First time Post/First Time Question

**mikeman92** · 06-12-2017

Code:

 #include<stdio.h>#include<stdlib.h>
#include<time.h>
main()
{
    float choice=0, result=0, cnt=0;
    int ans;
    time_t t;
    do
    {
        srand(time(&t));
        printf("pick a number from 1 to 4:\n");
        scanf("%f", &choice);
        if (choice<=4 && choice>=0)
        {
            result=(rand()%3)+1;
        }
        else
        {
            printf("I'm sorry, Please pick a number within the stated range");
            continue;
        }
        if (choice==result)
        {
            printf("YAY!!!! You got it right!\n!");
            cnt= cnt + 1 ;
            printf("Your score is %d\n", cnt);
            printf("Would you like to try again?\n");


        }
        else
        {
            printf("OOOOHHHH!!!! Better luck next time.\n\n " );
            printf("Your score is %d\n", cnt);
            printf("Try again?\n\n");
        }
            printf("Please answer with yes=0 or no=1.\n\n\n");
            scanf(" %d", &ans);


    }while(ans= 1);
    return 0;
}

Above is my program for rolling a random number between 1 and 4. When I try to keep going by pressing '0', the program still ends.
I've been self teaching myself C and have been doing well so far up to this point so perhaps it's something subtle.

Also, could someone guide me on how I would introduce a string into the "While" statement. I initially tried to have the user type in "yes" or "no" but to no luck.

Thank you for your time.

**GReaper** · 06-12-2017

Call srand only once at the beginning of your program, don't call it repeatedly.

Time doesn't necessarily need a valid pointer, you can give it NULL and it simply returns the time.

Assignment(=) isn't the same as equality(==). I'm talking about line #41.

**mikeman92** · 06-12-2017

I greatly appreciate your help GReaper. I have now tried to change the yes and no response from binary to strings. Attached is what I have got...

Code:

#include<stdio.h>#include<stdlib.h>
#include<time.h>
main()
{
    float choice=0, result=0;
    int cnt=0;
    char ans[4];
    //time_t t;
    do
    {
        //srand(time(&t));
        printf("pick a number from 1 to 2:\n");
        scanf(" %f", &choice);
        if (choice<=2 && choice>=0)
        {
            result=(rand()%2)+1;
        }
        else
        {
            printf("I'm sorry, Please pick a number within the stated range");
            continue;
        }
        if (choice==result)
        {
            printf("YAY!!!! You got it right!\n!");
            cnt= cnt + 1 ;
            printf("Your score is %d\n", cnt);
            printf("Would you like to try again?\n");


        }
        else
        {
            printf("OOOOHHHH!!!! Better luck next time.\n\n " );
            printf("Your score is %d\n", cnt);
            printf("Try again?\n\n");
        }
            printf("Please answer with yes or no.\n\n\n");
            scanf(" %s", ans);


    }while(ans=="yes");
    return 0;
}

I'm still coming across the issue of having the program shutting down even if I type "yes". Will I need to use strcpy somewhere or is there something else I'm missing?

Thanks Again.

**laserlight** · 06-12-2017

I would propose a slightly different way of structuring your code:

Code:

do
    while true
        print prompt for number choice
        choice = user input
        if choice is not within range
            print message informing user choice is not within range
        else
            break

    result = random number within range

    if choice == result
        print congratulations
        increase score
        print score
        print prompt to try again
    else
        print message informing user that choice was not succesful
        print score
        print prompt to try again

    ans = user input
while ans == "yes"

Things to note:

Are you sure you want to deal with floating point numbers? It looks like you should be dealing with integers instead. If you really want floating point numbers, e.g., you want to allow the user to enter a choice such as 1.23, then you must consider that floating point numbers have a certain inaccuracy that may make your comparison for the result fail even when you think it should succeed.
String comparison in C is done with strcmp and similiar functions because if you use ans=="yes" as in your code, it would actually compare the address of the first element of ans with the address of the first character of the string literal "yes" rather than comparing the string values. Since ans is a different array from "yes", this is always result in 0 (i.e., false).
You commented it out, but the srand call should be placed earlier in main, before the loop.
main should be explicitly declared as returning int, and although unnecessary for a function definition, it is good to have void as the parameter list since the function takes no arguments. This would match the forward declaration, where leaving out the void would mean that the function takes an unknown number of arguments. Of course, you will not be forward declaring the main function, but it is good practice for when you write other functions.

Instead of hardcoding 2 or 4 etc, declare a constant and use it, e.g.,

Code:

const int range_upper_limit = 2;
/* ... */
printf("pick a number from 1 to %d:\n", range_upper_limit);
/* ... */
result = (rand() % range_upper_limit) + 1;

**mikeman92** · 06-14-2017

Thank you very much for your response laserlight,

From what I've looked up regarding the use of strcmp, will I need to create another variable to compare with the variable "ans" ?

**laserlight** · 06-14-2017

No, you can compare ans directly with "yes" using strcmp. Note that strcmp does not return a boolean value.

**mikeman92** · 06-20-2017

Alright, I'm just about done with this little program of mine. Actually, it's already done.
My program is still as posted above with the exception that I have created a char r[]="yes"; array.
My "do..while" function now looks like this at its end:

Code:

 while( !strcmp(r,ans));

I'm trying to understand why it makes sense to use the "not" operator.
Thank you.

**stahta01** · 06-20-2017

Originally Posted by mikeman92

Alright, I'm just about done with this little program of mine. Actually, it's already done.
My program is still as posted above with the exception that I have created a char r[]="yes"; array.
My "do..while" function now looks like this at its end:

Code:

 while( !strcmp(r,ans));

I'm trying to understand why it makes sense to use the "not" operator.
Thank you.

Lookup the value returned strcmp - C++ Reference

Edit: I would use the below instead.

Code:

 while( 0 == strcmp(r,ans));

Tim S.

**mikeman92** · 06-21-2017

Thank you for the help!

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