code accounting for multiple delimiters isn't working - c

Question

I have a program I wrote to take a string of words and, based on the delimiter that appears, separate each word and add it to an array.
I've adjusted it to account for either a ' ' , '.' or '.'. Now the goal is to adjust for multiple delimiters appearing together (as in "the dog,,,was walking") and still only add the word. While my program works, and it doesn't print out extra delimiters, every time it encounters additional delimiters, it includes a space in the output instead of ignoring them.
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
char *givenString = "USA,Canada,Mexico,Bermuda,Grenada,Belize";
int stringCharCount;
//get length of string to allocate enough memory for array
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
if (givenString[i] == '\0') {
break;
}
else {
stringCharCount++;
}
}
// counting # of commas in the original string
int commaCount = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < stringCharCount; i++) {
if (givenString[i] == ',' || givenString[i] == '.' || givenString[i] == ' ') {
commaCount++;
}
}
//declare blank Array that is the length of commas (which is the number of elements in the original string)
//char *finalArray[commaCount];
int z = 0;
char *finalArray[commaCount] ;
char *wordFiller = malloc(stringCharCount);
int j = 0;
char current = ' ';
for (int i = 0; i <= stringCharCount; i++) {
if (((givenString[i] == ',' || givenString[i] == '\0' || givenString[i] == ',' || givenString[i] == ' ') && (current != (' ' | '.' | ',')))) {
finalArray[z] = wordFiller;
wordFiller = malloc(stringCharCount);
j=0;
z++;
current = givenString[i];
}
else {
wordFiller[j++] = givenString[i];
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < commaCount; i++) {
printf("%s\n", finalArray[i]);
}
return 0;
}
This program took me hours and hours to get together (with help from more experienced developers) and I can't help but get frustrated. I'm using the debugger to my best ability but definitely need more experience with it.
/////////
I went back to pad and paper and kind of rewrote my code. Now I'm trying to store delimiters in an array and compare the elements of that array to the current string value. If they are equal, then we have come across a new word and we add it to the final string array. I'm struggling to figure out the placement and content of the "for" loop that I would use for this.
char * original = "USA,Canada,Mexico,Bermuda,Grenada,Belize";
//creating two intialized variables to count the number of characters and elements to add to the array (so we can allocate enough mmemory)
int stringCharCount = 0;
//by setting elementCount to 1, we can account for the last word that comes after the last comma
int elementCount = 1;
//calculate value of stringCharCount and elementCount to allocate enough memory for temporary word storage and for final array
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
if (original[i] == '\0') {
break;
}
else {
stringCharCount++;
if (original[i] == ',') {
elementCount++;
}
}
}
//account for the final element
elementCount = elementCount;
char *tempWord = malloc(stringCharCount);
char *finalArray[elementCount];
int a = 0;
int b = 0;
//int c = 0;
//char *delimiters[4] = {".", ",", " ", "\0"};
for (int i = 0; i <= stringCharCount; i++) {
if (original[i] == ',' || original[i] == '\0') {
finalArray[a] = tempWord;
tempWord = malloc(stringCharCount);
tempWord[b] = '\0';
b = 0;
a++;
}
else {
tempWord[b++] = original[i];
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < elementCount; i++) {
printf("%s\n", finalArray[i]);
}
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Many issues. Suggest dividing code into small pieces and debug those first.
--
Un-initialize data.
// int stringCharCount;
int stringCharCount = 0;
...
stringCharCount++;
Or
int stringCharCount = strlen(givenString);
Other problems too: finalArray[] is never assigned a terminarting null character yet printf("%s\n", finalArray[i]); used.
Unclear use of char *
char *wordFiller = malloc(stringCharCount);
wordFiller = malloc(stringCharCount);

Answer 2

There are more bugs than lines in your code.
I'd suggest you start with something much simpler.
Work through a basic programming book with excercises.
Edit
Or, if this is about learning to program, try another, simpler programming language:
In C# your task looks rather simple:
string givenString = "USA,Canada Mexico,Bermuda.Grenada,Belize";
string [] words = string.Split(new char[] {' ', ',', '.'});
foreach(word in words)
Console.WriteLine(word);
As you see, there are much issues to worry about:
No memory management (alloc/free) this is handeled by the Garbage Collector
no pointers, so nothing can go wrong with them
powerful builtin string capabilities like Split()
foreach makes loops much simpler