cin.getline : strange error

Hello everyone. What I am simply trying to do is to read two names that can contain spaces.
Here is my code:

Code:

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void Foo :: Cinema
{
        ....
        ....

        char title[20], director[20];

        cout << "Give me the title :" << endl;                       
        cin.getline(title, 20, '\n');

        cout << "Give me the director : " << endl;
        cin.getline(director,20, '\n');

    ....
}

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I tested the same code inside main and it works normally but now, in this function something strange occurs. What I see when run the program is

Code:

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Give me the title :
Give me the director : (cursor here)

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and as a result I can put only the name of the director.
What could be wrong? How can I fix this?

p.s. I use Visual Studio 2005

Are you cin-ning before the first getline()?
Try cin.ignore() before the first cout, cin.getline pair.

Also, you should look into std::string rather than character arrays.

A hypothetical bit of code:

Code:

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int foo;
cout << "Enter an int: ";
cin >> foo;
string bar;
cout << "Enter a string: ";
getline(cin,bar);

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What happens in the above bit of code is that the cin >> foo line above leaves the newline in the stream (the user enters a number then presses the enter key which inserts a newline into the end of the stream). The number is extracted and converted and stored in foo but the newline causes problem later on. When we reach the getline, the newline character is the first thing the getline sees and it thinks the user entered something and pressed the enter key. This means you see the prompt to "Enter a string: " but are unable to actually enter a string because the getline call has already processed the newline. So... anytime you mix cin >> and getline calls, you need to call the stream's (cin in this case) ignore member function after the cin >> and prior to the getline call.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twomers

Are you cin-ning before the first getline()?
Try cin.ignore() before the first cout, cin.getline pair.

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You're so right. I used cin.ignore() and the problem is solved.
Before you told me this I used cin.ignore(1,'\n') and didn't work. What does cin.ignore() do differently ?

@ hk_mp5kpdw : thanks for the analytic explanation. I must say I had tried to use cout << flush;
(without knowing what exactly does!) in order to clear the newlines or whatever, and it didn't fix the problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hk_mp3kpdw

(the user enters a number then presses the enter key which inserts a newline into the end of the stream)

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you probably mean input stream , right ?

>> What does cin.ignore() do differently ?
cin.ignore(1,'\n') and cin.ignore() should behave in exactly the same way as far as I can tell. If you can provide an example where they don't please post it.