Counting words by character

OK new to C++ and want to learn it, having problem with
code that inputs file and counts the words in the file. I am doing this by character, I know I can do it by string easier! just looking for
direction.

File opens, Loop works, count works but is not correct?
As I parse a page do I have to make any other excludes for line breaks, \n or other ......

Code:

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#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <cassert>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int wordCount;
    char prevChar;
    char currChar;
    ifstream inFile; 
    string fileName;
    cout << "Enter the input file name (quit to exit): ";
    cin >> fileName;
    while (fileName != "quit"){ 
            inFile.open(fileName.c_str());
            assert(inFile);
            wordCount = 0;
            inFile.get(prevChar);
            inFile.get(currChar);
    while(inFile.get() != '\n') {
          if (currChar == '  ' || prevChar != '  ')
          wordCount++; 
          prevChar = currChar;
          inFile.get(currChar); 
    }     
    cout << "There are " << wordCount << " words in this "
    << fileName << endl << endl;
    inFile.close();
    inFile.clear();
    cout << '\a';
         
    cout << "Enter the input file name (quit to exit): ";
    cin >> fileName;   
    }
    system("PAUSE");
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
   
}

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by batc5

The program seems to work if file has all words add a number
which I want to count as word and bad count?

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?????????? :confused: That right there makes no sense whatsoever. Try to use better grammar.

Aside from indentation, I don't see any major problems with your code. If you're having problems getting your program to work, tell us specifically what is happening and what should be happening - it'll be easier to find the problem that way.

Quote:

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That right there makes no sense whatsoever. Try to use better grammar.

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I've seen much worse, cerin. Don't worry too much about this if English isn't your first language. Do your best, but the important thing is to just ask specific questions - it's the best way to get help around here.

I have to agree with cerin, but I did notice one error:

Code:

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if (currChar == ' ' || prevChar != ' ')
          wordCount++;

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Let's say your file contains:

apple

so prevChar='a' and currChar='p'. In the if condition, prevChar does not equal a blank, so wordcount is incremented by 1, and every time you go through the while loop wordcount is similarly incremented by 1 even though there is only one word in the file.

here's some basic code to help you with (what I think is) what you want:

Code:

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#include<fstream>
#include<iostream>

int main()
{
    char*word=new char[20]; //a character array (C-type string)
    int count=0;            //to hold the number of words
   
    std::ifstream infile("temp.txt");  //open the file
   
    if(!infile)                        //if the file doesn't open
    {
        std::cerr<<"File Input Error";  //output an error
        std::cin.get();                //wait for ENTER
        delete[]word;                  //deallocate the character array
        exit(1);                        //exit with a fail status
    }
   
    while(infile>>word) //keep going as long as there are more words
        count++;        //for each word, increase the count by one
       
    infile.close();                            //close the file
    std::cout<<count<<" words were counted.";  //output the count
    std::cin.get();                            //wait for ENTER
    delete[]word;                              //deallocate the char array
    return 0;                                  //return with success status
}

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you'll have to modify it to fit your needs though, because I didn't look at how you had your string-based solution fitted into your program.