Thread: Beginner question about scanf/printf

Obviously I am a noob, and just trying to get a grasp on C. I wrote the following, thinking it would be simple, but it truncates the output, and I cannot see why.

Code:

  #include <stdio.h>
  int main()
  {
      char dummy[80];
      printf("Enter a string:\n");
      scanf("%[^a]",dummy);
      printf("%s\n",dummy);
      return 0;
  }

When I run it:
$ ./a.out
Enter a string:
This is a test
This is
$

Where am i going wrong?
thanks

What do you expect %[^a] to do?

Im not sure. I don't quite get it. I saw it in another code example. Even if i change it to %s it still truncates the output.

Originally Posted by mickeyd

Im not sure. I don't quite get it. I saw it in another code example. Even if i change it to %s it still truncates the output.

I hope you didn't malloc() anything....

Originally Posted by mickeyd

Im not sure. I don't quite get it. I saw it in another code example. Even if i change it to %s it still truncates the output.

I wonder where you would have seen that. I would have expected you to see "%[^\n]", which is what you want.

To find out what it does, you should read the manual on scanf (type "man scanf" into your terminal, into Google, or into your C textbook).

Awesome! It worked as you suggest. Thank you.