problem with scanf() in while

my problem is that it is not working that i want to do.
here is the code:

Code:

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#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
        int a,b,sum;
        char a='y';
do
{printf("Enter two number to get the sum\n");
scanf("%d%d",&a,&b);
sum=a+b;
printf("the sum is %d\n",sum);
printf("do you want to continue?(y/n)\n");
scanf("%c",&a);
}
while(a=='y');
}

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How does scanf know when one integer stops and the next begins?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rags_to_riches

How does scanf know when one integer stops and the next begins?

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LOL... spacey comment there.

my wonder is that why the code doesn't loop till the answer is no. but the code work fine when i put \n in scanf() function. why? can anyone help me put light on that? thanks in advance.

Nice try! Turn on compiler warnings. It should help some. :D

• standard says to use int main (void)
• main must return an int
• scanf can eat up whitespace before entries. try scanf " %d %d" and scanf " %c"
• conflicting types for 'a.' is it a char or an int?

a is char

when you input two numbers, separated by space, followed by the "Enter" key, you effectively put in stdin stream the following characters "1 2\n". If you don't put "\n" in your scanf", the carriage return character "\n" remains in the stdin stream. As a result, the next scanf which reads a character will always read this carriage return "\n".
That's the problem you're having here. But your variable "a" is actually defined twice, first time integer, second time character, so you should have problem with that as well...

chameleons, thanks you so much. i seem get more clear with that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CommonTater

LOL... spacey comment there.

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Yeah, I guess that was a bit spacey, eh? Shows you how often I use scanf in that way!

Sorry for the brain fart.

The right way to handle the OP's situation is to create a function like this:

Code:

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void remove_extra_chars()
{
    int c;
    // Consume all the character remaining in the input buffer up to and including the newline
    while ((c = getchar()) != '\n') ;
}

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and call it after the scanf()s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rags_to_riches

Yeah, I guess that was a bit spacey, eh? Shows you how often I use scanf in that way!

Sorry for the brain fart.

The right way to handle the OP's situation is to create a function like this:

Code:

---

void remove_extra_chars()
{
    int c;
    // Consume all the character remaining in the input buffer up to and including the newline
    while ((c = getchar()) != '\n') ;
}

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and call it after the scanf()s.

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Or...

Code:

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while (getchar() != EOF);

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