Thread: Reading numeric input one by one

  1. #1
    Registered User oval's Avatar
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    Reading numeric input one by one

    I am trying to create a program where a user can enter a value like 1234 and the output will print according to my assigned values of 1, 2, 3 and 4.

    i.e. 1=ABC, 2=DEF, 3=GHI, 4=JKL, ..... and so on.

    Example:

    User enters: 123

    Output Displayed: ABCDEFGHI

    I know how I am going to code my conditional statements, but I don't know how to read the user input intenger by integer in order to display the results I want.

    Any suggestions would really be appreciated.

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    old man
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    Use fgets() to get a string of user input from stdin ... then parse it.

    You'd run into a problem if you wanted to use a value greater than 9 -- then you'd need to use a token to separate numeric strings (a comma is a common choice). In your case, however, with each digit representing three letters of the alphabet, you'll be okay ...

    Instead of conditional statements here, I'd go with indexing into an array of strings ...

  3. #3
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    Code:
    char buff[32];
    char *p;
    char output[64];
    /* fill buff with the user input */
    
    p = buff;
    output[0] = 0;
    while(*p)
    {
       switch(*p++)
       {
          case '1':
             strcat(ouput,"ABC");
             break;
          case '2':
             strcat(output,"DEF");
         etc....
       }
    }
    Things to keep in mind though:
    - Don't overflow the output buffer by writing in too many characters.
    - You need to handle bad input. What if a user inputs "12F4A"? Also fgets() will append a \n

  4. #4
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    try functon getchar() as the condition of a while loop, with switch (or if) statements and strcat in the loop itself(i think your confused - look below).

    here is how it will work.
    1. in condition of while loop:
    getchar() gets a character and assigns it to a char variable - if that character is '\n' it exits loop
    2. in loop
    if input is recognized add the appropriate string to the end of a char array (strcat(nameofarray, "text to add").
    if not do something- i don't know (error message maybe).
    3. out of while loop (the user pressed enter)
    print the array.

    note: you will need to assign nameofarray[0] = '\0' before the while statement or there will be trouble.

  5. #5
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    Thanks Everyone, I really appreciate the help.

  6. #6
    old man
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    Here's what an implementation of my suggestions would look like:

    Code:
    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <string.h>
    #include <ctype.h>
    
    /* arbitrary values */
    #define IN_SIZE 16
    #define OUT_SIZE (IN_SIZE * 3) + 1
    
    
    void
    clr_stdin (char *s)
    {
      char ch, *p;
      if ((p = strchr (s, '\n')) == NULL)
        while ((ch = getchar()) != '\n' && ch != EOF)
          ;
      else *p = '\0';
    }
    
    
    int
    main (void)
    {
      char inbuf[IN_SIZE], outbuf[OUT_SIZE];  int i;
      char *alpha[] = {
        "ABC","DEF","GHI","JKL","MNO","PQR","STU","VWX","YZ"
      };
    
      while (1)
      {
        printf ("\nEnter your numbers > ");
        if (fgets (inbuf, IN_SIZE, stdin))
        {
          if (!(isdigit (*inbuf)))
            break;
          clr_stdin (inbuf);
    
          *outbuf = '\0';
          for (i = 0; inbuf[i] != '\0'; i++)
          {
            if (isdigit (inbuf[i]) && inbuf[i] != '0')
              strcat (outbuf, alpha[(inbuf[i]-'0')-1]);
          }
          if (*outbuf == '\0')
            strcat (outbuf, "(invalid)");
          printf ("Your output: %s\n", outbuf);
        }
      }
      printf ("\nGood bye\n\n");
      return 0;
    }
    Last edited by eerok; 01-23-2006 at 06:45 PM.

  7. #7
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    well here is my version
    Code:
    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <string.h>
    
    int main() {
        
        char output[100];    // stores the message to be displayed after input
        char x;              // stores the immediate character entered
        
        printf("Enter numbers to convert into text: ");
        output[0] = '\0';              // this is important 
        
        while ( (x=getchar()) != '\n') {
            // adds an appropriate text to output depending on input 
            switch (x) {
                case '0': 
                    strcat(output, "ABC");
                    break;
                case '1':
                    strcat(output, "DEF");
                    break;
            }
        }
        printf("\nignoring invalid inputs the text is....\n");
        printf("%s", output);
    
        while (getchar() != '\n') ;
        return 0;
    }

  8. #8
    Just Lurking Dave_Sinkula's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by eerok
    Here's what an implementation of my suggestions would look like:
    Same thing only different:
    Code:
    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <ctype.h>
    
    void foo(const char *text)
    {
       static const char *output[] =
       {
          "","ABC","DEF","GHI","JKL","MNO","PQR","STU","VWX","YZ",
       };
       for ( ; *text != '\0'; ++text )
       {
          if ( isdigit(*text) )
          {
             fputs(output[*text - '0'], stdout);
          }
       }
       putchar('\n');
    }
    
    int main(void)
    {
       char text[80];
       fputs("prompt: ", stdout);
       fflush(stdout);
       if ( fgets(text, sizeof text, stdin) != NULL )
       {
          foo(text);
       }
       return 0;
    }
    
    /* my output
    prompt: 123
    ABCDEFGHI
    */
    It just ignores any nondigit text and goes straight to the stdout rather than using a string.
    7. It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
    40. There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.*

  9. #9
    old man
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave_Sinkula
    It just ignores any nondigit text and goes straight to the stdout rather than using a string.
    Yes, the string isn't necessary ... it's just a mindset thing I guess (you never know what you can make use of later)

    I'm curious about your use of 'fflush (stdout)', though -- it's something I've never found cause to use: is it very common for a system to withhhold the buffered data on stdout?

  10. #10
    Just Lurking Dave_Sinkula's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by eerok
    I'm curious about your use of 'fflush (stdout)', though -- it's something I've never found cause to use: is it very common for a system to withhhold the buffered data on stdout?
    In my preferred environment (SlickEdit's build window), yes, and I find that fortunate.

    Without it:
    C:\Test>GnuC\myapp.exe
    123
    prompt: ABCDEFGHI
    7. It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
    40. There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.*

  11. #11
    old man
    Join Date
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    C:\Test>GnuC\myapp.exe
    123
    prompt: ABCDEFGHI
    Yes, that's no good at all. Now I understand

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