Trouble reading from txt file

Having trouble with a function in an assignment. The function should read transaction data from a txt file until the end of the file is reached. A typical transaction is shown below. The first field on the transaction record is the date of the transaction, followed by an account number, then the transaction type ('C' for charge or 'P' for payment), and finally a transaction amount.

06/19 1111-1111-1111-1111 C 430.00

Once all of the data for a given transaction has been read, search the accounts array for the account number given in the transaction. If the account number is present in the array, then the transaction may be processed. For a payment, simply call the process_payment() method for the object that contains a matching account number, passing it the transaction amount. For a charge, call the process_charge() method for the object that contains a matching account number, passing it the transaction amount.

For each transaction record, print a line in a transaction report with the data from the record and the updated balance for that account. If the balance is negative, it should be printed as a positive number but followed by the letters "CR". If the transaction account number was not found in the account array or if a charge exceeded the account's credit limit (i.e., if the process_charge() method returned false), print an appropriate error message instead of the account balance.

After all transactions have been processed, close the transaction file.

I have the rest of the program written, I'm just stuck on (what I believe to be) the logic of this part and how to read from the file and then compare it to the Class array I built earlier. My code is below and the function I'm having issues with is process_transactions (at the very bottom) Thanks in advance:

Code:

---

/*******************************************************************************
  PROGRAM:  Program 2 - Classes
  AUTHOR:    Brandon Rogers

  FUNCTION:  This program will implement a small database of
              credit card accounts.  A file of charge and payment
              transactions will be applied to the accounts.

  INPUT:    1) accounts  A binary file used to build the array
                            of CreditAccounts.
                            /home/turing/abyrnes/input/cs241/fall10/accounts
                           
              2) trans      A regular text file that contains the
                            different transactions that will be applied
                            to the array of CreditAccounts.
                            /home/turing/abyrnes/input/cs241/fall10/trans             

  OUTPUT:    Reports containing an initial Credit Account Listing, a
              Transaction Report and an updated Credit Account Listing.
             

*******************************************************************************/

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>

#define SIZE 20
#define ACCOUNTS /home/turing/abyrnes/input/cs241/fall10/accounts
#define TRANS /home/turing/abyrnes/input/cs241/fall10/trans

using namespace std;

class CreditAccount
{     
      public:
            CreditAccount();  // Constructor
            char* get_accountNumber();
            float get_balance();
            void process_payment( float );
            bool process_charge( float );
            void print();
           
      private:
              char acctNum[20];
              char custName[21];
              int expMonth;
              int expYear;
              float creditLimit;
              float currentBal;
};

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  CreditAccount - constructor

  ARGUMENTS:  none

  RETURNS:    nothing

  NOTES:      Initializes the string data members of the class
              to null and all of the numeric data members to 0
             
****************************************************************/
CreditAccount::CreditAccount()
{
acctNum[0] = '\0';
custName[0] = '\0';
expMonth = 0;
expYear = 0;
creditLimit = 0;
currentBal = 0;
}

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  get_accountNumber

  ARGUMENTS:  none

  RETURNS:    a pointer to the first character of the account number
 
****************************************************************/
char* CreditAccount::get_accountNumber()
{
return & acctNum[0];
}                 

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  get_balance

  ARGUMENTS:  none

  RETURNS:    the balance
 
****************************************************************/
float CreditAccount::get_balance()
{
return currentBal;
}
               
/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  process_payment

  ARGUMENTS:  a float payment amount

  RETURNS:    nothing

  NOTES:      subtracts the payment amount from the balance
 
****************************************************************/   
void CreditAccount::process_payment(float paymentAmt)
{
currentBal -= paymentAmt;                                   
}

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  process_charge

  ARGUMENTS:  a float charge amount

  RETURNS:    a boolean value

  NOTES:      If the charge amount plus the current balance is
              greater than the credit limit, the method returns
              false without changing the balance.  Otherwise, the
              charge amount is added to the balance and the
              method returns true.
 
****************************************************************/ 
bool CreditAccount::process_charge( float chargeAmt )
{
if( chargeAmt + currentBal > creditLimit )
    return false;
else
    currentBal += chargeAmt;
    return true;                             
}

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  print

  ARGUMENTS:  none

  RETURNS:    nothing

  NOTES:      prints the data members of the object on one line.
              if the balance is negative, it will print as a
              positive number followed by "CR" (for credit).
 
****************************************************************/ 
void CreditAccount::print()
{
cout << left << showpoint << fixed << setprecision(2)
    << setw(22) << acctNum << setw(20) << custName;
   
    if( expMonth < 10 )
    {
    cout << "0" << expMonth;
    }
   
    else
    {
    cout << expMonth;
    }
   
cout << "/"<< setw(7) << expYear;
cout << right << setw(10) << creditLimit
    << setw(14) << currentBal << endl;
}


// Function Prototypes:
int read_accounts( CreditAccount[] );
void print_accounts( CreditAccount[], int );
void process_transactions( CreditAccount[], int );

int main()
{
CreditAccount creditArr[SIZE];   
int validAccts = 0;

validAccts = read_accounts( creditArr );

print_accounts( creditArr, validAccts );

process_transactions( creditArr, validAccts );

print_accounts( creditArr, validAccts );

cout << endl;
system( "pause" );
return 0;   
}

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  read_accounts

  ARGUMENTS:  An array of CreditAccount objects.

  RETURNS:    The number of accounts read into the array.

  NOTES:      This function reads data for the credit card accounts
              from a file into the account array.
****************************************************************/
int read_accounts( CreditAccount Arr[] )
{
CreditAccount temp;
ifstream inFile; 
int i = 0; // # of accounts read
   
inFile.open( "ACCOUNTS", ios::binary );
if( inFile.fail() )
  {
  cout << "file failed to open";
  exit( -1 );
  }

inFile.read( (char * ) &temp, sizeof( temp ) );

while( inFile )
{
      Arr[i] = temp;
     
      i++;
     
      inFile.read( (char * ) &temp, sizeof( temp ) );
}

inFile.close();

return i;
 
}

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  print_accounts

  ARGUMENTS:  1)  Array of CreditAccount objects
              2)  Number of valid accounts stored in the array (int)

  RETURNS:    nothing

  NOTES:      This function prints a report header and column headers
              and then loops through the valid accounts in the
              account array and calls each object's print() method
 
****************************************************************/
void print_accounts( CreditAccount Arr[], int validAccts )
{
int i;   

cout << endl << " " << setw(48) << "Credit Account Listing" << endl << endl
    << setw(61) << "Credit" << setw(15) << "Account" << endl
    << "Account Number" << setw(12) << "Name" << setw(24)
    << "Exp. Date" << setw(10) << "Limit" << setw(16)
    << "Balance" << endl
    << "----------------------------------------------------------------------------"
    << endl << endl;

for( i = 0; i < validAccts; i++ )
{
Arr[i].print();
}

}

/****************************************************************

  FUNCTION:  process_transactions

  ARGUMENTS:  1)  Array of CreditAccount objects
              2)  Number of valid accounts stored in the array (int)

  RETURNS:    nothing

  NOTES:      This function opens the file trans for input.  Before
              reading any transactions, the function prints a report
              header and column headers.  It then reads transaction
              data from the file until the end of the file is reached.
             
 
****************************************************************/
void process_transactions( CreditAccount Arr[], int validAccts )
{
char temp;
char transAr[100];
ifstream inFile;
int i = 0;

inFile.open( "TRANS" );
if( inFile.fail() )
  {
  cout << "file failed to open";
  exit( -1 );
  }
 
cout << endl << " " << setw(48) << "Transaction Report" << endl << endl
    << "Date" << setw(10) << "Account" << setw(10) << "Type" << setw(10)
    << "Amount" << setw(15) << "New Balance" << endl << endl;

inFile.read( (char * ) &temp, sizeof( temp ) );

while( inFile )
{
      transAr[i] = temp;

      i++;
     
      inFile.read( (char * ) &temp, sizeof( temp ) );

}
inFile.close();
}

---

It seems you have #define'd some file paths, which is fine, but they would be something like

#define TRANS "path/to/file.txt"

and not like what you have. And the reason the file name is in quotes and not the identifier TRANS is because the path is the string you want to pass in, but not the string "TRANS" or "ACCOUNTS". I'm not sure, but also note that C++ cannot open directories (as in, trans is not a file but a folder) which may also be an issue.

I think you're not reading the transaction file right, either. What you have now basically reads one character at a time, when C++ ifstreams can read a lot smarter than that.

Try one line at a time:

Code:

---

string date;
string accountid;
char transType;
double amount;

file >> date >> accountid >> transType >> amount;
if (file)
{
  // successful read
  print_transaction();
}
else
{
  file.close();
  cout << "Your file has format errors in it\n";
  // quit
}

---

Haven't compiled but it should be something to this effect.


You don't really say where your file handling is broken so that is all I can say.