Thread: Meaning of backspace

  1. #1
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    Meaning of backspace

    Exercise 1-10 in K&R's book states:

    Write a program to copy its input to its output, replacing each tab by \t, each backspace by \b, and each backslash by \\. This makes tabs and backspaces visible in an unambiguous way.
    My question is: How can the input have a backspace?

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Awesomefaceradcore bivhitscar's Avatar
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    Well, if you scan each input character using getchar(), then you should be able to detect any backspace pressed ( I think... ).

    [EDIT]
    Well, that doesn't work on windows xp and dev-c++
    Last edited by bivhitscar; 06-04-2006 at 03:36 AM.
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  3. #3
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    > My question is: How can the input have a backspace?
    That might depend on your OS and compiler.

    Most stdin streams are "cooked" in some way, so things like backspace and delete are handled by the terminal driver, so the user can edit the line they type in before pressing return.
    So any backspace they type gets interpreted by the driver rather than your program.

    Exactly how you get past that depends on your circumstances.
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
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  4. #4
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    ... There is a byte notation that will tell you what character is which, im sure backspace is in ther somwhere, meaning you could probably do a for loop and scan it while copying or editing the input to see... but i agree, you cant show a backspace in past time, only real time... good luck on this one...

  5. #5
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    Direct input functions like getch() will read backspaces. Backspace is ASCII 0x08.
    Code:
    #include <stdio.h>
    
    void J(char*a){int f,i=0,c='1';for(;a[i]!='0';++i)if(i==81){
    puts(a);return;}for(;c<='9';++c){for(f=0;f<9;++f)if(a[i-i%27+i%9
    /3*3+f/3*9+f%3]==c||a[i%9+f*9]==c||a[i-i%9+f]==c)goto e;a[i]=c;J(a);a[i]
    ='0';e:;}}int main(int c,char**v){int t=0;if(c>1){for(;v[1][
    t];++t);if(t==81){J(v[1]);return 0;}}puts("sudoku [0-9]{81}");return 1;}

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