Input File HELP, weird problem

Hi all,

I'm writing a program for school and I am having a weird problem. It's a menu driven program which allows the user make choices, do what is involved in the choice, then return to the main menu and make another choice. Each choice coincides with opening a certain input file and reading into some global variables.

My problem is when I run any choice from scratch, i.e. it's the first choice, the program runs fine, when I come back to the main menu and make another selection, the input file does not get read correctly. I have attached the code that is relevant to my problem. If anyone can help me I would really appreciate it. If you need more explanation or more info I'd be happy to put it up.

I've checked to see if the file does not get opened properly and also if there is a read error, but there is neither. When I print out the variables after the second choice is made all the variables remain the same accept that the "alph" array is empty. I can't make heads or tails of it. It just seems that the variables are not being touched the second time around.

In a nutshell, the program should prompt the user for a choice, open the file corresponding to the choice and read in the variables, then perform the checkstr() function. When returning from checkstr() it will break from the switch and then theoretically start over since it's do_while(true). The theoretically is where the problem is.

Thanks in advance.

Code:

---

#include <windows.h>
#include <conio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

fstream my_input_file;

int menu_ch,
        start_st,
        no_fin_sts,
        fin_sts[200],
        no_rows,
        no_cols,
        tran_table[200][200],
        cur_st,
        nex_st,
        input_exh,
        inptr,
        alph_len,
        k;

string file_path;

char alph[200],
        in_str[1000];

void display_menu();
void open_file();
void check_str();
void trace_disp();

int main(void)
{

        //HANDLE hConsole = GetStdHandle ( STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE );

        do
        {
                system("cls");

                display_menu();

                cin >> menu_ch;
               
                switch(menu_ch)
                {
                        case 1:
                                file_path = "notripcd.txt";
                                open_file();
                                check_str();
                                break;

                        case 2:
                                file_path = "decdiv25.txt";
                                open_file();
                                check_str();
                                break;

                        case 3:
                                file_path = "genome.txt";
                                open_file();
                                check_str();
                                break;
       
                        case 4:
                                cout << "\nPlease enter the path of your file: ";
                                cin  >> file_path;
                                open_file();
                                check_str();
                                break;

                        case 5:
                                exit(0);

                        default:
                                cout << "\n\tInvalid entry please try again!!\n\n\t";
                                system("pause");
                }

        }while(true);

        return 0;

}

void open_file()
{
        my_input_file.open(file_path.c_str(), ios::in);

        if(my_input_file.bad())
        {
                cout << "Error reading file!";
                exit(0);
        }

        my_input_file >> start_st >> no_fin_sts;

        for(int i=0;i<no_fin_sts;i++)
                my_input_file >> fin_sts[i];

        my_input_file >> alph >> no_rows >> no_cols;
       
        for(i=0;i<no_rows;i++)
        {
                for(int j=0;j<no_cols;j++)
                        my_input_file >> tran_table[i][j];
        }

        my_input_file.close();

}

---

oh yah,

if anyone knows how to change the console size within the program that's a little tweak I'm trying to work in as well. You might have noticed the "conio.h" and "HANDLE hConsole = GetStdHandle ( STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE );" that was commented out. I'm not really sure how to work with it but if someone knows an easy way to enlarge the console that would be cool.

Thanks again

As I am pondering the problem with your code, you can read about resizing the console at adrianxs's site.

- SirCrono6

Edit: Have you tried printing the variable after it is input to check if it is being read?

SirCrono6,

I was printing the variables that were being read and I also printed the "file_path" variable to make sure the correct file was being opened. After the first choice is made the variables print correctly. On the second choice they should all be different but they all print exactly the same accept for the "alph" variable which is the only string variable being read from the file. Thanks for looking into it, if you need examples of input files or any other info, please let me know.

Thanks again

SirCrono6,

Adrianxs's site was extremely helpful, thanks for recommending it, not only was I able to adjust the console size but add a little color and a title to the window as well. If this file reading problem is solved my program will be complete.

Thanks again, great recommendation

Hi all,

I am just checking to see if anyone has any feedback on this issue. I still can't figure out why the input file is not reading correctly the second time around.

Thanks again.