reading from input stream

[Micko]

Hi, inspired with my recent problems and some other post I found on boards I need explanation for this:

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()     
{
     int x;

     while (cin>>x)
     {
     }

     return 0;
}

I test this program by entering following:
1 2 3 4 5 ^Z
all in one line delimited with spaces, and loop doesn't exit.
Strange. I use Dev-Cpp compiler.
Again I test with the following
1 2 3 4 5 ^T
where ^T is (Ctrl+T)
end program exits.

Can someone test on other compiler an let me know if the behavior is same or not?
Why loop and program exit when found Ctrl+T in input stream and not Ctrl+Z when it is supposed to be EOF in windows (I use win XP)?

Thanks

- Micko

[mrafcho001]

when i press ^T or ^(any other letter) it exits fine

[Micko]

Which compiler are you using?

- Micko

[7stud]

I modified your code a little bit, and ran it on win98 with VC++6

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()     
{
 int x;
 int count = 1;
 
	 while (cin>>x)
	 {
		 cout<<endl<<endl;
		 cout<<count++<<"----------"<<endl;
		 
		 if(cin.eof())
			 cout<<"eofbit error flag set"<<endl;
		 if(cin.bad())
			 cout<<"badbit error flag set"<<endl;
		 if(cin.fail())
			 cout<<"failbit or badbit error flag set"<<endl;
	}

	return 0;
}

Results:

^Z and no space after 5:

1 2 3 4 5
1----------


2----------


3----------


4----------


5----------
eofbit error flag set
Press any key to continue

^Z with a space after the 5:

1 2 3 4 5
1----------


2----------


3----------


4----------


5----------
(hangs waiting for more input)

6  (space after 6)
6----------
7(no space after 7)
7----------
eofbit error flag set
Press any key to continue

^T  and no space after the 5:

1 2 3 4 5¶

Ctrl/T just inserts a character in the input stream.

If you have a space after the input, then cin>> will read the last number and terminate it's read when it hits the whitespace, and the operator>> is programmed to leave the whitespace in the stream. The operator>> also skips leading whitespace, so the next time through the loop it can't find any data, so it hangs waiting for input.

If there is no space after the last number, then when cin>> tries to read the last number, it can't finish its read because no whitespace is found, and somehow that causes the eofbit error flag to be set rather than hanging and waiting for more input.

[Micko]

Ok, I know that Crtl+T will cause readin to fail, and that's why loop exits. But here is my output of your code:
Input:
1 2 3 4 5^Z (no space between 5 and Ctrl+Z)

1----------


2----------


3----------


4----------

waiting for input....

if I press enter result is:

5----------

and again wait....

Another Ctrl+Z will exit loop.


New test:

Input:
1 2 3 4 5 ^Z (space between 5 and Ctrl+Z)
Output:

1----------


2----------


3----------


4----------


5----------

and waits...

Next Ctrl+Z or Ctrl+T or just 'g' will exit loop without any of that error messages displayed.

Compiler Dev-Cpp 4.9.9.2 OS Win XP

Now what can I conclude from this output?

- Micko

[7stud]

Now what can I conclude from this output?

[Micko]

Exactly, my friend
I came to the same conclusion...

- Micko

[7stud]

My book says windows doesn't always recognize ^Z as an end of file marker and it may require two ^Z's.

Here is an attempt at an explanation:

This is what you have in the stream after the 4 is displayed(pretend their are no spaces--I'm adding them for readability):

5 ^Z

On the next read, cin>> hangs waiting for more input. I would say that means the ^Z is not being interpreted as an end of file marker and it is not whitespace, so cin>> can't finish it's read and hangs. Subsequently, when you hit enter, the stream looks like this:

5 ^Z NL

So, cin>> should read in 5^Z and stop. That means the stream is left looking like this:

NL

On the next read, cin>> skips the leading whitespace(NL = newline), so there is no input, and cin>> hangs. In response, you hit ^Z, and cin reads that in and the loop terminates. Why does that ^Z cause a stream error the second time??

Maybe with windows you have to set two bits to get the eof error: the first ^Z sets the first bit, and the second ^Z sets the second bit. But, that doesn't explain why you don't get an eof message displayed. At the end of this thread:

http://cboard.cprogramming.com/showt...5&page=2&pp=15

I showed that an eofbit error won't end the while loop. So, after your second ^Z, execution should have entered the while loop and the program should have displayed an eof message. That must mean your last read sets both the eofbit and failbit error flags. I guess that makes sense: since ^Z is not an int, failbit must get set in response to trying to assign ^Z to an int.

[Codeplug]

Answers: http://cboard.cprogramming.com/showthread.php?t=64942

gg