Counting words by character

OK new to C++ and want to learn it, having problem with
code that inputs file and counts the words in the file. I am doing this by character, I know I can do it by string easier! just looking for
direction.

File opens, Loop works, count works but is not correct?
As I parse a page do I have to make any other excludes for line breaks, \n or other ......

Code:

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <cassert> 
#include <fstream> 
#include <string>

using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int wordCount;
    char prevChar;
    char currChar;
    ifstream inFile;  
    string fileName;
    cout << "Enter the input file name (quit to exit): ";
    cin >> fileName;
    while (fileName != "quit"){  
            inFile.open(fileName.c_str());
            assert(inFile);
            wordCount = 0; 
            inFile.get(prevChar);
            inFile.get(currChar);
    while(inFile.get() != '\n') {
           if (currChar == '  ' || prevChar != '  ')
           wordCount++;   
           prevChar = currChar;
           inFile.get(currChar);  
    }      
    cout << "There are " << wordCount << " words in this " 
    << fileName << endl << endl;
    inFile.close();
    inFile.clear();
    cout << '\a';
          
    cout << "Enter the input file name (quit to exit): ";
    cin >> fileName;    
    }
    system("PAUSE");
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    
}

Originally Posted by batc5

The program seems to work if file has all words add a number
which I want to count as word and bad count?

?????????? That right there makes no sense whatsoever. Try to use better grammar.

Aside from indentation, I don't see any major problems with your code. If you're having problems getting your program to work, tell us specifically what is happening and what should be happening - it'll be easier to find the problem that way.

That right there makes no sense whatsoever. Try to use better grammar.

I've seen much worse, cerin. Don't worry too much about this if English isn't your first language. Do your best, but the important thing is to just ask specific questions - it's the best way to get help around here.

I have to agree with cerin, but I did notice one error:

Code:

if (currChar == ' ' || prevChar != ' ')
           wordCount++;

Let's say your file contains:

apple

so prevChar='a' and currChar='p'. In the if condition, prevChar does not equal a blank, so wordcount is incremented by 1, and every time you go through the while loop wordcount is similarly incremented by 1 even though there is only one word in the file.

here's some basic code to help you with (what I think is) what you want:

Code:

#include<fstream>
#include<iostream>

int main()
{
    char*word=new char[20]; //a character array (C-type string)
    int count=0;            //to hold the number of words
    
    std::ifstream infile("temp.txt");   //open the file
    
    if(!infile)                         //if the file doesn't open
    {
        std::cerr<<"File Input Error";  //output an error
        std::cin.get();                 //wait for ENTER
        delete[]word;                   //deallocate the character array
        exit(1);                        //exit with a fail status
    }
    
    while(infile>>word) //keep going as long as there are more words
        count++;        //for each word, increase the count by one
        
    infile.close();                             //close the file
    std::cout<<count<<" words were counted.";   //output the count
    std::cin.get();                             //wait for ENTER
    delete[]word;                               //deallocate the char array
    return 0;                                   //return with success status
}

you'll have to modify it to fit your needs though, because I didn't look at how you had your string-based solution fitted into your program.