Thread: Fgets problem or text file issue?

I'm trying to read line by line from a text file

Code:

    FILE *fp;
    fp = fopen("airport.txt","r");
    if (fp == NULL)
    {
       exit(1);
    }
    
    char dispose[256];
    
    fgets(dispose,256,fp);
    
    printf("%s\n",dispose);

Layout of text file: airport.txt


Airport City/State Population Lat Lon
BHM Birmingham,Alabama 231483 33.5639 86.7522
ABC Los Angeles, California





The problem is: Fgets does not stop after the 1st line. It continues reading until 256 characters are read.

Is my textfile somehow missing a '\n'? I think Fgets cannot detect a newline char, thus it continues reading until EOF. Is it possible for a textfile to be missing newline?

"The fgets() function reads up to the first newline it encounters, or stops when it runs out of space to store the result, or when it gets EOF (so there is no more data to read)."

Originally Posted by tmac619619

Is my textfile somehow missing a '\n'? I think Fgets cannot detect a newline char, thus it continues reading until EOF. Is it possible for a textfile to be missing newline?

Yes, it's possible. For example, create a text file that only contains one long line. Some text editors will include a '\n' at the end, and some won't. Personally I think the '\n' should be there for it to be a true text file, but opinions differ.

For your case, try opening your data file using your standard system text editor (e.g. Notepad on Windows) and make sure multiple lines are actually displayed. Using your standard system text editor will ensure that the correct newline convention for your system is used.