Cin newline space problem... or something

For my first C++ program, I made a little text editor for the sake of understanding the whole fopen stuff. With my background knowledge of PHP this is going rather well, but I have encountered a problem.

Code:

---

#include<iostream.h>
#include<cstdio>
#include<string>

void main () {
 cout<<"Welcome to FedEdit...\n";
 char filename[255];
 cout<<"Please enter the file path to open. \nNote that it will be interpreted as a textfile\nKeep it small, yes?\n";
 cin>>filename;
 cout<<"You chose "<<filename<<"\n\n";
 FILE * filePointer;
 filePointer = fopen(filename,"r+");
 if(filePointer) {
  cout<<"File Contents:\n\n";
  char line[81];
  char *return_code;

  while(!feof(filePointer)) {
  return_code = fgets(line, 80, filePointer);
  cout<<line;
  }
  cout<<"\n\n--------------------------\nOkay, now enter new file content:\n";
  cout<<"a line only containing a period will end the writing mode.";
  cout<<"please do not enter more than 80 characters per line. thank you.\n\n--------------------\n";
  char newline[81];
  rewind(filePointer);
  while(strcmp(newline,".")) {
  cin>>newline;
  if(strcmp(newline,".")) {
    fputs(newline,filePointer);
    fputs("\r\n",filePointer);
  }
  }
  fclose(filePointer);
 } else cout<<"ERRORZ";
 
}

---

this is the source. Basicially, you open a file of choice, it echoes it, and then you re-write it. The problem?

Well, it interprets spaces as newlines. Actually, it doesn't.

Code:

---


  while(strcmp(newline,".")) {
  cin>>newline;
  if(strcmp(newline,".")) {
    fputs(newline,filePointer);
    fputs("\r\n",filePointer);
  }
  }

---

see that part?

well that's the problem. Apparently, when encountering a space, the loop re-loops with the next word, causing

Code:

---

    fputs("\r\n",filePointer);

---

to render it as new line.


Now, why is this happening, how do I fix this?

Any other suggestions for a better way of coding are appreaciated as well!
I'm a beginner, sorry.

Code:

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#include<iostream.h>

---

Bad. Use <iostream>.

Code:

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#include<string>

---

Bad. The only string function I see you using is strcmp, which is in <string.h> or <cstring>. <string> is for the std::string class - which you should be using instead of the raw C strings.

Code:

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void main () {

---

Bad. main() returns int.

Code:

---

char filename[255];

---

Bad. As I said above, use std::string.

Code:

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cin>>filename;

---

Bad. >> stops at spaces, so you can't enter a filename with spaces here. And of course there's the danger of overflow for long names. Use std::string and getline:

Code:

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std::string filename;
std::getline(std::cin, filename);

---

Code:

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FILE * filePointer;
 filePointer = fopen(filename,"r+");

---

Bad. First, why are you using C-style file I/O when you're using C++-style console I/O? Second, you open the file in text mode, yet further down you mess with raw \r signs. Under Unix, that will lead to \r characters in the file that don't belong there at all. Under Windows, it will lead to duplicated \r characters. (One explicitly and another when the stream converts the \n.)

Code:

---

char line[81];

---

Very small buffer. Use std::string.

Code:

---

char *return_code;

---

Variable is never read from.

Code:

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while(!feof(filePointer)) {

---

Bad. See the FAQ for why feof() is a bad loop condition. The gist is, if there's a read error, your code will loop forever.

Code:

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while(strcmp(newline,".")) {

---

Bad. newline is uninitialized, so you don't know what's in there. For all you know, this will be false the first time around. Also, as a matter of personal style, always compare the result of strcmp() against an actual integer. It is unintuitive to have the strcmp() stand alone in a condition, because the boolean conversion yields false if the strings actually are equal.

Code:

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cin>>newline;

---

Your actual problem. >> stops on any whitespace. You need getline().

Code:

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fputs("\r\n",filePointer);

---

You opened the file in text mode. Stick with a single \n.

Well, wow. Thanks for that, I guess.

I know about the int main(), but it would return an error when I tried doing that originally.

same goes for the iostream without the .h


I originally used <string.h> but this guy told me to use <string> instead.

Well, I'll get right on to fixing everything as you said, and you also put light on my problem. Thanks for that! I'll probably edit this post, or make a new post after I'm done.

Thanks a lot!

Quote:

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I know about the int main(), but it would return an error when I tried doing that originally.

same goes for the iostream without the .h

---

Which compiler do you use?

Visual C++ 6. Oddly enough, it worked this time. I guess I misspelled it or something, I have no idea.

However, I have yet another problem

Code:

---

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;

int main () {


 cout<<"Welcome to FedEdit...\n";
 string filename;
 cout<<"Please enter the file path to open. \nNote that it will be interpreted as a textfile\nKeep it small, yes?\n";
 getline (cin,filename);
 cout<<"You chose "<<filename<<"\n\n";

 ifstream myfile;

 myfile.open (filename);
 if(!myfile.fail()) {

  cout<<"File Contents:\n\n";
 /*
  string line;

  while(!feof(filePointer)) {
  fgets(line, 80, filePointer);
  cout<<line;
  }
  cout<<"\n\n--------------------------\nOkay, now enter new file content:\n";
  cout<<"a line only containing a period will end the writing mode.";
  cout<<"please do not enter more than 80 characters per line. thank you.\n\n--------------------\n";
  char newline[81];
  rewind(filePointer);
  while(strcmp(newline,".")) {
  cin>>newline;
  if(strcmp(newline,".")) {
    fputs(newline,filePointer);
        fputs("\r\n",filePointer);
  }
  }
  fclose(filePointer);
        */
 } else cout<<"ERRORZ";
 

}

// getline with strings

---

this is how far I got converting the code to proper code, but at this point it gives me the error:

Quote:

---

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MyProjects\jkhjk\asfd.cpp(18) : error C2664: 'void __thiscall std::basic_ifstream<char,struct std::char_traits<char> >::open(const char *,int)' : cannot convert parameter 1 from 'class std::basic_string<char,
struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >' to 'const char *'
No user-defined-conversion operator available that can perform this conversion, or the operator cannot be called

---

as well as the warning (here we go again...)

Quote:

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C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MyProjects\jkhjk\asfd.cpp(46) : warning C4508: 'main' : function should return a value; 'void' return type assumed
Error executing cl.exe.

---

but is main() really supposed to return anything?

And more importantly, what's up with the first thing?

I had some more errors, but I was able to fix those myself...

To my knowledge you can not use fopen with std::string as it is a c-style function and expects a cstring.

As far as your warning goes, as it says you need to return something in main.

Code:

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int main()
{
        ...
        return 0;    // Instead of 0 use EXIT_SUCCESS if you #include <windows.h>
}

---

The error tells you exactly what is happening, your open call is expecting a const char* but you're passing it a string. Unfortunately, the ifstream's open member function does not accept a string as an argument (something which I believe is being considered for the future). Fortunately, string objects have a member function (c_str()) which returns exactly what you want:

Code:

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myfile.open(filename.c_str());

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Yeah, I knew the error, I just didn't know how to fix it.

Well, thanks hk_mp5kpdw! That worked! I will convert the rest as soon as I get home from school.

VC++6 is nearly 10 years old and severely lacks in standard conformance. You really ought to upgrade. VC++2005 is free.

A friend gave it to me... Well, if it's free, then I'll look into it. Good thing somebody tells me that before I get used to the compiler.

Thanks once again, CornedBee!

Well, I finally got around to re-writing this thing, but now I have a problem I don't quite understand.

Code:

---

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;

int main () {


 cout<<"Welcome to FedEdit...\n";
 string filename;
 cout<<"Please enter the file path to open. \nNote that it will be interpreted as a textfile\nKeep it small, yes?\n";
 getline (cin,filename);
 cout<<"You chose "<<filename<<"\n\n";

 fstream myfile;

 myfile.open (filename.c_str(),ios::binary | fstream::in | fstream::out );
 if(!myfile.fail()) {

  cout<<"File Contents:\n\n";
 


  int length;


  myfile.seekg (0, ios::end);
  length = myfile.tellg();
  myfile.seekg (0, ios::beg);
  char *fcontent;
  fcontent = new char [length];

  myfile.read(fcontent,length);

  cout<<"The file is "<<length<<"bytes long; file conent:\n";
  cout.write(fcontent,length);


  cout<<"\n\n--------------------------\nOkay, now enter new file content:\n";
  cout<<"a line only containing a period will end the writing mode.";
  cout<<"please do not enter more than 80 characters per line. thank you.\n\n--------------------\n";

 string newline = "";

  while(newline != ".") {
  getline (cin,newline);
  if(newline != ".") {
    myfile.write(newline.c_str(),strlen(newline.c_str()));
  }
  }
 

       
 } else cout<<"ERRORZ";
 
 return 0;
}

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Everything works fine so far, except for the fact that it simply doesn't write to the file, and I don't know why.

Thanks for your patience, I really appreaciate it.