Character Array and For Loop

Hello-

I am working in C and the code builds without error but the application crashes shortly after starting.

I will run the same body of code, but the thanks_link[x], folder_path[x] and name[x] variables should change with each loop of the For Loop. i.e. first time through the loop Mary's information is used, second time through John, etc...


I want to create 8 separate output files for 8 different people using the code below.

Ex)
x=1)Mary
x=2)John
x=3)Suzy
x=4)Chris
x=5)Liz
x=6)Jim
x=7)Erica
x=8)Steve

I know it has something to do with the character array and the For Loop I am using. Any suggestions on what is going wrong?


Here is the code:

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
int main (void)
{

 
    int x;
 char filename[20];

 
    char *folder_path[8];
 char *thanks_link[8];
 char *name[8];
 char *member_name[8];


 
 char word1[50];
 char word2[50];
 char word3[50];
 char word4[50];
 char word5[50];
 
 char word6[50];
 char word7[50];
 char word8[50];
 char word9[50];
 char word10[50];
 
 char word11[50];
 char word12[50];
 char word13[50];
 char word14[50];
 char word15[50];
 
 char word16[50];
 char word17[50];
 char word18[50];
 char word19[50];
 char word20[50];
 
 char word21[50];
 char word22[50];
 char word23[50];
 char word24[50];
 char word25[50];
 
 
 
 
 
 FILE *in_file;
    FILE *outFile;
 
  folder_path[1] = "/Mary_369/picks.txt";
  folder_path[2] = "/John_715/picks.txt";
  folder_path[3] = "/Suzy_917/picks.txt";
  folder_path[4] = "/Chris_118/picks.txt";
  folder_path[5] = "/Liz_891/picks.txt";
  folder_path[6] = "/Jim_593/picks.txt";
  folder_path[7] = "/Erica_073/picks.txt";
  folder_path[8] = "/Steve_946/picks.txt";

   
  thanks_link[1] = "Thanks_Mary";
  thanks_link[2] = "Thanks_John";
  thanks_link[3] = "Thanks_Suzy";
  thanks_link[4] = "Thanks_Chris";
  thanks_link[5] = "Thanks_Liz";
  thanks_link[6] = "Thanks_Jim";
  thanks_link[7] = "Thanks_Erica";
  thanks_link[8] = "Thanks_Steve";
   

  name[1] = "MARY";
  name[2] = "JOHN";
  name[3] = "SUZY";
  name[4] = "CHRIS";
  name[5] = "LIZ";
  name[6] = "JIM";
  name[7] = "ERICA";
  name[8] = "STEVE";



 
 in_file = fopen("current.txt", "r");



    fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word1);                         
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word2);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word3);                   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word4);   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word5);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word6);         
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word7);   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word8);   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word9);   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word10);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word11);                   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word12);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word13);                       
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word14); 
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word15);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word16);             
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word17);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word18);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word19);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word20);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word21);                   
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word22);
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word23);                       
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word24); 
  fscanf(in_file, "%s", &word25);



   
for (x = 1; x < 9; x++)
{
   
    sprintf(filename, "NAME_%d.txt", x);
    outFile = fopen(filename, "w");   




fprintf(outFile, "<METHOD=POST %s ; return true;\">\n\n", thanks_link[x]);

fprintf(outFile, "<INPUT TYPE=\"hidden\" NAME=\"savefile\" VALUE=\"%s\">\n\n", folder_path[x]);

fprintf(outFile, "<INPUT TYPE=\"hidden\" NAME=\"MEMBER'S NAME\" VALUE=\"%s\">\n\n", name[x]);

fprintf(outFile, "<INPUT TYPE=\"hidden\" NAME=\"SUBJECT\" VALUE=\"%s %s %s %s\">\n\n", name[x], word1, word2, word3);


}


}

---

Maybe something like this.
I'm not sure what you're doing with the "words" that you read from current.txt.
In your code you are only ever printing out the first three words.
I changed it to write the first three words for the first person, the next three for the next person, etc.
It would probably be better for the "ids" to be read from a file instead of being hardcoded.

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctype.h>
 
#define INFILE      "current.txt"
#define SAVEFILE    "picks.txt"
#define NUM_IDS      8
#define NUM_WORDS  25
#define MAX_STRING  50
 
void get_name(const char *id, char *name_only)
{
    char ch;
    while ((ch = *name_only++ = *id++) != '_' && ch != '\0') ;
    if (ch) *--name_only = '\0';
}
 
void to_uppercase(const char *in, char *out)
{
    while ((*out++ = toupper(*in++)) != '\0') ;
}
 
int main()
{
    const char *ids[NUM_IDS] =
    {
        "Mary_369", "John_715", "Suzy_917",  "Chris_118",
        "Liz_891",  "Jim_593",  "Erica_073", "Steve_946"
    };
 
    FILE *inFile = fopen(INFILE, "r");
    if (!inFile)
    {
        perror(INFILE);
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
 
    char word[NUM_WORDS][MAX_STRING]; 
    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_WORDS; ++i)
        fscanf(inFile, "%s", word[i]);
 
    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_IDS; ++i)
    {
        char filename[MAX_STRING + 10];
        sprintf(filename, "%s_%d.txt", ids[i], i + 1);
 
        FILE *outFile = fopen(filename, "w");
        if (!outFile)
        {
            perror(filename);
            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }
 
        char name_only[MAX_STRING], uppercase_name[MAX_STRING];
        get_name(ids[i], name_only);
        to_uppercase(name_only, uppercase_name);
 
        fprintf(outFile,
            "<METHOD=POST Thanks_%s ; return true;\">\n\n",
            name_only);
        fprintf(outFile,
            "<INPUT TYPE=\"hidden\" NAME=\"savefile\" VALUE=\"/%s/%s\">\n\n",
            ids[i], SAVEFILE);
        fprintf(outFile,
            "<INPUT TYPE=\"hidden\" NAME=\"MEMBER'S NAME\" VALUE=\"%s\">\n\n",
            uppercase_name);
        fprintf(outFile,
            "<INPUT TYPE=\"hidden\" NAME=\"SUBJECT\" VALUE=\"%s %s %s %s\">\n\n",
            uppercase_name, word[3*i], word[3*i+1], word[3*i+2]);
 
        fclose(outFile);
    }
 
    return 0;
}

---

Thank you john.c for the response and support.
Let's not focus on the input file and the "words". Is it possible to have the variables in the For Loop iterate up one spot for each separate output file so the results look like the below?

Ex)

Output File #1 for Mary
File Name -- "Mary_1.txt"

Thanks_Mary
/Mary_369/picks.txt
MARY

Output File #2 for John
File Name -- "John_2.txt"

Thanks_John
/John_715/picks.txt
John


Etc...

Code:

---


#include <stdio.h>

int main (void)
{

 

 int x;

 char filename[20];
 

 

 char *folder_path[8];

 char *thanks_link[8];
 char *name[8];

 char *member_name[8];

 

 
 

  FILE *outFile;

 

  folder_path[1] = "/Mary_369/picks.txt";

  folder_path[2] = "/John_715/picks.txt";
  folder_path[3] = "/Suzy_917/picks.txt";

  folder_path[4] = "/Chris_118/picks.txt";
  folder_path[5] = "/Liz_891/picks.txt";

  folder_path[6] = "/Jim_593/picks.txt";

  folder_path[7] = "/Erica_073/picks.txt";

  folder_path[8] = "/Steve_946/picks.txt";
 

   

  thanks_link[1] = "Thanks_Mary";

  thanks_link[2] = "Thanks_John";

  thanks_link[3] = "Thanks_Suzy";
  thanks_link[4] = "Thanks_Chris";

  thanks_link[5] = "Thanks_Liz";

  thanks_link[6] = "Thanks_Jim";

  thanks_link[7] = "Thanks_Erica";

  thanks_link[8] = "Thanks_Steve";

   

 

  name[1] = "MARY";

  name[2] = "JOHN";

  name[3] = "SUZY";
  name[4] = "CHRIS";

  name[5] = "LIZ";

  name[6] = "JIM";

  name[7] = "ERICA";

  name[8] = "STEVE";

 

   

for (x = 1; x < 9; x++)

{

   

    sprintf(filename, "NAME_%d.txt", x);

    outFile = fopen(filename, "w");   



fprintf(outFile, "%s\n\n", thanks_link[x]);

 

fprintf(outFile, "%s\n\n", folder_path[x]);

 
fprintf(outFile, "%s\n\n", name[x]);

 

 

}

 

 

}

---

Arrays start from 0, not 1. You are writing outside the bounds of your allocated memory every time you access arrayname[8].

Thanks rags. The application did not crash this time. Something that "simple" would cause the entire executable to crash?

Well, it's not really that simple. You're trying to read/write from memory that isn't yours (allocated by you for you). That's a big enough problem to cause a crash.