Thread: Program to calculate change return.

Hi guys, i'm new here and i figured what better place to be asking C question than a place dedicated to it... i'm not a total n00b, i just can't write code at like i write english, but i can fluently understand it, i've done and still do programming in many languages and after i decided to go back to university and having to retake C (something i did yrs ago B4 i dropped out) i'm feeling a little rusty and kinda outta shape, reading the class notes obviously helps but u know when u know more and it's not that that's stopping you... anyhow a little FYI about me just so i don't automatically get blasted into smithereens. and before i state my issue i'd like to say thanks to whoever takes the time to read this and hopefully i might get some insight.
so here's the deal...
an amount of change (money to be returned on purchase) is to be inputted by the user, between 0, inclusive and 5 non-inclusive (0<=change<5)
on enter, the program prints out, your change is composed of toonies (yes canadian money :P), loonies, quarters... etc pennies.
Now that's simple, it's been done and i'm getting good answers... but also bad ones...
say for example i put in 4.99 for change... my change is missing a penny... and only for some numbers am i getting a -1 on the pennies...

i'll explain my code before i paste it too, if the comments lack.
i decided to go with the "multiply by 100" to get an all pennies amount and worked my way down with while loops through 200/100/25/10/5/1 cents
these while loops were basically counting my coins and subtracting the amounts from the total cents.
another way would definitely be with mod(&#37 i'm not sure which is short/faster

here's the code:

Code:

/*
#include <stdio.h>

main ()

{   // initialisation des variables

   float monnaie;                            // Nombre entr&#233; par usager
   int cents=0;                                // variable utilis&#233;e pour les calculs
   int validation;
   char condition;
   // Boucle do ... while, pour ne pas devoir repartir le programme pour chaque calcul
   do
     {
        int toonies=0;
        int loonies=0;
        int quarters=0;
        int dimes=0;
        int nickels=0;
        int pennies=0;
        // Nbr de pi&#232;ces

   do              // boucle de validation (monnaie entre 0 inclus et 5 non inclus)
     {
        printf("Entrez le montant a remettre: (x.xx)");     // Entr&#233;e du change a remettre
        fflush(stdin);                                      // vider la memoire temp.
        scanf("%f", monnaie);

        validation = ( monnaie >= 0 && monnaie < 5);

        if (!validation)   // si pas vrai
        printf ("Montant de change non valide! SVP le retaper. \n");
      
	  } while (!validation);       // tant que non valide

      // Calculs
      		cents = monnaie * 100;		// pour faciliter les calculs
			while (cents >= 200) {
				toonies++;
				cents -= 200;
			}
			while (cents >= 100) {
				loonies++;
				cents -= 100;
			}
			while (cents >= 25) {
				quarters++;
				cents -= 25;
			}
			while (cents >= 10) {
				dimes++;
				cents -= 10;
			}
			while (cents >= 5) {
				nickels++;
				cents -= 5;
			}
            while (cents >=1) {
                cents++;
                cents-=1;
                } 
      // Affichage des resultats
		printf ("Vous aurez: \n");
        printf ("%d pieces de 2$, \n", toonies);
        printf ("%d pieces de 1$, \n", loonies);
        printf ("%d pieces de 25c, \n", quarters);
        printf ("%d pieces de 10c, \n", dimes);
        printf ("%d pieces de 5c \n", nickels);
        printf ("et \n%d pieces de 1c", pennies);

      // Condition requise pour repartir du d&#233;but
        printf ("\nVoulez vous faire un autre calcul, (o/n)?");
        fflush (stdin);                        // Fonction pour vider stdin
        condition = toupper(getchar());        // Capitaliser la letter et soumettre &#224; condition
      
	  } while ( condition == 'O');             // Repartir du d&#233;but si O


   system("pause") ;
}


/*

R&#233;sultats:
==========



*/

Again, thanks... this is greatly appreciated.

(Cautionary note: I did not run the code.) It appears that you are assuming that 4.99*100 = 499. This is not true. (It all comes down to 4.99 not being representable in binary format in finite space, so your computer uses an approximation, but when you multiply by 100 and then truncate (which is what assigning to an int does), that approximation comes back to bite you.) I would bet that if you print cents before starting, you'd see that in your problem cases it's one less than you want. So: maybe something like monnaie * 100 + 0.5 will help with that.

(I don't see how you could get the pennies right -- you never change the value of that variable in your code anywhere.)

So this page will tell you what number is actually stored when you type in a given number. You can see that, when you type in 4.99, your float variable actually contains 4.9899998 (it's the best you can do with only 32 bits). Multiplying that by a 100 will give you 498.99998, and then the automatic truncation kicks in and you get 498. This is why you need to add that 0.5 (or do some other rounding) to get the value you want.

There are two problems within your code.
1. You should pass a pointer rather than the variable itself to scanf

Code:

scanf("%f", &monnaie);

2. Adding #include <stdlib.h> in your code in which system function is declared.

i'm understanding the truncating part but say 4.99 wasn't 4.99 but more 4.99xxxxx
if it were to truncate... why would it at 498 when multiplied by 100 rather than 500 ?
just thought that occurred to me

Originally Posted by bbebfe

There are two problems within your code.
1. You should pass a pointer rather than the variable itself to scanf

Code:

scanf("%f", &monnaie);

I had corrected that... was working on 2 of the same file at the same time and pasted the one last modified. my bad

2. Adding #include <stdlib.h> in your code in which system function is declared.

which system function is that? the toInt() ?
because even with stdlib included it's not working... odd it worked like an hour ago... only thing that change is PC location... school to home lol

i just read some where that it's better to use long instead of int and try to convert a real into an in... as the cents is an int but it's being give the value of amount (real) * 100

just tried the code but still... 4.99 gives back 4.98 in change.. greedy pc b@stard.. 4.66 gives 4.65 too..

ok problem resolved... tabstop all it needed was that 0.5 you mentioned in your first post...
feel silly
thanks so much for the help... i can't believe i almost got a hernia from this.... been on it 12 hours straight!

Originally Posted by OrAnGeWorX

i'm understanding the truncating part but say 4.99 wasn't 4.99 but more 4.99xxxxx
if it were to truncate... why would it at 498 when multiplied by 100 rather than 500 ?
just thought that occurred to me

Truncate means to get rid of the extra decimal, instead of trying to round it off. Since multiplying gives you 498.99998, truncating leaves 498 instead of 499.

Originally Posted by tabstop

Truncate means to get rid of the extra decimal, instead of trying to round it off. Since multiplying gives you 498.99998, truncating leaves 498 instead of 499.

that's what i mean... y would the multiplication give 98 when it's a full 99... 4.99 isn't 4.9899999 or whatnot.. this eludes me

4.99 isn't 4.9899999 or whatnot.. this eludes me

Except that it is, at least on a computer. Just like if I asked you to write down 1/3 as a decimal, you wouldn't ever be able to stop, if I asked you to write 4.99 in binary you wouldn't be able to stop. It's a repeating decimal, and if we only keep a finite amount we get 4.9899998.