Why does DOS always close after the program completes?

I've never acctuelly had this problem before, so I was wondering why the following program always closes right after you reach the end of the program (outputing the stored data).
Here is the code so far:

Code:

#include <iostream.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
//class
class NameDataSet
{
    public:
        char firstName[128];
        char lastName[128];
        int ssNumber;
};

//getdata function will retrieve info from user in consol
int getData(NameDataSet& nds)
{
    std::cout<<"\nEnter your first name:\n";
    std::cin>>nds.firstName;
    
    if 
            ((strcmp(nds.firstName, "exit") == 0)
            ||
            (strcmp(nds.firstName, "EXIT") == 0))
    {
        return 0;
    }
    
    std::cout<<"\nEnter your last name:\n";
    std::cin>>nds.lastName;
    
    std::cout<<"\nEnter credit card number:\n";
    std::cin>>nds.ssNumber;
    
    return 1;
}

//display data will display all data in the database
void displayData(NameDataSet& nds)
{
    std::cout<<"Your name(s):\n" << nds.firstName << " " << nds.lastName << "\n";
    std::cout<<"Your creditcard number(s):\n" << nds.ssNumber << "\n";
}

int main(int nArg, char* pszArgs[])
{
    NameDataSet nds[25];
    std::cout<<"Read name/credit card information\n" << "Enter 'exit' for first name to exit\n";

    int index=0;
    while (getData(nds[index]))
    {
        index++;
    }

    std::cout<<"\nEntries\n";
    for (int i = 0; i < index; i++)
    {
        displayData(nds[i]);
    }
    return 0;
}

The book I'm reading right now that I got it from, mentioned it in the first chapter, but since I never experieinced this happening in the first chapter, but never gave a way to solve it. Also, I had never had this problem up until now. Can anybody explain how to stop this from happening?

http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/...&id=1043284385

just place a getch(); or system("pause"); at the end of your program and it wont close until you hit some bottom, or you can make a loop that restarts your program at the end. include conio.h for getch();

I just put the following bit at the end of int main()

Code:

int closer;
cout << "Type something to exit! :) \n";
cin >> closer;
return 0;

Originally Posted by Philandrew

I just put the following bit at the end of int main()

Code:

int closer;
cout << "Type something to exit! :) \n";
cin >> closer;
return 0;

a simple cin.get(); will get the job done, but whatever works.

On my computer, I had the same problem with Dev-C++ (That Bloodshed program). The FAQ recommends that you do this:

Add #include <stdlib.h> to the top, and add a system("PAUSE"); to the bottom, like this:

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{
  cout << "This program will stay open until you hit a key \n";

  system("PAUSE");	
  return 0;
}

This works for me.

Is there any type of function that I could call after using cin.get() or getch() to return the program to the start of the main function?

edit:other than goto

edit2: nevermind, loops are just easier :)

>>The FAQ recommends that you do this
Actually, it doesn't It recommends alternate methods, due to security vulnerabilities inherent in the system() call - anyone can write a program, name it 'pause.exe' or 'pause.com', and replace the one that came with your computer.

to answer every question in this thread:

>>Why does DOS always close after the program completes?
it shouldn't because it never opens when the program starts...

1) you're running in a console window, not DOS... the window you're using is actually the opening for command-line input to your OS...

2) use cin.get(); -> system("anything") is not the safest way to go because of what Hunter2 said and getch() is not as portable (although it is nicer, because you really can press pretty much any key)

3) <stdlib.h> should be <cstdlib>


edit: I just found negative thread ratings

As far as I've seen, programs will do this because it isn't waitin for anything. I usually just put a cin>>a;, where 'a' is a char. this makes the computer pause before closing, giving the user a chance to read what it just printed out.