trying to use strtok() function to parse CL

Hi everybody. I haven't programmed anything in about 8 years, I've read up a little bit on C and need to write a shell in C. I want to use strtok() to take an input from a user and parse it into the command and its arguments.

for example: copy <file1> <file2> will copy file 2 to file 1, del <file1> will delete a file, etc. The exit command is all I've implemented right now, but even that produces an error when executed...I'm sure I've got a problem with how I've implemented strtok().

I've tried to implement it below, but when I compile it using gcc (no errors/warnings) and try to execute it I get the following output:

o-shell>exit
com = exit
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Here is the code snippet:
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Code:

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char command[50]; //Command line input

char com[10]; //Primary command
char file1[20]; //File affected by command (if necessary)
char file2[20]; //2nd file affected by command (if necessary)

char *token; //Used for strtok() function

for(;
{

printf("o-shell>"); //user prompts for o-shell

scanf("%s", command); //command line input from user

//tokenize the command line input using strtok() function
//this produces the command as well as any command line arguments

while(token != NULL)
{
token = strtok(command, " ");
strcpy(com, token);

printf("com = %s\n", com);

token = strtok(NULL, " ");
strcpy(file1, token);

printf("file1 = %s\n", file1);

token = strtok(NULL, " ");
strcpy(file2, token);

printf("file2 = %s\n", file2);
}

---

****************************
When I run the program, I get a segmentation fault. Will this code run OK if there are no arguments, just a command? I'm sure the problem is with strtok() either way. thanks!

please give a compilable snippet.

strtok is supposed to be used with a pointer to the data only once. after the first call 0 is supposed to be passed.
In your while loop you alwais call it with the same buffer the first time.
the second time through the loop the second strtok call will return null.
calling strcpy with a null pointer crashes the program.
Kurt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robwhit

please give a compilable snippet.

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Sorry about that, here's a compilable snippet. I'm only trying to make sure the parsing works. It should exit when the user types exit<ENTER>.

Code:

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#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
        char command[50];                //Command line input

        char com[10];                        //Primary command
        char file1[20];                        //File affected by command (if necessary)
        char file2[20];                        //2nd file affected by command (if necessary)

        char *token;                        //Used for strtok() function

        printf("***************************************************\n");
        printf("Welcome to O-Shell! A UNIX shell by O Haqqi\n\n");
        printf("Type 'help' for list of commands, 'exit' to exit\n");
        printf("***************************************************\n\n");

        for(;;)
        {

        printf("o-shell>");                        //user prompts for o-shell

        scanf("%s", command);                //command line input from user

        //tokenize the command line input using strtok() function
        //this produces the command as well as any command line arguments

        while(token != NULL)
        {
                token = strtok(command, " ");
                strcpy(com, token);

                printf("com = %s\n", com);

                token = strtok(NULL, " ");
                strcpy(file1, token);

                printf("file1 = %s\n", file1);

                token = strtok(NULL, " ");
                strcpy(file2, token);

                printf("file2 = %s\n", file2);
        }


        if (strcmp(com,"exit") == 0)
        {
                printf("Exiting o-shell...Goodbye!\n");
                break;
        }

        else
        printf("Invalid command!!!\n");

}

        return 0;
}

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Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ZuK

strtok is supposed to be used with a pointer to the data only once. after the first call 0 is supposed to be passed.
In your while loop you alwais call it with the same buffer the first time.
the second time through the loop the second strtok call will return null.
calling strcpy with a null pointer crashes the program.
Kurt

---

So how can I break the user input into 3 (or less) strings? I'm trying to check if the user terminated his input at that point.
Should I get rid of the while loop and put if(&token == NULL) after the strtok() function, would that fix it? I'm totally confused...sorry like I said I'm a total newbie.

you don't initialize token. what is the while loop for anyway?

I redid my code and it partially works right now. I can use strtok to find the first input in the command line, but cannot get the arguments.

The format is <command> <arg1> <arg2>

So far, I've only implemented 'exit' and 'help'. When I run this code, it compiles fine but I get a segmentation fault. I've placed a couple printf to help debug. One of the problems is that the arguments are not detected/counted.

Here is the output:

************************************************** *
Welcome to O-Shell! A UNIX shell by O Haqqi

Type 'help' for list of commands, 'exit' to exit
************************************************** *

o-shell>exit
exit was entered
There are 0 arguments
Command is exit
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <string.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char command[50]; //Command line input

//tokens for strtok() funtion
char * com; //Primary command
char * arg1; //First argument of command (usually a file name)
char * arg2; //2nd argument of command (usually a file name)

int args; //Number of arguments entered

printf("************************************************** *\n");
printf("Welcome to O-Shell! A UNIX shell by O Haqqi\n\n");
printf("Type 'help' for list of commands, 'exit' to exit\n");
printf("************************************************** *\n\n");

for(;;)
{

printf("o-shell>"); //user prompts for o-shell

scanf("%s", command); //command line input from user

printf("%s was entered\n", command);

com = strtok(command, " \r\n\t");

args = 0;
arg1 = strtok(NULL, " \r\n\t");
if(arg1) args++; //to see if arguments being tracked
arg2 = strtok(NULL, " \r\n\t");
if(arg2) args++; //to see if arguments being tracked

printf("There are %d arguments\n", args);
printf("Command is %s\n", com);
printf("File1 is %s\n", arg1);
printf("File2 is %s\n", arg2);

if ((strcmp(com,"help")) ==0 || (strcmp(com,"Help")) ==0)
{
printf("\nO-Shell Help Menu:\n");
printf("\nhelp - Print help menu\n");
printf("\nexit - Exit O-Shell\n");
printf("\ntype <file> - Print contents of <file>\n");
printf("\ncopy <file1> <file2> - Copy contents of <file1> to <file2>.");
printf("\n <file2> must be a non-existent file and must be created\n");
printf("\ndelete <file> - Delete <file>\n\n");
}

else if ((strcmp(com,"exit")) ==0 || (strcmp(com,"Exit")) ==0)
{
printf("Exiting O-Shell...Goodbye!\n");
break;
}

else
printf("Invalid command!!! No operation performed...\n");

}


return 0;
}

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You're using arg1 and arg2 even if they are NULL.

Code:

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scanf("%s", command);

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this only reads up until the first whitespace so it only reads in the command, not the args.

Should I use something other than scanf?

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/c...dio/fgets.html or just do

Code:

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scanf("%s %s %s\n", command, arg1, arg2);

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doh. I had tried scanf("&#37;s%s%s") before, I guess the space makes a difference?
I'll try investigating fgets as well. thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robwhit

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/c...dio/fgets.html or just do

Code:

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scanf("%s %s %s\n", command, arg1, arg2);

---

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I think this may not work as well as strtok because it requires 3 strings to be input and needs termination after each string. If the user enters <exit> and nothing else, this scanf function will just sit there waiting for more input.
I need to do a single line input and then parse it into three different string arrays. I will try fgets and see how that works out for me.

If you're serious about writing a shell, you may also want to look into lex (flex) and yacc (bison).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MWAAAHAAA

If you're serious about writing a shell, you may also want to look into lex (flex) and yacc (bison).

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Thanks for the tip. It's not really my own shell, just something basic that implements a copy and delete command. I can do those I think, it's the parsing of the command line that's causing me trouble.

Quote:

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If the user enters <exit> and nothing else, this scanf function will just sit there waiting for more input.

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If the user presses enter - scanf will not wait - because the string does not match the format... That's why you need to check the return value of scanf...
But the safer way to handle input is with the pair fgets/sscanf...
strtok is not thread safe so do not get bad habbits on using it.