Thread: char

hey. could any of you tell me how to write like a simple question program like ask a question and answer yes, get one response and answer no and get another. I know it will have to look someting like

char yesno;
cout<<"this is a question?"<<endl;
cin>>yes;
if (yesno==yes)
cout<<"this is an answer"<<endl;
if (yesno==no)
cout<<"this is a different answer"

thanks a lot,
max

The char datatype holds a single character. What you want is a string. Add #include <string> and use the C++ string class as your type for yesno. Then, compare yesno to a string literal in double quotes. For example, if (yesno == "yes"). Read up on strings in general, string literals, and the C++ string class.

Code:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
   string answer; // creates a string called answer
   cout << "Answer the question yes/no *CASE SENSITIVE*" << endl;
   cout << "Did you understand the directions? ";
   cin >> answer; // this gets the first and only first word of the line and places it into the string
   if ( answer == "yes" )
   {
      cout << "You did understand? " << answer << endl;
   }
   else
   {
      cout << "You didn't understand? " << answer << endl;
   }
}

there is an example of how that code would look. That code will compile as well if you would like to use it as a base

Don't forget to #include <string>.

If you want to make it user-friendly...

- Just check for the first letter 'Y' or 'N'.

- An upper case or lower case letter should work.

- Set up a default condition, so that the user can just hit ENTER. The default should be either the most common choice or the safe choice. For example, if the question is "Delete File?", if the user enters anything other than a word starting with 'y' or 'Y' the program should behave as if the user has entered "No".

We have a bunch of text-based test programs at work. They all work that way. They only check for the first letter (upper or lower case) for the non-default condition. If the user enters anything else, program-flow takes the default path. I won't provide a code sample, because they are written in BASIC.

>> Set up a default condition, so that the user can just hit ENTER.
While this can be done, it is not easy with the normal iostream operations used by beginners because those skip whitespace automatically and will just sit there waiting for actual input.

I agree with you Doug but I was just making the code in the OP's post correct enough so it worked
EDIT: Daved, I have never had to include <string> before, so I never do
and also cant you just make a console message loop, and just wait for WM_COMMAND? and one case be the enter key?

Some compilers allow some code to work without #include <string>, but others don't, and you should never rely on it if yours does.

There are even easier ways than a console message command (like cin.get() or getline()), but my point was just that simple beginner code shouldn't really try to deal with that special case because it takes a different approach.

I will keep that in mind, and also I get that you are saying keep it simple for beginners