Error in checking if pointer reaches end-of-string - c

I am working on a string reversal problem where I am trying to swap values from two ends with one another. As a part of the reverse function, I have a line that checks whether the pointer has reached the end-of-string character (in the form of while(*end!= '\0')). However, this doesn't seem to be working, and at the end of the while loop when I de-reference "end" I get blank. When I use (while(*end)), everything works perfectly but I have to then decrement my pointer "end" to make sure I am accessing the last element of my string. Why can't I check the pointer against the string literal '\0'?
#include<stdio.h>
void reverse(char* s);
void main(){
char str[]="abcdef";
printf("%s\n",str);
reverse(str);
printf("%s\n",str);
}
void reverse(char* p){
char* start = p;
char* end = p;
char tmp;
int length =0;
while(*end!='\0'){
end+=1;
length+=1;
}
printf("%c\n",*end); // problem line
int c;
for (c = 0; c < length/2; c++)
{
tmp = *start;
*start = *end;
*end = tmp;
start++;
end--;
}
//printf("%s\n",p);
}

In the //Problem line the value of *end is '\0' - You should print the integer value of '\0' to verify which is 0 & it works - apart from that you'll need to uncomment the } from reverse function.
'\0' is a non printable character: Reference: Non-printable and Printable ASCII Characters

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
size_t mystrlen(const char *str)
{
const char *ptr = str;
while(*ptr++);
return ptr - str;
}
char *reverse(char *str)
{
size_t len = mystrlen(str);
char *end = str + len -1;
char *saved = str;
len /= 2;
while(len--)
{
char tmp = *str;
*str++ = *end;
*end-- = tmp;
}
return saved;
}
int main(void)
{
char str[] = "This is the string which will be reversed";
printf("%s\n", reverse(str));
}

your code works. end reaches '\0'. but printf prints string until the first '\0'. so your print appears empty. if you add after the while loop:
--end;
or change the while to: while(*(end+1))
your code will do what you want it to

You don't need the length variable, and you can use pre-decrement on end.
#include <stdio.h>
void reverse(char *start);
int main(void) {
char str[]= "abcdef";
printf("%s\n", str);
reverse(str);
printf("%s\n", str);
}
void reverse(char* start) {
char *end = start;
while(*end != '\0') {
end++;
}
while(start < end) {
char temp = *--end;
*end = *start;
*start++ = temp;
}
}

Related

Deleting a char and moving it in a string

I need ideas for a recursive code that deletes a specific char in a string, and move all the other sting chars together
for Example :
"the weather is cloudy"
the entered char is 'e':
result :
"th wathr is cloudy"
I really don't have any idea how to start, thanks for the help.
#include <stdio.h>
void remove_impl(char* s, char c, char* d) {
if (*s != c) {
*d++ = *s;
}
if (*s != '\0') {
remove_impl(++s, c, d);
}
}
void remove(char* s, char c) {
remove_impl(s, c, s);
}
int main() {
char s[] = "the weather is cloudy";
remove(s, 'e');
puts(s);
}
How it works? Consider remove_impl. s is the original string, c is the character to be deleted from s, d is the resulting string, into which the characters of s, not equal to c, are written. Recursively iterates through the characters of s. If the next character is not equal to c, then it is written in d. The recursion stop point is the condition of checking that the end of s is reached. Since it is necessary to modify the source string, the wrapper is implemented (remove) in which as d, the original string (s) is passed.
An easy way to do it is to loop over the string and add any letter that doesn't match the unwanted letter.
Here's a demonstration:
char *source = "the weather is cloudy";
int source_len = strlen(source);
char *target = (char *)calloc(source_len, sizeof(char));
int target_len = 0;
char to_remove = 'e';
for(int i = 0; i < source_len; i++)
{
if(source[i] != to_remove)
{
target[target_len++] = source[i];
}
}
puts(target); // Output "th wathr is cloudy" in the console
My turn to make a proposal ! I add a assert test and use existing functions (strchr and strcpy).
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <assert.h>
int removeChar(char *str, char chr)
{
assert(str != 0); // Always control entry !
char *str_pnt = strchr(str, chr);
if (str_pnt) {
strcpy(str_pnt, str_pnt+1);
removeChar(str_pnt, chr);
}
}
void main (void)
{
char str[] = "the weather is cloudy";
char char_to_delete = 'e';
removeChar(str, char_to_delete);
puts(str);
}
This can be done in many ways. What i am thinking right now is store not Allowed char array which going to filter which char should show or not. Something like following..
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
// Global Scope variable declaration
int notAllowedChar[128] = {0}; // 0 for allowed , 1 for not allowed
char inputString[100];
void recursion(int pos, int len) {
if( pos >= len ) {
printf("\n"); // new line
return;
}
if( notAllowedChar[inputString[pos]]) {// not printing
recursion( pos + 1 , len );
}
else {
printf("%c", inputString[pos]);
recursion( pos + 1 , len );
}
}
int main() {
gets(inputString); // taking input String
printf("Enter not allowed chars:: "); // here we can even run a loop for all of them
char notAllowed;
scanf("%c", &notAllowed);
notAllowedChar[notAllowed] = 1;
int len = strlen(inputString);
recursion( 0 , len );
}
How this work
Lets say we have a simple string "Hello world"
and we want l should be removed from final string, so final output will be "Heo word"
Here "Hello world" length is 11 chars
before calling recursion function we make sure 'l' index which is 108 ascii values link 1 in notAllowedChar array.
now we are calling recursion method with ( 0 , 11 ) value , In recursion method we are having mainly 2 logical if operation, first one is for base case where we will terminate our recursion call when pos is equal or more than 11. and if its not true , we will do the second logical operation if current char is printable or not. This is simply just checking where this char is in notAllowedChar list or not. Every time we increase pos value + 1 and doing a recursion call, and finally when pos is equal or more than 11 , which means we have taken all our decision about printing char or not our recursion will terminate. I tried assign variable with meaningful name. If you still not understand how this work you should go with simple recursion simulation basic ( search in youtube ) and also you should try to manually debug how value is changing in recursion local scope. This may take time but it will be worthy to understand. All the very best.
#include <stdio.h>
/**
* Returns the number of removed chars.
* Base case: if the current char is the null char (end of the string)
* If the char should be deleted return 1 + no of chars removed in the remaining string.
* If it's a some other char simply return the number of chars removed in the remaining string
*/
int removeCAfterwardsAndCount(char* s,char c){
if((*s) == '\0'){
return 0;
}
if((*s) == c){
int noOfChars = removeCAfterwardsAndCount(s+1,c);// s+1 means the remaining string
s[noOfChars] = *s; // move the current char (*s) noOfChars locations ahead
return noOfChars +1; // means this char is removed... some other char should be copied here...
}
else{
int noOfChars = removeCAfterwardsAndCount(s+1,c);
s[noOfChars ] = *s;
return noOfChars ; // means this char is intact ...
}
}
int main()
{
char s[] = "Arifullah Jan";
printf("\n%s",s);
int totalRemoved = removeCAfterwardsAndCount(s,'a');
char *newS = &s[totalRemoved]; // the start of the string should now be originalPointer + total Number of chars removed
printf("\n%s",newS);
return 0;
}
Test Code Here
To avoid moving the chars using loops. I am just moving the chars forward which creates empty space in the start of the string. newS pointer is just a new pointer of the same string to eliminate the empty/garbage string.
#include <stdio.h>
void RemoveChar(char* str, char chr) {
char *str_old = str;
char *str_new = str;
while (*str_old)
{
*str_new = *str_old++;
str_new += (*str_new != chr);
}
*str_new = '\0'; }
int main() {
char string[] = "the weather is cloudy";
RemoveChar(string, 'e');
printf("'%s'\n", string);
return 0; }
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
char *remove_char(char *str, int c)
{
char *pos;
char *wrk = str;
while((pos = strchr(wrk, c)))
{
strcpy(pos, pos + 1);
wrk = pos;
}
return str;
}
int main()
{
char str[] = "Hello World";
printf(remove_char(str, 'l'));
return 0;
}
Or faster but mode difficult to understand version:
char *remove_char(char *str, int c)
{
char *pos = str;
char *wrk = str;
while(*wrk)
{
if(*wrk == c)
{
*wrk++;
continue;
}
*pos++ = *wrk++;
}
*pos = 0;
return str;
}
Both require the string to be writable (so you cant pass the pointer to the string literal for example)

Error in reversing string

I know this question is extremely common and the solution is well-known. But for a long time, I am getting an error I cannot figure out. I am trying to reverse a string in C. My code is given below:
#include <stdio.h>
char *reverse(char *);
int main(void) {
char str[] = "Hello";
char *rev;
rev = reverse(str);
printf("The reversed string is %s", rev);
return 0;
}
char *reverse(char *str){
char *end = str;
char tmp;
if(str){
while(*end){
++end;
}
--end;
while(str < end){
tmp = *str;
*str++ = *end;
*end-- = tmp;
}
}
return str;
}
As result, I am getting "leH", not "olleH". Can anyone point out why?
The pointer str you return in reverse() does not point to the beginning of the string, but somewhere in the middle at the end of the loop.
Another problem with your function is in case you pass an empty string: end is decremented from the end of the string and points outside the string. This invokes undefined behaviour.
You should use 2 temporary pointers to perform the task:
char *reverse(char *str) {
if (str && *str) {
char *p = str;
char *end = p + strlen(p) - 1;
while (p < end) {
char tmp = *p;
*p++ = *end;
*end-- = tmp;
}
}
return str;
}
Or if you prefer to use index variables:
char *reverse(char *str) {
if (str && *str) {
for (size_t i = 0, j = strlen(str); i < --j; i++) {
char tmp = str[i];
str[i] = str[j];
str[j] = tmp;
}
}
return str;
}
Because you return the incremented pointer, use another pointer or index notation and it will work, like this
char *reverse(char *str)
{
char *end;
char tmp;
int i;
end = str;
if ((str == NULL) || (*str == '\0'))
return str;
while (*end != 0)
++end;
--end;
i = 0;
while (str + i < end)
{
tmp = str[i];
str[i++] = *end;
*end-- = tmp;
}
return str;
}
When you return str, it's no longer pointing at the beginning of the string.
Another way of achieving reversing string is this:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
char *reverse(const char *);
int main(void){
char *s = "hello world";
char *s_rev = reverse(s);
printf("%s => %s", s, s_rev);
free(s_rev);
return 0;
}
char *reverse(const char *s){
char *s_new = strdup(s);
char *s_begptr = &s[0];
char *s_endptr = &s[strlen(s) - 1];
char *ptr = NULL;
for (ptr = s_endptr; ptr >= s_begptr; ptr--, s_new++){
*s_new = *ptr;
}
*s_new = '\0';
s_new -= strlen(s);
return s_new;
}
Notice we are not using any temporary variables to store the value, rather, using both start and end pointers of the same string and using the loop to work backwards from the end of string in reverse.

Reversing a string word by word wtih C language

I have a problem with my code below, I am trying to reverse a string, but I have run time error, anyone who can help me check it? The problem is:
eg:
INPUT: char *s = "This is my string"
OUTPUT: "string my is This"
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
void reverse(char *str, int start, int end){
char tmp;
while(end > start){
tmp = str[end];
str[end] = str[start];
str[start] = tmp;
end--;
start++;
}
}
int main()
{
char *s = "This is my string";
int len = strlen(s);
int start = 0;
int end = len-1;
reverse(s, start, end);
printf("%s", s);
end = 0;
while( end < len){
if(s[end] == ' '||s[end] =='\0'){
while(s[start]==' ')
start++;
reverse(s,start,end-1);
start = end;
}
end++;
}
printf("%s", s);
cin.get();
}
You cannot modify this string:
char *s = "This is my string";
You've declared it incorrectly, it should be
const char* = "This is my string";
Normally these strings are allocated in a region of memory which you cannot write to. You should create another buffer to write the reversed string to.

String reverse using pointers

I'm trying to reverse a string using pointers.When i try to print the reversed string instead of getting DCBA i'm getting out only as BA?Can anyone help me on this?
#include<stdio.h>
void reverse(char *);
void main()
{
char str[5] = "ABCD";
reverse(str);
}
void reverse(char *str)
{
char *rev_str = str;
char temp;
while(*str)
str++;
--str;
while(rev_str < str)
{
temp = *rev_str;
*rev_str = *str;
*str = temp;
rev_str++;
str--;
}
printf("reversed string is %s",str);
}
You're losing your pointer to the beginning of the string, so when you print it out you're not starting from the first character, because str no longer points to the first character. Just put in a placeholder variable to keep a pointer to the beginning of the string.
void reverse(char *str)
{
char *begin = str; /* Keeps a pointer to the beginning of str */
char *rev_str = str;
char temp;
while(*str)
str++;
--str;
while(rev_str < str)
{
temp = *rev_str;
*rev_str = *str;
*str = temp;
rev_str++;
str--;
}
printf("reversed string is %s\n", begin);
}
char* strrev(chr* src)
{
char* dest
int len=0 ; //calculate length of the src string
int index=0 ; // index for dest (output) string
int rindex=0; //Index to be counted from end toward beginning of src string
//Calculate length of the string
//Keep iterating till it reaches to null char '\0'
while(*(src+len) != '\0')
{ len++ }
//pointing rindex at the last character of src string
rindex=len-1;
//Start copying from last char of src string at first index of dest array
// Copying second last char of src string at second index of dest array and so on ..
while(rindex > =0)
{
*(dest+index) = *(src + rindex)
index++;
rindex--;
}
// Finally covert array of char into string , by inserting a null char at the end of dest array
*(dest+index) = '\0';
return dest;
}

How to remove \n or \t from a given string in C?

How can I strip a string with all \n and \t in C?
This works in my quick and dirty tests. Does it in place:
#include <stdio.h>
void strip(char *s) {
char *p2 = s;
while(*s != '\0') {
if(*s != '\t' && *s != '\n') {
*p2++ = *s++;
} else {
++s;
}
}
*p2 = '\0';
}
int main() {
char buf[] = "this\t is\n a\t test\n test";
strip(buf);
printf("%s\n", buf);
}
And to appease Chris, here is a version which will make a place the result in a newly malloced buffer and return it (thus it'll work on literals). You will need to free the result.
char *strip_copy(const char *s) {
char *p = malloc(strlen(s) + 1);
if(p) {
char *p2 = p;
while(*s != '\0') {
if(*s != '\t' && *s != '\n') {
*p2++ = *s++;
} else {
++s;
}
}
*p2 = '\0';
}
return p;
}
If you want to replace \n or \t with something else, you can use the function strstr(). It returns a pointer to the first place in a function that has a certain string. For example:
// Find the first "\n".
char new_char = 't';
char* pFirstN = strstr(szMyString, "\n");
*pFirstN = new_char;
You can run that in a loop to find all \n's and \t's.
If you want to "strip" them, i.e. remove them from the string, you'll need to actually use the same method as above, but copy the contents of the string "back" every time you find a \n or \t, so that "this i\ns a test" becomes: "this is a test".
You can do that with memmove (not memcpy, since the src and dst are pointing to overlapping memory), like so:
char* temp = strstr(str, "\t");
// Remove \n.
while ((temp = strstr(str, "\n")) != NULL) {
// Len is the length of the string, from the ampersand \n, including the \n.
int len = strlen(str);
memmove(temp, temp + 1, len);
}
You'll need to repeat this loop again to remove the \t's.
Note: Both of these methods work in-place. This might not be safe! (read Evan Teran's comments for details.. Also, these methods are not very efficient, although they do utilize a library function for some of the code instead of rolling your own.
Basically, you have two ways to do this: you can create a copy of the original string, minus all '\t' and '\n' characters, or you can strip the string "in-place." However, I bet money that the first option will be faster, and I promise you it will be safer.
So we'll make a function:
char *strip(const char *str, const char *d);
We want to use strlen() and malloc() to allocate a new char * buffer the same size as our str buffer. Then we go through str character by character. If the character is not contained in d, we copy it into our new buffer. We can use something like strchr() to see if each character is in the string d. Once we're done, we have a new buffer, with the contents of our old buffer minus characters in the string d, so we just return that. I won't give you sample code, because this might be homework, but here's the sample usage to show you how it solves your problem:
char *string = "some\n text\t to strip";
char *stripped = strip(string, "\t\n");
This is a c string function that will find any character in accept and return a pointer to that position or NULL if it is not found.
#include <string.h>
char *strpbrk(const char *s, const char *accept);
Example:
char search[] = "a string with \t and \n";
char *first_occ = strpbrk( search, "\t\n" );
first_occ will point to the \t, or the 15 character in search. You can replace then call again to loop through until all have been replaced.
I like to make the standard library do as much of the work as possible, so I would use something similar to Evan's solution but with strspn() and strcspn().
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define SPACE " \t\r\n"
static void strip(char *s);
static char *strip_copy(char const *s);
int main(int ac, char **av)
{
char s[] = "this\t is\n a\t test\n test";
char *s1 = strip_copy(s);
strip(s);
printf("%s\n%s\n", s, s1);
return 0;
}
static void strip(char *s)
{
char *p = s;
int n;
while (*s)
{
n = strcspn(s, SPACE);
strncpy(p, s, n);
p += n;
s += n + strspn(s+n, SPACE);
}
*p = 0;
}
static char *strip_copy(char const *s)
{
char *buf = malloc(1 + strlen(s));
if (buf)
{
char *p = buf;
char const *q;
int n;
for (q = s; *q; q += n + strspn(q+n, SPACE))
{
n = strcspn(q, SPACE);
strncpy(p, q, n);
p += n;
}
*p++ = '\0';
buf = realloc(buf, p - buf);
}
return buf;
}

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