Splitting a string into chunks. - c

Question

I'm trying to split a string into chunks of 6 using C and I'm having a rough time of it. If you input a 12 character long string it just prints two unusual characters.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
void stringSplit(char string[50])
{
int counter = 0;
char chunk[7];
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < strlen(string); i++)
{
if (string[i] == ' ')
{
continue;
}
int lastElement = strlen(chunk) - 1;
chunk[lastElement] = string[i];
counter++;
if (counter == 6)
{
printf(chunk);
memset(chunk, '\0', sizeof chunk);
counter = 0;
}
}
if (chunk != NULL)
{
printf(chunk);
}
}
int main()
{
char string[50];
printf("Input string. \n");
fgets(string, 50, stdin);
stringSplit(string);
return(0);
}
I appreciate any help.

Answer 1

Your problem is at
int lastElement = strlen(chunk) - 1;
Firstly, strlen counts the number of characters up to the NUL character. Your array is initially uninitialized, so this might cause problems.
Assuming your array is filled with NULs, and you have, let's say, 2 characters at the beginning and you are looking to place the third one. Remember that your 2 characters are at positions 0 and 1, respectively. So, strlen will return 2 (your string has 2 characters), you subtract one, so the lastElement variable has the value 1 now. And you place the third character at index 1, thus overwriting the second character you already had.
Also, this is extremely inefficient, since you compute the number of characters each time. But wait, you already know how many characters you have (you count them in counter, don't you?). So why not use counter to compute the index where the new character should be placed? (be careful not to do the same mistake and overwrite something else).

Answer 2

The function is wrong.
This statement
int lastElement = strlen(chunk) - 1;
can result in undefined behavior of the function because firstly the array chunk is not initially initialized
char chunk[7];
and secondly after this statement
memset(chunk, '\0', sizeof chunk);
the value of the variable lastElement will be equal to -1.
This if statement
if (chunk != NULL)
{
printf(chunk);
}
does not make sense because the address of the first character of the array chunk is always unequal to NULL.
It seems that what you mean is the following.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
void stringSplit( const char s[] )
{
const size_t N = 6;
char chunk[N + 1];
size_t i = 0;
for ( ; *s; ++s )
{
if ( !isspace( ( unsigned char )*s ) )
{
chunk[i++] = *s;
if ( i == N )
{
chunk[i] = '\0';
i = 0;
puts( chunk );
}
}
}
if ( i != 0 )
{
chunk[i] = '\0';
puts( chunk );
}
}
int main(void)
{
char s[] = " You and I are beginners in C ";
stringSplit( s );
}
The program output is
Youand
Iarebe
ginner
sinC
You can modify the function such a way that the length of the chunk was specified as a function parameter.
For example
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
void stringSplit( const char s[], size_t n )
{
if ( n )
{
char chunk[n + 1];
size_t i = 0;
for ( ; *s; ++s )
{
if ( !isspace( ( unsigned char )*s ) )
{
chunk[i++] = *s;
if ( i == n )
{
chunk[i] = '\0';
i = 0;
puts( chunk );
}
}
}
if ( i != 0 )
{
chunk[i] = '\0';
puts( chunk );
}
}
}
int main(void)
{
char s[] = " You and I are beginners in C ";
for ( size_t i = 3; i < 10; i++ )
{
stringSplit( s, i );
puts( "" );
}
}
The program output will be
You
and
Iar
ebe
gin
ner
sin
C
Youa
ndIa
rebe
ginn
ersi
nC
Youan
dIare
begin
nersi
nC
Youand
Iarebe
ginner
sinC
YouandI
arebegi
nnersin
C
YouandIa
rebeginn
ersinC
YouandIar
ebeginner
sinC