Some help for a newbie?

I am a complete newbie to C++, and almost a comlete newbie to programming. This site is a godsend, though.

I have been going through the tutorials and making projects that utilize the new things that I have learned. I have gotten through File I/O, and my newest projects is making a Mad-Libs-like program. I have gotten everything down excepting the last step, and for the life of me I can't figure where I'm going wrong.

I have made a small program that encapsulates the problem and allows for greater readability and all. I will give you the content of the two text files the program inputs from and the code of the small program.

The program is meant to take the content of original.txt and, on certain words replace them with words from marker.txt

I have been hitting an infinite loop. Check below to see where.

Code:

---

Text of original.txt:
once upon an adjective dog , a cat decided to verb . done

---

Code:

---

Text of marker.txt:
4 odd 11 eat done

---

So the final output in final.txt should be:
once upon an odd dog , a cat decided to eat .

Code:

---

#include <fstream.h>
#include <iostream.h>
#include <string.h>

         
  int main()
         
 
  {
  //my strings
      char original[50];
      char mark[50];
 
      ofstream final("final.txt");
 
      int spotter = 0;        //counts the iteration of first while loop
      int conv;                //used for a conversion later
      int indicator = 0;        //used as a boolean
 
          //my inputs - see above in post for contents
      ifstream marker("markers.txt");
      ifstream starter("original.txt");
 
 
      while(strcmpi(original, "done")) //runs until original.txt hits word "done"
      {
        spotter = spotter + 1;                       
        starter>>original;                       
        indicator = 0;
        marker.open("markers.txt"); //resets marker to beginning
     
        while(strcmpi(mark, "done"))  //runs until marker.txt hits word "done"
        {
            marker>>mark;                //Alright, I have tinkered a bit already, and I'm pretty sure
                                        //that this is where the problem lies. It just doesn't seem to
                                                                //be inputting anything. I'm stumped.
       
        //This block of code is supposed to convert the string of numeric characters into integers
        //In my Intro to CS class we use Java, and for this we have Integer.parseInt, so if
        //a similar function exists in C++, let me know. But I don't think this is where the problem is.
            if(strlen(mark) == 2)
            {
              conv = ((((int)mark[0] - 48) * 10) + ((int)mark[1] - 48));
            }
            else if(strlen(mark) == 3)
            {
              conv = ((((int)mark[0] - 48) * 100) + (((int)mark[1] - 48) * 10) + (((int)mark[2] - 48)));
            }
            else
            {
              conv = ((int)mark[0] - 48);
            }
               
        //So if the number in marker.txt is the iteration we are on...
            if(conv == spotter)
            {
              marker>>mark;                        //1. takes next word out of marker.txt
              starter>>original;        //2. skips next word from original.txt
              final<<mark;                        //3. inputs string from step 1
              indicator = 1;                        //4. uses indicator like a boolean, see below
              break;                                       
            }
        }
             
        if(indicator == 0)        //if nothing happened in above loop...
            final<<original;        //input next word from original.txt and continue.
        final<<" ";
      }
      final.close();
  }

---

Quote:

---

while(strcmpi(original, "done")) //runs until original.txt hits word "done"

---

Did you initialize 'original' before that line?

No, I guess I didn't. But I'm almost positive that that isn't where the problem lies.

I'll describe some of the tinkering I've done to give you a better idea of what is going on.

Change: Setting first while loop to a for loop
Result: Infinite loop problem not fixed.

Change: Setting second while loop to a for loop
Result: No infinite loop, but doesn't change original.txt at all, just copies it into final.txt. Still, I kept this change so I could do the below stuff...

Change: Adding line cout<<conv; after conv is calculated
Result: Getting wierd results, like -480 or something.

Change: Adding line cout<<mark; after mark is initialized in the loop
Result: Nothing is printed, leaving me to believe that nothing is being inputted to mark.

So that is what I have done so far. I hope this gives a better idea of the problem.

Any input would be appreciated.

Change this

> ifstream marker("markers.txt");

to this

ifstream marker;

Also, look at atoi for your string to int conversion needs. And finally, <fstream.h> and <iostream.h> are non-standard. You might consider using the standard headers (<fstream> and <iostream>). Just look in the FAQ for good information on why and how. In addition, you might want to look into the standard string class in <string>, which in my opinion is easier to use than C-style strings.

First of all, thanks! :D

Second, I still have some issues.

Using cout I have determined that the correct things are being inputted into mark, and atoi is working nicely with conv. Unfourtunately, original.txt is still just being copied into final.txt, and this time I have no idea why. Any ideas?

Also, I could not find the stuff you are referring to in the FAQ. When I changed the header files and compiled, I got a bunch of errors telling me that all my strings and _fstreams were undeclared. So I'm kind of lost there. Last, where can I learn the basics of the standard string class? I really don't know anything about it.

Ok, I couldn't find anything about the new headers in the FAQ either, so basically, when using the new, standard headers (without the .h) you must account for the fact that all the names that you use from those headers (like cout, cin, ifstream, etc.) are under the namespace std. There is a FAQ on namespaces here. It mentions some ways to account for the std namespace (that is why you got errors, the compiler didn't know cout was in the std namespace).

I prefer to stay in the habit of appending "std::" to everything in those headers, since it makes my life easier in larger projects. Putting "using namespace std;" under the #includes is also fine for small projects like yours.

I don't know a good tutorial about the standard string class, sorry. I'm sure there is more information if you search this site or google. In general, a good book is better for that kind of stuff, especially one that teaches C++ stuff like std::string immediately.

If nobody has been able to help you I will try to look at your latest problem tomorrow. In the meantime, try using a debugger to narrow it down (again search the board or google for information on that :)).

If you haven't figured it out already, I found two things that will get you a lot closer. First, just opening the file again does not reset marker to the beginning. I'd suggest closing the file at the end of the while loop so that when it goes back through the open call will actually cause it to start at the beginning of that file again. You could probably also just seek to the beginning of the file.

The second problem is that once you've gone through the marker file once, when you are done mark has a value of "done". Since you never reset that value, the next time through the outer while loop the inner while loop is skipped because mark already equals "done" from the last time.

Thanks a bunch jlou!

I understand what you mean with the errors, and I think I have fixed them. I'll post the newest version of the code:

Code:

---

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
using namespace std;
         
  int main()
         
  {
 
      char original[50];
      char mark[50];

      ofstream final("final.txt");

      int spotter = 0;
      int conv;       
      int indicator = 0;       

 
      ifstream marker;
      ifstream starter("original.txt");
 
      while(strcmpi(original, "done"))
      {
        spotter = spotter + 1;                       
        starter>>original;                       
        indicator = 0;
        marker.open("markers.txt");
       
        marker>>mark;
       
        while(strcmpi(mark, "done")) 
        {
                           
          conv = atoi(mark);
         
           
            if(conv == spotter)
            {
              marker>>mark;
                                     
              starter>>original;       
              final<<mark;                       
              indicator = 1;               
              break;                                       
            }
            marker>>mark;
        }
             
        if(indicator == 0)       
            final<<original;       
        final<<" ";
        marker.close();
      }
      final.close();
      cin.get();
      return 0;
      cin.get();
  }

---

The problem is, I'm still getting the same result. original.txt is still being copied into final.txt.

Any ideas this time? I'm possibly even more baffled.

I have this as original.txt:

Code:

---

once upon an adjective dog , a cat decided to verb . done

---

This as markers.txt:

Code:

---

4 odd 11 eat done

---

And this as final.txt:

Code:

---

once upon an odd dog , a cat decided to eat . done

---

Looks "correct" to me, at least given the inputs.

Make sure you don't have final.txt open in any editor when you run the program. I had it open in MSVC++, but I didn't realize it, so when I ran the program and opened the final.txt file it just brought the old results to the foreground.

Ohh, and one last side note, if you want to move all the way up into the new standard headers, then change <string.h> to <cstring>. They are changing all of the C runtime library headers to remove the .h also, but they added the 'c' to the front for those that belong to the C library instead of the C++ library. Just remember that <cstring> replaces <string.h> but <string> is completely different. This ain't no big deal, but since you seemed open to the other suggestions I figured I'd mention it. Also, this site has more information on the different headers.

My original.txt matches. My markers.txt matches. I even copy+pasted the code right into my compiler, compiled, and ran it.

:(

But original.txt is still just being copied into final.txt. I tested adding final<<"meh"; just to see if it was being rewritten, and it worked. So that isn't the problem.

The only difference that I can see is that I am using Dev-C++ but I don't see how that would make a difference.

Thanks again, though.

Sorry, I was a little bit wrong with what I posted. With your code, I got:

Code:

---

once upon an odd , a cat decided to verb eat

---

Then, I commented out a single line of code that didn't make sense to me (hint: you "skip" the next word unnecessarily), which is when I got the "correct" output. Still, the output above is from your code unchanged, and it is definitely different than original.txt.

Maybe somebody with Dev-C++ handy can try and help.

Ooh ooh! A clue, dear Watson!

Altered code:

Code:

---

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
using namespace std;
         
  int main()
         
  {
 
      char original[50];
      char mark[50];

      ofstream final("final.txt");

      int spotter = 0;
      int conv;       
      int indicator = 0;       

 
      ifstream marker;
      ifstream starter("original.txt");
 
      while(strcmpi(original, "done"))
      {
        spotter = spotter + 1;                       
        starter>>original;                       
        indicator = 0;
        marker.open("markers.txt");
       
        marker>>mark;
        cout<<"OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING"<<endl;
        while(strcmpi(mark, "done")) 
        {
                           
          conv = atoi(mark);
          cout<<"INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING"<<endl;
           
            if(conv == spotter)
            {
              marker>>mark;
              cout<<"Conv is equal to spotter! Iteration: "<<spotter<<endl;                       
              //starter>>original;       
              final<<mark;                       
              indicator = 1;               
              break;                                       
            }
            marker>>mark;
        }
             
        if(indicator == 0)       
            final<<original;       
        final<<" ";
        marker.close();
      }
      final.close();
      cin.get();
      return 0;
      cin.get();
  }

---

Output:

Code:

---

OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
//That's twelve of them, btw

---

So for some reason, when I run this thing it only enters the first while loop once, and only for three times instead of four (though that shouldn't be a problem with our particular program). I'm going to investigate. I just wanted to post what I had figured out so far.

Ok, after some investigation I have determined that the problem is that marker is not being reset to the beginning. So after the first iteration, it equals "done" and the inside while loop never iterates again.

jlou mentioned "You could probably also just seek to the beginning of the file."
That sounds like a possible solution, but all I know now is what the tutorial talked about (which amounts to reading from the file one string at a time).

So can anyone explain to me how to do what jlou described? I can see the end in sight...

look up seekg(). to set the file pointer to the beginning of the file:

ifstreamName.seekg(0, ios::beg);

should work, I think. Now just start reading through the file again.

It doesn't seem to be working. That is, after the first iteration, the inside while loop never iterates again, and mark stays equal to "done".

I couldn't find anything so far on seekg(), but I'll continue looking.

No compiler at moment to confirm, but try this:

change this line:

ifstream marker;

to this:

ifstream marker("markers.txt")

comment out this line:

marker.open("markers.txt");

and change this line:

marker.close();

to this:

marker.seekg(0, ios::beg);

Same result :(

mark still equals "done" after end of first inside loop all the way to the end.

I've added extensive comments and debugging statements to your code. Without sample files and a better understanding of exactly what you are expecting I can't tell why you aren't getting results you want. Following value of mark through program and seeing where value of mark isn't what you expect is firt step to find out where error is. Once located, then solution is sometimes obvious, and sometimes not.

Code:

---

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
using namespace std;
                 
  int main()
  {
          char original[50]= "duh";  //initialize original
          char mark[50];
          ofstream final("final.txt");
          int spotter = 0;
          int conv;
          int indicator = 0;
 
          ifstream marker("marker.txt");
          ifstream starter("original.txt");
          //check if any of the files failed to open
          if(!marker)
                cout << "failed to open marker file" << endl;
          if(!starter)
                cout << "failed to open original file" << endl;
          if(!original)
                cout << "failed to open final file" << endl;
 
          while(strcmpi(original, "done"))
          {
                spotter = spotter + 1; 
                starter >> original; //read in value from original file
                //confim read in from original
                cout << "original = " << original << endl; 
 
                indicator = 0;
                //marker.open("markers.txt");
               
                marker >> mark;
 //confirm read in from mark file
                cout << "mark = " << mark << endl;
                cout<<"OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING"<<endl;
                while(strcmpi(mark, "done")) 
                {         
                  conv = atoi(mark);
                  //confirm conversion of mark
                  cout << "conv = " << conv << endl;
                  cout<<"INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING"<<endl;
         
                  cout << "spotter = " << spotter << endl;
                 
                        if(conv == spotter)
                        {
                          cout<<"Conv is equal to spotter! Iteration: " << spotter << endl;
                         
                          //read in next item from marker text 
                          marker >> mark;
         
                          cout << "mark now equals " << mark << endl;
                               
                          //starter>>original;
                         
                          //out put latest value of mark to final file
                          final << mark;
 
                          indicator = 1;
 
                          break;       
                        }
                       
                        //now read in next item in marker file irrespective of whether
                        //conv == spotter
                        marker >> mark;
                       
                        //confirm input into mark
                        cout << "the value of mark to compare to "done" is " << mark << endl;
                        //this loop will stop only if this value of mark is "done"
                }
         
                //inner loop now done. the value of mark should now be "done"
                cout << "mark should equal done.  It is " << mark << endl;
         
                //if conv never equaled spotter through that section
                //of marker file then indicator will be 0
                if(indicator == 0)
                {
                        //in which case, output value of original to final file
                        //rather than some value from marker file
                        final << original;
                }
 
                final<<" ";
               
                //don't close marker file
                //marker.close();
                //instead, restart the marker files get pointer back to start of marker file.
                //don't continue from where the first done was found but research from
                //beginning of marker file each time through the inner loop
                marker.seekg(0, ios::beg);  //that's a zero, not a capital oh
               
                //move on to next item in original file which was read in back at top
                //of while loop
          }
         
          //when both loops done, both original and mark should be done
          cout << "both loops done" << endl;
          cout << "mark = " << mark << endl;
          cout << "original = " << original << endl;
         
          final.close();
          marker.close();
          starter.close();
          cin.get();
          return 0;
  }

---

I have been doing something like that. I'll copy+paste my code from Dev-C++ and then transcribe the output

Code:

Code:

---

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
using namespace std;
         
  int main()
         
  {
 
      char original[50];
      char mark[50];

      ofstream final("final.txt");

      int spotter = 0;
      int conv;       
      int indicator = 0;       

 
      ifstream marker("markers.txt");
      ifstream starter("original.txt");
 
      while(strcmpi(original, "done"))
      {
        spotter = spotter + 1;                       
        starter>>original;                       
        indicator = 0;
        //marker.open("markers.txt");
        marker.seekg(0, ios::beg);

        marker>>mark;
        cout<<"Before owl, mark equals "<<mark<<endl;
        cout<<"OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals"<<spotter<<"  "<<endl;
        while(strcmpi(mark, "done")) 
        {
                           
          conv = atoi(mark);
          cout<<"String mark is equal to: "<<mark<<" ";
          cout<<"Integer conv is equal to: "<<conv<<" ";

          cout<<"INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING  "<<endl;
           
            if(conv == spotter)
            {
              marker>>mark;
              cout<<"Conv is equal to spotter! Iteration: "<<spotter<<" "<<endl;                       
              //starter>>original;       
              final<<mark;                       
              indicator = 1;               
              break;                                       
            }
            marker>>mark;
        }
             
        if(indicator == 0)       
            final<<original;       
        final<<" ";
        marker.seekg(0, ios::beg);
      }
      final.close();
      cin.get();
      return 0;
      cin.get();
  }

---

Output:

(by the way, owl is short for outside while loop)

Code:

---

Before owl, mark equals 4
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals1
String mark is equal to: 4 Integer conv is equal to: 4 INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
String mark is equal to: odd Integer conv is equal to: 0 INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
String mark is equal to: 11Integer conv is equal to: 11 INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
String mark is equal to: eat Integer conv is equal to: 0 INSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals2
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals3
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals4
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals5
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals6
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals7
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals8
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals9
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals10
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals11
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals12
Before owl, mark equals done
OUTSIDE WHILE LOOP ITERATING, spotter equals13

---

try running this program and see if output is:

1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3

Code:

---

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
  ofstream fout("marker1.txt");
  int i, j, k;
 
  for(i = 1; i < 5; ++i)
        fout << i << ' ';
 
  fout.close();
  ifstream fin("marker1.txt");
  if(!fin)
        cout << "unable to open marker1.txt" << endl;
  else
        cout << "marker1 open" << endl;
 
  for(i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
  {
        for(j = 0 ; j < 3; ++j)
        {
          fin >> k;
          cout << k << ' ';
        }
        cout << endl;
        fin.seekg(0, ios::beg);
  }

 return 0;
}

---

If that's what you get, then post the first 5 entries in original.txt and the first 20 entries in marker.txt so I can try to recreate your files and run your program with your files.

I did indeed get

Code:

---


marker1 open
123
123
123

---

I'm not sure what you mean by entries (I assume the string until a space?) but I'll just give you the full contents of both files:

original.txt:

Code:

---

once upon an adjective dog , a cat decided to verb . done

---

markers.txt:

Code:

---

4 odd 11 eat done

---

Finally. With the aid of your file inputs and a little tinkering I think I got it to work like you want. Turns out that when marker equals done the terminating char is EOF. EOF causes marker to go into a fail state. This fail state has to be cleared before internal get pointer for marker can be reset using seekg() or by closing and reopening marker---worked either way when I checked it.

To clear the fail state that marker goes into when it reads in done, put the following line right before the call to seekg() (or the call to close() if you prefer).

marker.clear();

BTW, you don't need to call seekg() twice in succession, once will do.

I'm sorry I didn't mention this until now - I had thought about clearing the flags but then forgot about it - but another option that might be better style but less efficient is to declare the marker ifstream inside the main while loop. Declare it like you did originally:

ifstream marker("markers.txt");

Because it is inside the while loop, it will automatically close after each loop iteration (since it goes out of scope). It will also automatically get its flags cleared.

In fact, maybe an even better solution would be to have a map of markers (e.g. 4, 11) to values (e.g. "odd", "eat"). Then just load the map once at the beginning of your program. That way you only have to read the markers.txt file once, and everything is more efficient. Of course, you'd have to know how to use maps, but I would recommend learning the idea behind them at some point soon anyway.

YAY! :D

Thank you so much, elad and jlou. Both of you have been great help.

I'm sure that this monstrosity of a program I have created is pretty poorly written in terms of design, but...

IT WORKS!