Checking for command line args?

hey guys,

I'm trying to search the argument line for a "-c" argument in order to execute a condition in my program. This is the code i've got so far, it does not seem to be working though... any help would be greatly appreciated

Code:

---

       
for (i=0; i <=  argc; i++){

                if (argv[i] == "-c "){
                        cpresent = 1;
                }

---

Thanks

You can't compare strings using the == operator. Try this instead:

Code:

---

if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-c")){

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The normal way to do this is getopt() from unistd.h. If you are on windows, there are alternatives (nb. "getopt.h" does not really exist):

<getopt.h> library in windows [Archive] - CodeGuru Forums

I tried using your suggestion itsme86 (thanks for the rationale too, i feel stupid for not remembering that) , cause i'm more familiar with strcomp, however it now gives me a seg fault...

Code:

---

        for (i=0; i <= argc; i++){
                if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-c")){
                        cpresent = 1;
                }
        }

---

I also tried hard coding cpresent = 1 into the code, and it works just fine, so i'm guessing there's something wrong with that loop. Any further suggestions would be great.

Thanks again

That should be:

Code:

---

for (i=0; i < argc; i++){

---

Note the change from less-than-or-equal-to.

nice, that worked perfectly, thanks

Mind if I ask the logic behind the correction?

argc contains the number of strings in argv, but argv is a 0-based array, therefore the last valid index of argv is argc-1. E.g. If there was one string (argc = 1), it's stored in argv[0].

You were overstepping the bounds of the array. If I'm correct the array is null terminated and you were writing over the null part causing the segfault. Putting less than fixed it because that kept you from touching that last element.

The argv is a double pointer to character data:

so "./my_prog -1 -2 -3" yeilds

argc 4 meaning you have 4 elements but c arrays start at 0 so the max element = 3. You were putting things in what is the 4th slot but for a c array that is [0][1][2][3][4] <- the 5th spot.

You cant test this with:

Code:

---

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    int i = 0;
    for(i; i < argc, i++)
        printf("element %d, data %s\n", i, argv[i]);
}

---

Ah perfect, thanks for that explanation, its a big help for this newb lol