Why doesn't fgets() read my input?

Hello there!
I have been strolling about the threads, looking for similar problems, but haven't found an exact solution... everyone keeps telling, that fgets() should be used for getting user input, instead fof gets(). Cool, let's give it a try. This sample program I copied from a website works just fine:

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main(void)
{
  char str[80];
  int i;

  printf("Enter a string: ");
  fgets(str, 10, stdin);

  /* remove newline, if present */
  i = strlen(str)-1;
  if( str[ i ] == '\n')
      str[i] = '\0';

  printf("This is your string: %s", str);

  return 0;
}

---

Yet, my own program is not willing to take any user input...it finishes, before I'd have a chance to type anything!

Code:

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#include <stdio.h>

int main(){
        /*********************************************************************/
        char letter;
       
        printf("Gimme a letter!");
        scanf("%c",&letter);

        int num;
        if(letter=='a'||letter=='b'||letter=='c')
                num=2;
        else if(letter=='d'||letter=='e'||letter=='f')
                num=3;
        else if(letter=='g'||letter=='h'||letter=='i')
                num=4;
        else if(letter=='j'||letter=='k'||letter=='l')
                num=5;
        else if(letter=='m'||letter=='n'||letter=='o')
                num=6;
        else if(letter=='p'||letter=='q'||letter=='r'||letter=='s')
                num=7;
        else if(letter=='t'||letter=='u'||letter=='v')
                num=8;
        else if(letter=='w'||letter=='x'||letter=='y'||letter=='z')
                num=9;
        else
                printf("Why have not given me a letter?!\n");

        printf("The letter is now encoded: %d\n",num);
        /**********************************************************************/
        printf("Gimme a word of 15 chars!");
        char word[15];
        fgets(word,16,stdin);
        printf("%s",word);
}

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I've noticed, that if I comment out the first block and only the second block is left (starting after the second comment line) then fgets() function properly... waits for input and printf() gives back the string. Could anyone explain this to me?:confused:

scanf("%c"..) leaves a "newline" in the input buffer, so you get an empty line from fgets(), since it reads everything up to the next newline. Add a space after the format of scanf, e.g. scanf("%c "...) and any newlines and such will be consumed by scanf... It is just one of those strange things.

--
Mats

Hey there!

Unfortunatelly, if I add a space to the scanf format specifier, it causes another malfunctioning...after I altered the code, according to your suggestion, the scanf("%c ",letter) function did not read one letter only, but was awaiting for further input... however, after entering more characters, the "second" input was succesfully "caught" by fgets(), but the program totally skipped the printf() part, where the user is prompted to enter a word! Hm...

try:

Code:

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fgets(word,15,stdin);

---

the first argument of fgets is the string which you want the read data to be stored, which is "word". If you haven't declared a string "szo" yet in your code I'm surprised it compiled. Also you should use the array size of your string as the second argument, to prevent run-time errors.

Yes, well the code I posted here is "translated" to english, for better ungerstanding, and I seemingly forgot to change that "szo" to "word", but in the actual code, it is all "szo"...but thanks for noticing, I'll have to correct that...

Code:

---

        char word[15];
        fgets(word,16,stdin);

---

You should NOT lie to fgets() as to the length of your buffer. It's best to use sizeof() rather than a constant, that way, if you change the variable itself, the fgets() size will automatically follow. Also, if you actually want a 15 character word, your buffer should probably be [at least] 17 long, since that gives you enough length to store the 15 characters of the word, a newline and the terminating zero.

--
Mats

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matsp

Also, if you actually want a 15 character word, your buffer should probably be [at least] 17 long, since that gives you enough length to store the 15 characters of the word, a newline and the terminating zero.

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15+1=16 characters would be enough since the newline need not be stored in the buffer. It is because of this edge case that I prefer to use strpos() rather than strlen() to implement the removal of the newline from the buffer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by laserlight

15+1=16 characters would be enough since the newline need not be stored in the buffer. It is because of this edge case that I prefer to use strpos() rather than strlen() to implement the removal of the newline from the buffer.

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Yes, but that leaves the newline in the input buffer, which CAN lead to difficulties elsewhere - so we then ALSO need to write code to find out if there is a newline in the string or not, and if not clean up the input buffer - which may be a good idea to make the code more robust, but if we want somewhat more simple solution then it's easier to just have enough space for the newline...

[Of course, the easiest solution is to majorly oversize the buffer, remove the newline and then check the length - but then it doesn't solve the "fell asleep with finger(s) on the keyboard" type input.

--
Mats

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matsp

which may be a good idea to make the code more robust, but if we want somewhat more simple solution then it's easier to just have enough space for the newline...

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I think that it would be easier to use gets() so that we do not have to check for the newline. After all, if we are going to assume that the user will enter input of no more than 16 characters including the newline, gets() is perfectly safe ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by laserlight

I think that it would be easier to use gets() so that we do not have to check for the newline. After all, if we are going to assume that the user will enter input of no more than 16 characters including the newline, gets() is perfectly safe ;)

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[sarcasm]Good suggestion ;) [/sarcasm]

--
Mats

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matsp

Good suggestion

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Thank you :p

On a more serious note for the benefit of laczfinador: my point is that you should have robust input handling, which is precisely why fgets() was suggested to you as a replacement for gets(). matsp's idea of allocating one more character for the newline works in the sense that you can simply replace the last character in the string with a null character. But this does not mean that the newline will not be left in the input buffer, since the user could enter one more character (or even more, leaving other characters in the input buffer as well).

If you have robust input handling, you no longer need to allocate one extra character for the newline. With strpos(), it is just as easy to replace the newline with a null character, if the newline was placed in the string.