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Since there is no string type in C how do read in a string? For example:
I want to prompt the user for the name of a file. Using the name of the file I want to open the file.
Since I won't know the name of the file in advance I can't store the characters in an array because I wont know the size of the string. Is there a function that does this that I don't know about?
> Since I won't know the name of the file in advance I can't store the characters in an array because I wont know the size of the string
Most systems impose limits on the upper length of a filename, which shouldn't be a problem.
> Is there a function that does this that I don't know about?
I dunno, do you know about "malloc" and "realloc"?
Well now you do :)
Thx for the responsse Salem,but is there an easier way to do this? I'm not that advanced in my skills yet.
If you want strings, use C++; otherwise you'll have to create char arrays that are big enough to do what you want.
In C, no.Quote:
Originally Posted by mesmer
In C++, yes (as cpjust kindly points out).
And no, there is no "string type" in C, because it's... well, C. There is an array of chars, which are used to make C-strings, but they are not strings. It is just the kind of thing you have to work with when working with a low-level language like C.
Utilizing the upper limit for paths is arguably the easiest way to do it. The PATH_MAX constant, while not standard to C, is quite convenient as it is defined both in Windows in windows.h and in POSIX environments (Linux, Mac OSX) in limits.h.Quote:
Originally Posted by mesmer
Use it as the size for a char array in your declarations.
To limit the input in scanf() and prevent the overflow of a buffer you'll need to put a number between % and s:
Code:char buf[1024];
scanf("%1023s",&buf); //Make space for a '\0'
Better to use fgets. And you should not use & before buf, because that is a pointer to an char array and these functions expect a pointer to char.
Oh yea. :)