help with string length loop.

i need some help. i need my code to ask the user for his or her name and check with it is shorter then 20 characters. here is what ive done

Code:

---

  do
  {
  fprintf(output,"please enter your name:\n");fflush(stdout);
  fgets(name, 20, input);



  if (strlen(name)>20)
  {
    fprintf(output,"please enter a name less than 20 characters.\n");
  }
  }
  while (strlen(name)>20);

---

now it will input a name fine, but anything equal or greater then 20 doesnt work it will print out 20 characters and then the rest of the characters go into the input buffer.

but also it doesnt print an error message if its over 20. so what is wrong with my loop.

fgets() will never allow you to enter a string larger than the buffer you supply.

The only clue that you have that it was a 'long' name would be the lack of a '\n' in the name to begin with. If this is the case, then the rest of the input remains to be read.

ok 2 problems.

first how do you stop fgets from including \n within the name.

and how do you create a loop to repeat until fgets has the right amount of values.

and if to many values are entered in, how do you remove them from the input buffer.

> first how do you stop fgets from including \n within the name.
http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/...&id=1043284385

> and how do you create a loop to repeat until fgets has the right amount of values.
If you mean the right value, then something like:

Code:

---

do {
    fgets(buffer, sizeof(buffer), stdin);
    /* trim the newline character off, if it exists */
} while(strcmp(buffer, "right value") != 0);

---

well the name can be at most 20 values.

so i need to check to see if the string entered is less then 20 values. i dont think your check does this.

Code:

---

if(strlen(name) < 20)
{

---

?

But you're only going to see upto 20 characters at most, as Salem said, so in other words, it's redundant.
What exactly do you want to do?
A work around could be increase the buffer size in fgets() to say, 32. Then check if they entered a string larger than 32 if they did, it's invalid...

Code:

---

char buf[32];
char * p;

fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin);
/* remove the newline if it exists */
if((p = strchr(buf, '\n')) != NULL)
    *p = '\0';

if(strlen(buf) > 20)
    printf("Invalid name\n");

---

this is what ive done.

Code:

---



 do
  {
  fprintf(output,"please enter your name:\n");fflush(stdout);
  fgets(name, 20, input);

  if ((p = strchr(name, '\n')) != NULL)
  {
    *p = '\0';
  }


  if (strlen(name)>20)
  {
    fprintf(output,"please enter a name less than 20 characters.\n");
  }
  }
  while (strlen(name)>20);

  fprintf(output,"your name is: %s\n",name);

---

now to test it i just typed in 20 characters. and the return was 19 characters then in went back to the menu and then the menu looped because a key was pressed...

An idea:
http://www.daniweb.com/code/snippet373.html

at the moment i have to enter my name 3 times before it inputs the name. and it doesnt loop.
what is wrong.
please help im having a really hard time

Code:

---



do
  {
  fprintf(output,"please enter your name:\n");
  fgets (name, sizeof (name), input);

  if (fgets (name, sizeof (name), input)==NULL)
  { 
    fprintf(output,"please enter a name less than 20 characters.\n");
  }
  }
  while (fgets (name, sizeof (name), input)==NULL);

 
  fprintf(output,"your name is: %s\n",name);

---

You're calling fgets 3 times...

Explain what exactly you need? Why can't you just ask for 20 characters, as Dave_Sinkula's post shows.

Code:

---

char buff[BUFSIZ];
if ( fgets( buff, sizeof buff, stdin ) != NULL ) {
  if ( strchr(buff,'\n') == NULL ) {
    // very long line, and there is no newline
    // report the line is too long, and remove excess characters from stdin
    // until a newline is found - see the FAQ
  } else if ( strlen(buff) > 20 ) {
    // the line (+ it's \n) is longer than 20 chars
    // complain
  } else {
    // this line meets your requirements
  }
}

---