String problem

I have a web interface that uses dos to start my program and sends it 2 parameters(string author, string fileName) to my main. My c++ program is not using the new standards (requirement) and does not therefore use the string class. My problem is:

1. how do I declare these
2. how can I access the information in them

Code:

#include <iomanip.h>

const int MAX = 50;
char author[MAX];
char fileName[MAX];

int main(char author[], char fileName[])
{
    cout << author <<endl;
    cout << fileName <<endl;
   return 0;
}

The cout's are just outputting garbage...how and what can I do?

The main function has specific arguments that it takes based on what is passed into the command line. So your web interface must pass the information as strings to the command line (with quotes if there are spaces in the string). Then use code similar to the code below to process each command line argument. Remember that argc[0] is always the executable name, and the bold part must always be the same (basically).

Code:

#include <iostream.h>

const int MAX = 50;
char author[MAX];
char fileName[MAX];

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    // argv[0] is the executable name
    if (argv >= 2)
        strncpy(author, argc[1], MAX);
    if (argv >= 3)
        strncpy(fileName, argc[2], MAX);

    // Or ...
    for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++)
    {
        cout << argc[i] << endl;
    }
}

jlou, I'm sure that you know what you are doing and that it is just a simple mistake on your part, but for the OP's benefit, I just wanted to fix the typos that may cause confusion in your program.

To clarify: argc is the argument count and argv is the argument vector; therefore, the code above should actually be:

Code:

#include <iostream.h>

const int MAX = 50;
char author[MAX];
char fileName[MAX];

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    // argv[0] is the executable name
    if (argc >= 2)
        strncpy(author, argv[1], MAX);
    if (argc >= 3)
        strncpy(fileName, argv[2], MAX);

    // Or ...
    for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++)
    {
        cout << argv[i] << endl;
    }
}

-tf

[edit]Ooopps...froggy has just replied BUT[/edit]


Im still confused... I MUST have (2 char array parameters - one for the authors name...the other has some file's path)

Code:

> int main(int argc, char *argv[])

Do you mean char argc??? and if so, is it considered as just a variable with one character in it only???

Code:

>  *argv[]

Does this have something like this contained within itself(where each line is due to a space):
c:\my
documents\web
interface\generate.exe

OR is it just c:\my documents\web interface\generate.exe

Code:

[I]    for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++)
    {
        cout << argc << endl;
    }

In the loop above, argc is not an array (though I think it should be) so how does this print as though it was an array??

Code:

    for (int i = 0; i < argv; i++)
        cout << argv[i] << endl;

Would the above code be correct for printing argv (I dont think its right)

your web interface must pass the information as strings to the command line (with quotes if there are spaces in the string)

.

Finaly, you say to put quotes if there are spaces, I think on many occassions this would be true. Would I therefore write main's parameters as:

Code:

int main(char "argc", char "*argv[]")

Thank you

> int main(char "argc", char "*argv[]")
No, he means

myprog "this is arg1 with spaces, and its in quote" "this is arg2"

Sorry.....so does this mean int main(char "argc", char "*argv[]")
is wrong. I didn't get it.


I need to be able open a file using argv.... would I do this as

iFile.open(argv, ios::nocreate|ios::app) and how would I a cout of what is in argv??

Thanks thefroggy, I think I need a nap.

----------

Jules, argc is the number of strings on the command line and argv is an array that holds those strings.

So, if you had this on your command line:

myprog.exe Twain huckleberry.txt

Then argc would be 3, because there are three separate strings there. Since argv is an array whose index starts at zero, then argv has three values:

argc: 3
argv[0]: myprog.exe
argv[1]: Twain
argv[2]: huckleberry.txt

That is how you get the information. So no, argc is not supposed to be a char, because it is a number that tells you how many strings were on your command line. This is the general way that C and C++ programs use the command line, so it has to be able to hold any number of arguments. Just because you only want to use two arguments doesn't mean that main should take two parameters, it means that argv should hold three strings (one for the exe and two for the arguments).

So if you wanted to open the filename, and you assume that the filename was the second argument (like huckleberry.txt in the example above), then you would use argv[2] inside your iFile.open() code and when you cout it.

You should read up on command line arguments, your book or other online tutorials will probably have lots if onfo on it. Here is another example that is more complicated. If you can understand it, that would help:

Command Line: a.out "Mark Twain" Huckleberry Finn data.dat 1821

argc: 6
argv[0]: a.out
argv[1]: Mark Twain
argv[2]: Huckleberry
argv[3]: Finn
argv[4]: data.dat
argv[5]: 1821

jlou...I can not thank you enough wow...what an explanation, very clear and precise. FANTASTIC.

Thankyou very much. Now I get it

Whew!! I thought I screwed you up big time with the typos in the first post. Glad I made up for it.