ifstream with getline and inputfile.eof() is not working.

This is not a homework but just a self study.
I am trying to read the information from inputFile and then loop through the data and display it. However; the below code falls into infinite loop. What am I doing wrong?

Code:

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#include <iostream>#include <fstream>


using namespace std;


int main()
{
    ofstream outputFile;
    outputFile.open("Store Sales.txt");
    const int MAX_STORE = 5;
    double sales;
    int asteriks;
    string storeName;
    // Loop through each store and get the sales value
    for(int storeCounter = 1 ; storeCounter <= MAX_STORE ; storeCounter++)
    {
        cout << "Enter the sales for store #" << storeCounter << ": " << '\n';
        cin >> sales;
        outputFile << "Store " << storeCounter << '\n';
        outputFile << sales << '\n';
    }
    // Close the file
    outputFile.close();


    // Open the same file and show the asterisks graph bar
    ifstream inputFile;
    inputFile.open("Store Sales.txt");


    // Test whether the file exists
    if(inputFile)
    {
        cout  << "SALES BAR CHART" << endl;
        cout << "(Each *= $100)" << endl;
        while(!inputFile.eof())
        {
            getline(inputFile,storeName);
            cout << storeName << ": ";
            inputFile >> sales;
            asteriks = (sales / 100);
            for(int i = 1; i<= asteriks; i++)
            {
                cout << "*";
            }
            cout << endl;
        }
    }
    else
    {
        cout << "Cannot open the file!" << endl;
        return 0;
    }
    // Close the file
    inputFile.close();
return 0;
}

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.eof() returns true only when you try to read past the end of the file.

Try this instead:

Code:

---

while(getline(inputFile,storeName);)
{
    ...

---

Also please post a sample of your input file.

Jim

I think the problem is that inputFile >> sales; on line 40, after having read your sales value, doesn't skip past the newline character in the file. The next call to std::getline then consumes that newline and the following inputFile >> sales; reads non numerical data it can't deal with. If you make sales of type char, the loop should terminate.

To fix this, you could call inputFile.get() after reading into sales. I'm not sure if this is the best practice though.

Generally speaking, it's better to store associated sales data on the same line, separated by spaces and use std::getline as Elkvis suggested. You can then safely pry apart the written string (or stringstream) containing the whole line.

This is basically it.

Quote:

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Store 1
100
Store 2
200

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jimblumberg

Also please post a sample of your input file.

Jim

---

Text file is this
Store 1
100
Store 2
200

Okay, so as already suggested the problem is that your input operations are failing so you enter an endless loop because you're only checking for eof() not any other file read problem. So to solve the problem you could do something like:

Code:

---

        while(getline(inputFile >> ws, storeName))  // The ws manipulator will force getline() to skip all leading whitespace.
        {
            cout << storeName << ": ";
            inputFile >> sales;
            asteriks = (sales / 100);
            for(int i = 1; i<= asteriks; i++)
            {
                cout << "*";
            }
            cout << endl;
        }

---

Jim

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jimblumberg

Okay, so as already suggested the problem is that your input operations are failing so you enter an endless loop because you're only checking for eof() not any other file read problem. So to solve the problem you could do something like:

Code:

---

        while(getline(inputFile >> ws, storeName))  // The ws manipulator will force getline() to skip all leading whitespace.
        {
            cout << storeName << ": ";
            inputFile >> sales;
            asteriks = (sales / 100);
            for(int i = 1; i<= asteriks; i++)
            {
                cout << "*";
            }
            cout << endl;
        }

---

Jim

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Perfect. This works.
Thank you so much.