How To Check For A Char Val......

Ok im writting a program that asks user for ONLY numaric values, and i want to display an error message if the user hits any alpha keys.... i know theres probably a function for this.. but i dont know it...

lol VB makes it nice and easy "If IsNumeric ....."

anyways anyhelp would be great

isdigit

isdigit ? like a function already in the std?

#include <cctype>

ok.. so if i use that header will that allow me to acess the "isdigit" thing....lol "thing" such a technical term hu

just make sure you cast the character to an unsigned char prior to sending it to isdigit

I know of no way to prevent a user from entering an alpha key when you only want them to enter a digit key. What you can do is validate the input before using it. There are several ways to do this. Since all keys can be entered as char types you can accept input as a char and then use isdigit to see if it is a digit. If the char is a digit and you wish to use it as a char, fine. If you wish to use it as a numeric value, for example as an int or a double, etc., then you need to convert it to the appropriate type after validation. Alternatively, you can "assume" the user will be accurate in their input and accept the input directly into a variable of numeric type and check the state value of the stream after the input to verify that the input was correct. Both approaches have their limitations, so use whichever one you feel is best suited to your purpose.

Code:

---

//accept input as a char
char input;
cout << "enter a digit" << endl;
cin >> input;
if(isdigit(input))
  cout << "thank you" << endl;
else
  cout << "input was not a digit." << endl;
 
//one way to convert char to int
//first convert char to string
//one way to convert char to string
string str = "";
str += input;
 
//then convert string to int
int x;
x = atoi(str.c_str());
 
//example of using streams to validate input
int x;
cout << "enter an integer value" << endl;
cin >> x;
 
//check fail state of stream
if(cin.fail())
{
  cout << "invalid input" << endl;
  cin.clear();  //clear stream for reuse
  cin.ignore();  //ignore the invalid input
}

---

Discussions on data validation can get much more detailed/involved, so depending on your needs you may want to obtain additional information.

ok guys all that helped and ive got a slightly working code

Code:

---

#include<iostream>

#define cls system("cls");
#define pause system("pause");

using namespace std;

int main()
{
   
    char input;
    cout << "enter a digit" << endl;
    cin >> input;
    if(isdigit(input)){
                      cls;
                      cout << "You Entered The Number: " << input<<endl;
                      pause;
                      cls;
                      main();}
        else{
              cls;
              cout << "Error! Must Enter A Number" << endl;
              main();}
       
    pause;

---

}

but im limited with this program, if i try to enter a double digit number its only picking up the first number because of type Char.....how do i get it to catch more than 1 number?

Read in an entire line of input using getline(). Check to make sure that the input consists of just a number. Then convert it to a number.

FAQ > How do I... (Level 1) > Convert a string to a int (C++)
http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/...&id=1043284385

FAQ > How do I... (Level 2) > Why does my program enter an infinite loop if the user inputs invalid data? (C++)
http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/...&id=1043284392