ifstream function

The test file for this function is located on my desktop in a folder.

Is the syntax correct when (string folder) is being set to the test file at the file location?

Code:

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ifstream get_ifs( )                            // get input file stream
{
    string filename;                            // input file name

    cerr << "name of file to read from? ";
    cin  >> filename;
    string folder = "C:\\Users\CASHOUT\Desktop\week8\folder\test1.txt";                        // path for folder containing
                                                // the .txt test files
    filename = folder + filename;

    ifstream ifs( filename, ifstream::in );
    if( ! ifs )                                // cannot open input file
    {
        cerr << "cannot open input file '" << filename << "'\n";
        exit( 1 );
    }

    return ifs;                                // return input file stream
}

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Why line 5 uses error stream for regular output?
What if file name contains spaces?
Why folder name contains file name?
Why utility function forces whole application to exit on error instead of throwing exception?

> string folder = "C:\\Users\CASHOUT\Desktop\week8\folder\test1.txt" ; // path for folder containing
How many \ do you need ?

Remember that \ is an escape character, so whatever is inserted in the string is determined after the next character after the \.
Additionally, you can use forward slashes (/) instead of backslashes in filenames. They work just as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salem

> string folder = "C:\\Users\CASHOUT\Desktop\week8\folder\test1.txt" ; // path for folder containing
How many \ do you need ?

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after removing the extra \ :

Code:

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string folder = "C:\Users\CASHOUT\Desktop\week8\folder\test1.txt";

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Now I'm being told:
Error: incorrectly formed universal character name

Like you were told, \ is an escape character. Therefore, you have characters \U, \C, \D, \w, \f, \t in there which I doubt you want!
To product a \, you need to use \\.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elysia

Like you were told, \ is an escape character. Therefore, you have characters \U, \C, \D, \w, \f, \t in there which I doubt you want!
To product a \, you need to use \\.

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I get what you mean now. Thank you