Thread: file input output problem..

hello guys, i know m rather new, so ill also give a quick introduction:

my name is Sven Vranken, i live in belgium and im aged 16. in my free time i like to go out with frends, work out at the jym and i also like to go skateboarding some times.
i first started programming cpp one year ago, im learning it at home.

well m not so good in intro's so thats it for me.

to be honest i came to this forum cause im totaly desperate. i cant seem to figure out my fault in my program. ill first tell you whats it all about.

im making a program (almost complete) that makes a random acces data file, and i write 2 classes to it which share inheritance. after you write specific information to the file you can read it out later. but theirs something wrong, i searched alot and i figured out the problem is hiding in the part where the actual data file is build, the code is a bit to big to paste here (about 250 lines) so im going to paste the part where i think the problem is and m going to include the whole project in a .rar file for those who want to look further in it.


thanx to annyone who replies

Code:

switch (choise)
   {
     case 1:    //chosen to create the file
     {
       cout <<" Create or renew the data file\n"<< endl;

        ofstream basic ("clients.dat",ios::binary);           // create a stream to output clients to //file ( im going to write 50 empty clients of each class to the file )

        if (!basic)

        {
          cout <<"File cannot be opened"<<endl;
          exit(1);
        }

        baseclass baseclient;  // create a basic client default constructor fills in data which 
       // is going to be written to the file 


        for (int x = 1; x<= 51; x++)
        {
          baseclient.setID(x);


          basic.write (reinterpret_cast < const char * > (&baseclient),
          sizeof (baseclass)); // write it binary 

        }
        basic.close();
        /*
         * im going to close the stream and create a new one to write the second class to it
         * altough this is not necissary, its better to understand;
         */
        cout <<"50 empty basic accounts created"<<endl;
        ofstream advanced ("clients.dat", ios::binary | ios::app);

        dirclass advancedclient; // create advancedclient (inherits from baseclient)


        for (int x = 52; x <= 102; x++)
        {


          advancedclient.setID(x);

          advanced.write(reinterpret_cast < const char* > (&advancedclient),
          sizeof (dirclass));

          cout << x << endl;


        }
        cout <<" 50empty advanced accounts created" << endl;
        cout <<"file (re)created with succes!"<<endl;

and when i read the file out this is some of the output:

Code:

50                                 

3      0 

                                         //baseclient id 50, 51 and so on (output right)
                                         // the spaces also are a part of the output 



51                                 

3      0 

                                        


-----------READ FIRST 50 BASIC ACCOUNTS------------ // this worked out well.



52                                 

3      0   0       

                                        

                                                                                                    /* FIRST ADVANCED CLIENT
outputs right!(all the id numbers (53,54.. also print out right  but all the actual data behind that dont print out right */


53   `ø            ø             

0      0   0       

‘|À$                                   

                                                                                                    

54   `ø            ø             

0      0   0       

‘|À$

if u want to look in the whole source:
(i could not upload all the files so here is the smallest part of it (the functions that are used in main ( i seperated them cause its easyer to read)
:
Mainfunctions.cpp :

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
#include "header2.h"
#include <sstream>
using namespace std;


void printmainoptions ()
{
  cout <<"1. To Create or renew the data file"   << endl;
  cout <<"2. To add or modify a new user"        << endl;
  cout <<"3. To view all the users"              << endl;
  cout <<"4. To exit"                            << endl;

  cout <<"\n"<<endl;

}
void writeinfo ()
{
  cout <<"You can add a Basic user or an Advanced user\n"
       <<"To add a Basic user: "
       <<"please input an accountnumber from 1 to 51\n"
       <<"To add an Advanced user: "
       <<"please input an accountnumber from 51 to 101\n"
       << endl;
}


int getchoise ()
{
  int choise;
  string kak;



  getline (cin,kak);
  stringstream(kak) >> choise;
  while (choise < 1 || choise > 103)
  {
    cout <<"Please input a valid number: ";
    getline (cin,kak);
    stringstream(kak) >> choise;
  }
  return (choise);
}


void outputline (ostream &output,baseclass &lol )
{
  output <<left<<setw(5)<<lol.getID()
         <<setw(15)<<lol.getfname()
         <<setw(15)<<lol.getlname()
         <<"\n"<<setw(7)<<lol.getsex()
         <<setw(2)<<lol.getage()<<"\n"
         <<setw(40)<<lol.getwoonplaats()<<"\n"<<endl;
}
void Outputline (ostream &output,dirclass &loll)
{
  output <<left<<setw(5)<<loll.getID()
         <<setw(15)<<loll.getfname()
         <<setw(15)<<loll.getlname()
         <<"\n"<<setw(7)<<loll.getsex()
         <<left<<setw(4)<<loll.getage()
         <<setw(8)<<loll.getsalary()<<"\n"
         <<left<<setw(40)<<loll.getwoonplaats()<<"\n"
         <<left<<setw(100)<<loll.raboutyourself()<<endl;


}

i realy hope u guys can help me

no-1ne? please?

ill try that , ty for the tip

okay guys... ive solved it myself after lots of work. thanx annyway... for those who want to know what ive changed :

Code:

case 3:
     {
       cout <<"View all the registered clients:"<<endl;
       baseclass basicclient;
       dirclass  advancedclient;



       ifstream file ("clients.dat",ios::in | ios::binary );

       file.read (reinterpret_cast < char * > (&basicclient),
       sizeof (baseclass));
       while (basicclient.getID () <= 51)
       {
         outputline (cout,basicclient);


         file.read (reinterpret_cast < char * > (&basicclient),
         sizeof (baseclass));
       }
       cout <<"\n\n-----------READ FIRST 50 BASIC ACCOUNTS------------\n\n";
       file.close();
       ifstream File ("clients.dat",ios::in | ios::binary );
       advancedclient.setID(52);
       File.seekg ( (advancedclient.getID()-1)*sizeof (baseclass));
       /*
        *first was:
        *File.seekg ( (advancedclient.getID())*sizeof (dirclass));
        *
        */


       for  (int x = advancedclient.getID(); x<=102; ++x)
       {

         advancedclient.setID(x);


         Outputline (cout,advancedclient);




         File.read (reinterpret_cast <char *> (&advancedclient),
         sizeof (dirclass));





       }

ill be sticking arround... atleast if you guys want me 2

Originally Posted by Salem

Use two separate files, one for each class?

Always write a dirclass, even if you're only using the base class part of it, so you can change your mind later on and be sure that there will be room for whichever version you want.

Though to be honest, I didn't think you could just read and write the binary data of things which are not PODs
http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lit....html#faq-26.7

yes , but i tought it would be a chalange to write them to the same file...
kinda sucks to know i spend so much time to try and figure out a way to do somthing that actually is , not possible?. ill check your link out, thanx for the help.

but i was wondering, those data files included with games, wich are like 150mb, cant all be of the same type can they? would supprise me if they did.

Ok, l leave it with writing them to a seperate file then , ty