accept character arrays, and return them. HELP plz.

Code:

char menu(char com[30])
{
    char com[30];

you have argument of name com
and local var of name com that hides the argument. You should remove the second line

Code:

char menu(char com[30])
{
 ...
    return com;
}

com has type char*
menu in your case returns char - these types are incompatible
or change the return type
char* menu(char* com)

or return value

Why do you need to return com if you don't modify it inside the function?
Don't forget to check the memory overrun during reading user input. Check the FAQ how you can do it.

Originally Posted by mramazing

hey thanks for the help, but i am still learning and i had to learn with a crash course through a 1980's learn C in 21 days. But past the excuses sorry for putting on crappy code. After i posted it i fixed a whole bunch of the problems, but i still need to know how to make a function accept character arrays, and return them. HELP plz.

Your menu function already accepts a char array.

Returning a char array from a function is a bit more problematical and, in fact, is a weakness of C. The simplest way is to return a pointer. For example;

Code:

char *function();

The problem is what you return. For example;

Code:

char *function()
{
     char x[10];
     /*  put something in x  */
     return x;
}

causes problems because the array, x, in this function no longer exists when the function returns --- so the caller of the function cannot use it. A simple minded fix of that is;

Code:

char *function()
{
     static char x[10];
     /*  put something in x  */
     return x;
}

but gives a problem because the array is overwritten between calls, so;

Code:

     char *x, *y;
     x = function();
     y = function();   /* assume different contents placed in array on second call */
     another_function(x,y);   /* another_function() receives the same data via two arguments */

Yet another option is this;

Code:

char *function()
{
     char *x = malloc(10);
     /*  put something in x  */
     return x;
}

but this requires the caller to use free(the_returned_pointer). If the caller forgets to do that, there is a memory leak.

There are a couple of other options for returning char arrays as well. But the catch is that they all introduce some problems. A better way is to force the caller to allocate the array. For example;

Code:

void function(char *buffer)
{
    strcpy(buffer, "Hello");   /*  Assume buffer is an array with 6 or more char's */
}

void caller()
{
     char buffer[10];   /* 10 > 6, so OK */
     function(buffer);
      /*  now we can use buffer */
}

void alternate_caller()
{
     /*  compute a value of length */
     char buffer[length];   /* if length >= 6, we're OK */
     function(buffer);
      /*  now we can use buffer */
}

void alternate_caller_for_old_compilers()
{
     /*  compute a value of length */

    char *buffer = malloc(length);   /* if length >= 6, we're OK */
     function(buffer);

      /*  now we can use buffer */

     free(buffer);   /* but we must remember to release it because we malloc'ed it */

}

In this set of examples, caller() will always work if the length of the array is known in advance (i.e. at compile time). If the length is not known at compile time (eg it is computed at run time) then
- alternate_caller() will only work with C compilers that comply with the 1999 C standard.
- alternate_caller_for_older_compilers() will work with older C compilers (before the 1999 C standard)

thanks a lot, I think i have it know. TY to grumpy , i will show the code if any1 wants to see it.

thanks all