Reading from specific word in text file

Need a help please. I need a program which reads from input file and then calculates total resistance and current. Circuit can be series or parallel. this is my input file:
C1
series
3
12
5 8 12
C2
parallel
3
24
6 19 5

Here is the code I have so far:

Code:

---

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


using namespace std;


int main()
{
    string name;
    string type;
    int n;
    int v;
    float res[3];
    int I;
    int sum = 0;
    ifstream fin;


    fin.open("circuits.dat");
    if (!fin)
    {
        cout << "Cannot open the file. Please make sure the file is in right folder." << endl;
        return 1;
    }
        cout << "Please enter the circuit type: ";
        cin >> type;
        cout << endl;
        if (type == "series")
        {
            fin >> name;
            fin >> type;
            fin >> n;
            fin >> v;
            for (int i=0; i<3; i++)
            {
                fin >> res[i];
                sum = sum + res[i];
                I = v*sum;
            }


            cout << name << endl;
            cout << type << endl;
            cout << n << endl;
            cout << v << endl;
            for (int i=0; i<3; i++)
                cout << res[i] << " ";
                cout << endl;
            cout << "The total resistance R = " << sum << endl;
            cout << "The total current I = " << I << endl;
        }
        else if (type == "parallel")
        {
            fin >> name;
            fin >> type;
            fin >> n;
            fin >> v;
            for (int i=0; i<3; i++)
            {
                fin >> res[i];
                sum = sum + res[i];
                I = v*sum;
            }


            cout << name << endl;
            cout << type << endl;
            cout << n << endl;
            cout << v << endl;
            for (int i=0; i<3; i++)
                cout << res[i] << " ";
                cout << endl;
            cout << "The total resistance R = " << sum << endl;
            cout << "The total current I = " << I << endl;
        }
        else
        {
            cout << "Terminating program." << endl;
            return 1;
        }


    fin.close();
  return 0;
}

---

My problem is: when the user selects "parallel" as a circuit file, the program must start reading from line "C2" and ignore all previous lines. I can't get it working. What function do I need to use for that?
PS: this must be beginning level and I can't use structs, classes or vectors here.
Thanks

All the information you need is in the file. You shouldn't have any cin >> var in your code at all.

Code:

---

while ( fin >> name ) {
    fin >> type;
    if ( type == "series" ) {
        fin >> n;  // the number of resistors
        fin >> v;  // the voltage
        for (int i=0; i<n; i++)  // n resistors
        {
            fin >> res[i]; 
            sum = sum + res[i];
            I = v*sum;
        }

---

The requirement is you ask the user what type of the circuit he wants and depending on choice (cin >> type (where type is either "series" or "parallel")) the program reads and calculates the required data. It works great for "series", but when the choice is "parallel" the program again takes data for C1 (beginning of file). I can't figure out how to make the program to start reading from line C2 if the user types "parallel" for type of circuit.

It looks like you should be searching for "series" or "parallel" depending on what the user wants. Once you actually find the keyword then the next line starts the values for the calculations. If the keyword isn't present you read another line until you find the correct keyword. You are lucky at this time that series is on the first line, what happens if "parallel" was first?


Jim