input problem

[fatsrir]

hello
the input i need the program to interpret is:
D#W#L#I#
where D,W,L,I are actions and the "#" after is the amount
now i know that the best way is to use getchar()
and switch.

and my question is how can i tell the program to get the # as a whole and not as indvidual digits, because the number could be any number ranging from 1- 9999999

D,W,L,I can be in any order and variation meaning : W#D#I#I# or L#L#I#I#W#D#W#D etc...

so i can't just put scanf(%c%d%c%d%c%d%c%d).

thank you for your help!

[Memloop]

1) Read everything into a string using getline.
2) Parse the string one char at a time until you encounter a number.
3) Use sscanf or strtol to read in the number and use the current location of the string as parameter.
4) Repeat step 2 until EOF.

[fatsrir]

1) Read everything into a string using getline.
2) Parse the string one char at a time until you encounter a number.
3) Use sscanf or strtol to read in the number and use the current location of the string as parameter.
4) Repeat step 2 until EOF.

thank you for your answer, but i don't know the "getline" or "sscanf" (with double s) functions. can you explain please?

[Memloop]

Sorry, getline is a C++ function. I was thinking of fgets. Use strtol instead of sscanf for better error checking: strtol(3): convert string to long integer - Linux man page

[nonpuz]

You could also use getchar and scanf() combined which is probably what your "professor" wants you to do, Memloop provides a more robust solution.

Ie inside your switch, each case then calls scanf() to get the number, then the next getchar call will get the next letter and so on, of course if there is an error in the string everything will get messed up.