Array Average Issue

[carpeltunnel]

Hello,

I am new to C and the forum. I am taking my first class in programming and am a little stuck in the assignment.

The guidelines are to write a program that allows a user to input numbers into an array to be averaged. I am supposed to use the argv function from main and not use scanf (this part is really throwing me off). Lastly it is supposed to remind the user if they forget to enter an interger ( I am not that far yet so that is an non-issue)

So my code at the time being is:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main(int *argv[]){
    
    int i;
    int sum = 0;
    float average;
    
    printf ( "Welcome to the Average Program. \n");
    
    for ( i = 0; i < 0; i++) {
        printf ( " Enter the numbers you would like to average: ");
               scanf ("%d", &argv[i]);
               sum += arr[i];
        }   
        
        average = (float)sum/argv[];
        printf ("\n The average is %.lf\n", average);
        
    
    getchar();
    
    return 0;
    
}

I have comipled the program without any errors but it does not run. So I know I have went awry somewhere.

What I THINK the program was doing:

1. Declaring the array.
2. Running it through a for-loop to received the inputted numbers from the user.
3. Averaging and printing the user-inputed numbers

Thanks for your help, any pointers on format or anything else I am missing is appreciated. I am here to learn.

[std10093]

• Welcome to the forum
  
• argv is not a function.It is actually a parameter of function main.Usually main has two arguments(parameters) argv and argc or no parameters at all.Let's for now stick to only one parameter,argv.What is argv?argv is an array of characters.
  
• You have written
  

  int main(int *argv[])

  but you should write it like this
  

  #include <stdio.h>
  
  int main (int argc, char *argv[])
  {
  
    return 0;
  }

  argc is the number of arguments your program has and argv holds these arguments. I suggest you looking here The GNU C Programming Tutorial
  

•  for ( i = 0; i < 0; i++)

  First look here a bit For loop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and then think that we set i to zero and what we actually say to our program is "Execute the body of this loop until i is smaller than zero".But i is equal to zero already,so the body of this loop will never be executed.
  

• scanf ("%d", &argv[i]);

  scanf is for requesting data from the user.But you have to use argv,thus command line.Did i understood correct?If so this line must be removed.
  

• sum += arr[i];

  This line does not produce any errors???????????What is arr[i]?I am looking at your code and i do not see any declaration with this name !
  

• average = (float)sum/argv[];

  What does this line do?I think it is not correct.
  
• You said that you think that the program is declaring an array..I see only these declerations
  

      int i;
      int sum = 0;
      float average;

  none of them is an array.Remember that argv is an argument of a function(main function)

[carpeltunnel]

Thanks for the pointers and resources, but they left me with a few questions.

Can I used argv[] to store the user input or do I have to declare an another array?
Also, how are numbers stored using this as opposed to the scanf route?

[std10093]

Basically, argc is an integer that contains the number of arguments passed to the program and argv is an array of the arguments that was passed.
argv[0] is always the program name itself.

You write them at command line and program automatically stores the data into argv.For example,if i write
myProgram 1 2 3
then argc=4
and argv[0] contains myProgram
argv[1]=1
argv[2]=2
argv[3]=3

[carpeltunnel]

Got it. Thanks. Believe that straightened me out, I learned quite a bit rather quickly, but I am unsure how to prompt the user to input intergers if they try to run the program without doing so.

[Click_here]

if (argc != EXPECTED_AMOUNT)
{
    init_self_destruct();
    fputs("Self Destruction Initiated", stderr);
    return 1; //Exit Failure from main and run away.
}

[LearnOnTheFly]

....

[carpeltunnel]

I guess I should of clarified it should just tell the user to enter integers if they try to run the program without entering values. We do not have to write for any unexpected inputs

[Click_here]

LearnOnTheFly:

....

Yes - I need to get out more.

What I was trying to say was that you could check that the inputs are correct, and only prompt them if they get it wrong (by checking the value argc has).

If in Windows Command Prompt you call ipconfig with incorrect inputs, it prompts you with "Error: unrecongnized or incomplete command line" and then displays help information of what it expects.

[iMalc]

 for ( i = 0; i < 0; i++)

First look here a bit For loop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and then think that we set i to zero and what we actually say to our program is "Execute the body of this loop until i is smaller than zero".But i is equal to zero already,so the body of this loop will never be executed.

Not quite, the body of the for-loop is executed while the condition is true, not until it is true.

[carpeltunnel]

I believe the average part of the program works and is correct here:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
    
    int i;
    int sum = 0;
    float average;
    
    printf ( "Welcome to the Average Program. \n");
    
    for ( i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
        sum += i;
        
    } 
        
        average = (float)sum/argc;
        printf ("\n The average is %.lf\n", average);
        
    
    getchar();
    
    return 0;
    
}

To finish though, I need to alert the user if they do not enter any integers (I do not have to plan the program for incorrect input such as char, double, etc) just if they attempt to run the program without entering any numbers.

I'm not quite sure how to go about this and any input would be appreciated.

[laserlight]

Click_here already suggested that you check the value of argc.

[Click_here]

"I believe the average part of the program works and is correct here:"

    for ( i = 0; i < argc; i++) {        sum += i;            }

I don't think that this is working for you correctly - Didn't you want to take the average of what was being put in? argv[i]?...

[carpeltunnel]

You're right click, thank you. I was inputting 1 2 3 4 5 as on my command line and was receiving the right answer. But when I used random integers I obviously got the wrong number.

How do I find the sum of the inputs in argv? I'm unsure how to pass the values to aquire the correct sum converting the char argv to int.

[AndiPersti]

How do I find the sum of the inputs in argv? I'm unsure how to pass the values to aquire the correct sum converting the char argv to int.

First you should start your index i with 1 instead of 0 because argv[0] is the name of the program.

For converting a string to int read the FAQ.

Bye, Andreas