I have a linked list and two functions - one to add and other to delete members from the list.
When I try to delete a member I am getting an exception in the delete function.
The exception is in line
if (strcmp((temp_person_ptr->name), name_to_remove))
The exception says -> Unhandled exception at 0x50C4EF18 (ucrtbased.dll) in singly_linked_list.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation reading location 0xDDDDDDDD. occurred
Full program is below -
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "globals.h"
extern struct person* starting_address;
struct person* delete_person(size_t* list_size_ptr, struct person* ptr_current_person)
{
printf("There are %u items in list \n", *list_size_ptr);
struct person* temp_person_ptr = starting_address, *to_save_person_ptr;
printf("The items in list are \n");
while (temp_person_ptr)
{
printf("%s \n", temp_person_ptr->name);
temp_person_ptr = temp_person_ptr->next_person_ptr;
}
char name_to_remove[MAX_NAME_LENGTH];
printf("Please enter the name to remove \n");
gets_s(name_to_remove, MAX_NAME_LENGTH - 1);
temp_person_ptr = starting_address;
to_save_person_ptr = starting_address; // Not required by logic - just to initialize for compiler
while (temp_person_ptr)
{
if (strcmp((temp_person_ptr->name), name_to_remove))
{
to_save_person_ptr = temp_person_ptr;
temp_person_ptr = temp_person_ptr->next_person_ptr;
}
else
{
// Since we are going to remove temp_person_ptr - we save it's next person_ptr in preceding person which is to_save_person_ptr
// Only if the person_ptr to be removed is NOT the first person
// For now - assume - one element name will match
if (temp_person_ptr != starting_address)
to_save_person_ptr->next_person_ptr = temp_person_ptr->next_person_ptr; // takes care if temp_person_ptr is the last one as well
else // Else the next person's address is the new starting address
starting_address = temp_person_ptr->next_person_ptr;
free(temp_person_ptr);
(*list_size_ptr)--;
}
}
return (ptr_current_person);
}
The part to add an element to the list looks as below (entire function) -
struct person* add_person(size_t* list_size_ptr, struct person* ptr_current_person)
{
struct person *ptr_new_person;
ptr_new_person = (struct person*) malloc(sizeof(struct person));
// If first person- its starting address is the starting address of list
if ((*list_size_ptr) == 0)
{
starting_address = ptr_new_person;
}
else
{
//1. Add the new address to the chain - only if this is not the first person
ptr_current_person->next_person_ptr = ptr_new_person;
}
ptr_new_person->next_person_ptr = NULL;
printf("Please enter the name \n");
gets_s(ptr_new_person->name, MAX_NAME_LENGTH - 1);
// 2. We may make ptr_new_person as ptr_current_person
ptr_current_person = ptr_new_person;
// 3. Now onwards ptr_current_person refers to the pointer to the newly added person
(*list_size_ptr)++;
return (ptr_current_person);
}
while (temp_person_ptr)
{
if (strcmp((temp_person_ptr->name), name_to_remove))
{
to_save_person_ptr = temp_person_ptr;
temp_person_ptr = temp_person_ptr->next_person_ptr;
}
else{...}
From this snippet it looks like temp_person_ptr is pointing to something, but the ->name is NULL. Add a printf statement like this before your strcmp:
if(!(temp_person_ptr->name)){
printf("This is why your segfaulting\n");
}
And you will either see that ->name is null or its something else. good luck
You haven't posted enough to get a proper analysis and help. The guidance for making a complete, minimal example isn't just for grins; often by reducing a problem to its core, the programmer finds their error themselves. If not, it gives a great place for other to. Regardless, the loop in your delete is essentially:
temp = start;
while (temp) {
if (strcmp(temp->name, name)) {
temp = temp->next;
} else {
free(temp);
}
}
Your free should likely have been something like:
void *p = temp->next;
free(temp);
temp = p;
It worked, I was not exiting the while loop after free and going on all the way.
I added a return to return after free is done and list size is decremented. It works now.
I'm having a small difficulty inserting a full sentence containing all characters in my string when I'm building a Linked List.
I would like to be able to insert a string like: word_#_2003_#_definition
But when I'm running my code in my main() method it continues repeating the choices to do like it never stops asking me to enter an option. Hope it's clear.
Here's my struct:
struct node
{
char data[100];
struct node *previous; // Points to the previous node
struct node *next; // Points out to the next node
} *head, *last;
Here's my function to insert a node:
void insert_beginning(char words[99])
{
struct node *var, *temp;
var=(struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node)); //explination about the (node *)
strncpy(var->data, words,99);
if (head==NULL)
{
head=var;
head->previous=NULL;
head->next=NULL;
last=head;
}
else
{
temp=var;
temp->previous=NULL;
temp->next=head;
head->previous=temp;
head=temp;
}
}
And this is in my main() method:
int main()
{
char loc[99];
char words[99];
int i, dat;
head=NULL;
printf("Select the choice of operation on link list");
printf("\n1.) Insert At Begning\n2.) Insert At End\n3.) Insert At Middle");
printf("\n4.) Delete From End\n5.) Reverse The Link List\n6.) Display List\n7.)Exit");
while(1)
{
printf("\n\n Enter the choice of operation you want to do ");
scanf("%d",&i);
switch(i)
{
case 1:
{
printf("Enter a word you want to insert in the 1st node ");
scanf(" %s",words);
insert_beginning(words);
display();
break;
}
Any ideas on how to do it?
The code is highly questionable:
return codes are never checked. You must check return codes,
especially if you are using scanf
You need to empty the whole buffer with scanf otherwise you will continue
reading old contents for the next command
A better alternative is to use sscanf
You must initialize your variables, for instance last, but there are additional
cases of variables that do not get initialized
Your data types are not consistently defined, this will create security problems
sometimes 99 characters and sometimes 100.
insert_beginning should not return void, the memory allocation can fail
Your code in main() should probably look more like:
int main()
{
char loc[99];
char words[99];
int i, dat;
head = NULL;
printf("Select the choice of operation on link list");
printf("\n1.) Insert At Beginning\n2.) Insert At End\n3.) Insert At Middle");
printf("\n4.) Delete From End\n5.) Reverse The Link List\n6.) Display List\n7.) Exit\n");
while(1)
{
printf("\nEnter the choice of operation you want to do: ");
if (scanf("%d", &i) != 1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to read a number: exiting\n");
return 1;
}
switch(i)
{
case 1:
{
printf("Enter a word you want to insert in the 1st node: ");
if (scanf("%98s", words) != 1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to read words; exiting\n");
return 1;
}
insert_beginning(words);
display();
break;
}
...
}
...
}
...
}
return 0;
}
As discussed in the comments, you are not checking the return status from scanf(), so you don't know when it is failing, and when it fails to read a number, it leaves the argument (i) alone, so you go back to the same option again, and rinse and repeat.
Elementary debugging techniques (not shown):
Print the values you get from your inputs. Print the value of i after the scanf() error checking. Print the value of words after the scanf() error checking.
Step through with a debugger.
Create a function to dump (print) your key data structures:
static void dump_data_structure(FILE *fp, char const *tag, data_structure const *data)
{
...code to dump the structure to the specified file stream,
...identified by tag (so you can tell which call it is you are looking at)
}
Use the structure dumper extensively while debugging. Keep it for use later when modifying the code. If done right, it can be enormously helpful.
I am new to C and very much interested in knowing how to approach any problem which has more than 3 or 4 functions, I always look at the output required and manipulate my code calling functions inside other functions and getting the required output.
Below is my logic for finding a students record through his Id first & then Username.
This code according to my professor has an excessive logic and is lacking in many ways, if someone could assist me in how should I approach any problem in C or in any other language it would be of great help for me as a beginner and yes I do write pseudo code first.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
typedef struct{
int id; //Assuming student id to be unique
int age;
char *userName; //Assuming student userName to be unique
char *dept;
}student; // Alias "student" created for struct
student* createstruct(); // All function prototype declared
student* createArray();
void addstruct(student* s2);
void searchChar(student* s2,int num);
void searchInt(student* s2,int num);
student* createstruct() // function createStruct() to malloc data of struct student.
{
student *s;
s = (student*)malloc(sizeof(student));
s->userName = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*32);
s->dept = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*32);
printf("please enter id ");
scanf("%d",&s->id);
printf("please enter age ");
scanf("%d",&s->age);
printf("please enter userName ");
scanf("%31s",s->userName);
printf("please enter department ");
scanf("%31s",s->dept);
printf("\n");
return s;
}
student* createArray()
{
student *arr; //declaration of arr poiter, type struct student
arr = (student*)malloc(sizeof(student)*10); // memory allocated for a size of 10
return arr;
}
void addstruct(student *s2) // function for adding data to the structures in array
{
int i,num;
student* s1;
printf("please enter the number of records to add:");
scanf("%d",&num);
printf("\n");
if(num>0 && num<11)
{
for(i=0;i<num;i++) // if user want to enter 5 records loop will only run 5 times
{
s1 = createstruct();
s2[i].id = s1->id; // traversing each element of array and filling in struct data
s2[i].age = s1->age;
s2[i].userName = s1->userName;
s2[i].dept= s1->dept;
}
}
else if(num>10) // if user enters more than 10
{
for(i=0;i<10;i++) // loop will still run only 10 times
{
s1 = createstruct();
s2[i].id = s1->id;
s2[i].age = s1->age;
s2[i].userName = s1->userName;
s2[i].dept = s1->dept;
}
printf("Array is full"); // Array is full after taking 10 records
printf("\n");
}
searchInt(s2,num); // Calling searchInt() function to search for an integer in records
searchChar(s2,num); // Calling searchChar() function to search for a string in records
free(s1);
free(s2);
}
void searchChar(student* s2,int num) // function for searching a string in records of structure
{
char *c;
int i;
c = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*32);
printf("please enter userName to search ");
scanf("%31s",c);
printf("\n");
for (i=0;i<num;i++) //num is the number of struct records entered by user
{
if ((strcmp(s2[i].userName,c)==0)) //using strcmp for comparing strings
{
printf("struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n", s2[i].id,s2[i].age,s2[i].userName,s2[i].dept);
break;
}
else if(i == num-1)
{
printf("nothing in userName matches: <%s>\n",c);
break;
}
}
}
void searchInt(student* s2,int num) //searchs for an integer and prints the entire structure
{
int i,z;
printf("please enter id to search ");
scanf("%d",&z);
printf("\n");
for (i=0;i<num;i++)
{
if (s2[i].id == z)
{
printf("struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n\n", s2[i].id,s2[i].age,s2[i].userName,s2[i].dept);
break;
}
else if(i == num-1)
{
printf("nothing in id matches: <%d>\n\n",z);
break;
}
}
}
int main(void)
{
student *s2;
s2 = createArray();
addstruct(s2);
return 0;
}
I'm not going to go into optimizing, because if you wanted better theoretical performance you would probably go with different data structures, such as ordered arrays/lists, trees, hash tables or some kind of indexing... None of that is relevant in this case, because you have a simple program dealing with a small amount of data.
But I am going to tell you about the "excessive logic" your professor mentioned, taking your searchInt function as an example:
for (i=0;i<num;i++)
{
if (s2[i].id == z)
{
printf("struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n\n", s2[i].id,s2[i].age,s2[i].userName,s2[i].dept);
break;
}
else if(i == num-1)
{
printf("nothing in id matches: <%d>\n\n",z);
break;
}
}
The thing here is that every time around the loop you're testing to see if you're at the last element in the loop. But the loop already does that. So you're doing it twice, and to make it worse, you're doing a subtraction (which may or may not be optimized into a register by the compiler).
What you would normally do is something like this:
int i;
student *s = NULL;
for( i = 0; i < num; i++ )
{
if( s2[i].id == z ) {
s = &s2[i];
break;
}
}
if( s != NULL ) {
printf( "struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n\n",
s->id, s->age, s->userName, s->dept );
} else {
printf("nothing in id matches: <%d>\n\n",z);
}
See that you only need to have some way of knowing that the loop found something. You wait for the loop to finish before you test whether it found something.
In this case I used a pointer to indicate success, because I could then use the pointer to access the relevant record without having to index back into the array and clutter the code. You won't always use pointers.
Sometimes you set a flag, sometimes you store the array index, sometimes you just return from the function (and if the loop falls through you know it didn't find anything).
Programming is about making sensible choices for the problem you are solving. Only optimize when you need to, don't over-complicate a problem, and always try to write code that is easy to read/understand.
Due to a problem posting, my last question (duplicate of this) was closed.
Background is provided at the end so you can get straight to the problem.
I have a text-based program to help learn vocabulary or anything else (basically simulates flash cards, but flashes up the ones you don't know more often). It seemed to work fine while I was testing it, until I got fed up of the constant backlog of text on the screen, so I implemented a (somewhat unportable) clear screen routine.
Then it started throwing up exceptions, and I put in all sorts of debugging code to try and track it down.
Well... I managed to narrow it down to the following command on line 445:
system("cls");
How can this command cause an exception? Does anyone know a workaround?
I've run this in command prompts on both Windows Vista and Windows 7 with the same result.
Complete source in case anyone wants to compile it themselves or take a look through:
#include <time.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <process.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <string.h>
#define DINPUTFILENAME "vtdb.~sv"
#define DOUTPUTFILENAME "vtdb.~sv"
#define MAXINTVALUE 2147483647
#define MAXTEXTLENGTH 256
#define N2LTONORM 5
#define NORMTON2L 3
#define NORMTOKNOWN 5
#define KNOWNTONORM 2
#define KNOWNTOOLD 2
#define OLDTONORM 1
struct vocab
{
int index; //identifies the entry in the list, allowing it to be selected by use of a random number
char * question;//pointer to question text
char * answer;//pointer to the answer text, which is required for the response to be considered correct
char * info;//pointer to optional extra text giving advice such as to how to format the response
char * hint;//pointer to optional text giving a clue to the answer
int right;//indicates whether counter is counting correct or incorrect responses
int counter;//counts how many times in a row the answer has been correct/incorrect
int known;//indicates to what level the vocab is known, and thus to which list it belongs (when loading/saving)
struct vocab * next;//pointer to next in list
};
struct listinfo//struct holds head, tail and the number of entries for the n2l, norm, known and old lists
{
struct vocab * head;
int entries;
struct vocab * tail;
};
struct listinfo n2l, norm, known, old;
int n2l_flag; //Prevents 'need to learn's coming up twice in a row
int maxtextlength = MAXTEXTLENGTH; //allows use of this #define within text strings
FILE * inputfile;
FILE * outputfile;
void getrecordsfromfile(char * inputfilename,char separator);//load
char * readtextfromfile(int maxchars,char separator);//get text field from file
int readnumberfromfile(int maxvalue,char separator);//get integer field from file
struct vocab * addtolist(struct vocab * newentry, struct listinfo * list);//add given (already filled in) vocab record to given list
int removefromlist(struct vocab * entry, struct listinfo * list,int freeup);//remove given entry from given list. Also destroy record if freeup is true
void reindex (struct listinfo * list);//necessary to stop gaps in the numbering system, which could cause random vocab selection to fail
int writeliststofile();//save
void testme();//main code for learning vocab, including options menu
char * gettextfromkeyboard(char * target,int maxchars);//set given string (char pointer) from keyboard, allocating memory if necessary
int getyesorno();//asks for yes or no, returns true (1) if yes
void testrandom();//code keeps causing exceptions, and as it's so random, I'm guessing it's to do with the random numbers
void getrecordsfromfile(char * inputfilename,char separator)
{
int counter = 0;
struct vocab * newvocab;
struct listinfo * newvocablist;
if (!(inputfile = fopen(inputfilename, "r")))
{
printf("Unable to read input file. File does not exist or is in use.\n");
}
else
{
printf("Opened input file %s, reading contents...\n",inputfilename);
while (!feof(inputfile))
{
newvocab = (struct vocab *)malloc(sizeof(struct vocab));
if (!newvocab)
{
printf("Memory allocation failed!\n");
return;
}
else
{
newvocab->question=readtextfromfile(MAXTEXTLENGTH,separator);
newvocab->answer=readtextfromfile(MAXTEXTLENGTH,separator);
newvocab->info=readtextfromfile(MAXTEXTLENGTH,separator);
newvocab->hint=readtextfromfile(MAXTEXTLENGTH,separator);
newvocab->right=readnumberfromfile(1,separator);
newvocab->counter=readnumberfromfile(0,separator);
newvocab->known=readnumberfromfile(3,separator);
switch (newvocab->known)
{
case 0: newvocablist = &n2l;break;
case 1: newvocablist = &norm;break;
case 2: newvocablist = &known;break;
case 3: newvocablist = &old;break;
}
addtolist(newvocab,newvocablist);
if (newvocab->question==NULL||newvocab->answer==NULL)
{
printf("Removing empty vocab record created from faulty input file...\n");
removefromlist(newvocab,newvocablist,1);
}
else counter++;
}
}
fclose(inputfile);
printf("...finished.\n%i entries read from %s.\n\n",counter,inputfilename);
}
return;
}
char * readtextfromfile(int maxchars,char separator)
{
int i=0;
char ch;
char * target = (char *)malloc(maxchars+1); //allocate memory for new string
if (!target) {printf("Memory allocation failed!\n");return 0;}//return 0 and print error if alloc failed
ch=getc(inputfile);
if (ch==separator){free(target);return NULL;}//if field is blank (zero-length), return null pointer
while (isspace(ch))
{
ch = getc(inputfile);//cycle forward until you reach text
if (ch == separator||ch=='\n'||ch==EOF) {free(target);return NULL;}//if no text found(reached ~ before anything else), return null pointer
}
if (ch=='"') //Entry is in quotes (generated by excel when exporting to .csv and field contains a comma)
{
ch=getc(inputfile);//move to next character after the quotes
while (i<maxchars && ch!='"' && ch!='\n')//stop when you reach the end quotes, end of line, or when text too long
{
target[i++]=ch;
ch = getc(inputfile); //copy name from file to target, one char at a time
}
}
else //entry is not in quotes, so char is currently first letter of string
{
while (i<maxchars && ch!=separator && ch!='\n')//stop when you reach separator, end of line, or when text too long
{
target[i++]=ch;
ch = getc(inputfile); //copy name from file to target, one char at a time
}
}
target[i] = '\0';//terminate string
return target;
}
int readnumberfromfile (int maxvalue,char separator)
{
int number, i=0;
char ch;
char * buff = (char *)malloc(11);
if (!buff) {printf("Memory allocation failed!\n");return 0;}//return 0 and print error if alloc failed
if (!maxvalue) maxvalue=MAXINTVALUE;
ch=getc(inputfile);
while (!isdigit(ch))
{
ch = getc(inputfile);//cycle forward until you reach a digit
if (ch == separator||ch=='\n'||ch==EOF) {printf("Format error in file\n");return 0;}//if no number found(reached ~ before digit), print error and return 0
}
while (i<11 && ch!=separator && ch!='\n')//stop when you reach '~', end of line, or when number too long
{
buff[i++]=ch;
ch = getc(inputfile); //copy number from file to buff, one char at a time
}
buff[i] = '\0';//terminate string
number = atoi(buff)<=maxvalue ? atoi(buff) : maxvalue;//convert string to number and make sure it's in range
free(buff);
return number;
}
struct vocab * addtolist(struct vocab * newentry, struct listinfo * list)
{
if (!list->head)//if head is null, there is no list, so create one
{
list->head = list->tail = newentry;//this is the new head and tail
list->entries = newentry->index = 1;
newentry->next = NULL;// FISH! not sure if this is necessary, but just be sure...
}
else//just appending to the list
{
list->tail->next = newentry;//adjust current tail to point to new entry
list->tail = newentry;//make the new entry the new tail
newentry->index=++list->entries;
newentry->next = NULL;
}
return newentry;
}
int removefromlist(struct vocab * entry, struct listinfo * list,int freeup)
{
struct vocab * prev;
if (list->head == entry) //if entry being deleted is first in the list
{
if (list->tail == entry) //if entry is only item in the list
{
list->head = list->tail = NULL;
}
else //if first in list, but not last
{
list->head = entry->next;
}
}
else //entry is not first in list, so set prev to point to previous entry
{
prev = list->head;
while (prev->next!=entry)
{
prev=prev->next;
if (!prev)
{
printf("Trying to delete an entry from a list it's not in!!\n");
return 0;
}
}
if (list->tail == entry)//if entry is at the end of the list
{
list->tail = prev;
list->tail->next = NULL;
}
else //if entry is somewhere in middle of list
{
prev->next=entry->next;
}
}//this entry is now not pointed to in any list
list->entries--;
/*following line removed because it could theoretically break a list if the entry was removed from a list after it had been added to another
entry->next = NULL;//and doesn't point to anything either*/
reindex(list);
if (freeup) //if freeup is set, this also wipes the record and frees up the memory associated with it
{
free(entry->question);
free(entry->answer);
free(entry->info);
free(entry->hint);
free(entry);
}
return 1;
}
void reindex (struct listinfo * list)
{
int counter = 1;
struct vocab * workingentry = list->head;
while (workingentry)
{
workingentry->index = counter++;
workingentry=workingentry->next;
}
if (list->entries!=counter-1) printf("Reindexing Error!\n");
}
int writeliststofile()
{
int i,counter=0;
struct listinfo * list;
struct vocab * entry;
if (!(outputfile = fopen(DOUTPUTFILENAME, "w")))
{
printf ("Error accessing output file!\n");
return 0;
}
else
{
printf("Saving...\n");
for (i=0;i<=3;i++)
{
switch (i)
{
case 0: list = &n2l;break;
case 1: list = &norm;break;
case 2: list = &known;break;
case 3: list = &old;break;
default: printf("Loop Error!\n");break;
}
entry=list->head;
while (entry!=NULL)
{
if (counter) fprintf(outputfile,"\n");
fprintf(outputfile,"%s~%s~%s~%s~%i~%i~%i",entry->question,entry->answer,entry->info,entry->hint,entry->right,entry->counter,i);
entry=entry->next;
counter++;
}
}
fclose(outputfile);
printf("...finished. %i entries saved.\n",counter);
return 1;
}
}
void testme()
{
int list_selector, entry_selector, bringupmenu = 0, testagain=1;
char testmenuchoice = '\n';
char * youranswer = (char *)malloc(MAXTEXTLENGTH+1);
struct listinfo * currentlist;
struct vocab * currententry;
if (!youranswer) {printf("Memory allocation error!\n");return;}
while (testagain)
{
fprintf(stderr,"Start of 'testagain' loop\nClearing screen...\n");
system("cls");
//select a list at random, using the percentage probabilities in the if statements. FISH! Can this be done with a switch and ranges?
fprintf(stderr,"Assigning list selector to random value...");
list_selector = (((float)rand() / 32768) * 100)+1;
fprintf(stderr,"assigned list selector value %i\nAssigning list pointer...",list_selector);
if (list_selector<33) currentlist = &n2l;
if (list_selector>32&&list_selector<95) {n2l_flag=0;currentlist=&norm;} //use norm list and cancel n2l flag (not cancelled with other lists)
if (list_selector>94&&list_selector<100) currentlist = &known;
if (list_selector==100) currentlist = &old;
fprintf(stderr,"assigned list pointer %x\nModifying pointer...",currentlist);
//do a little control over random selection
if (currentlist==&n2l && n2l_flag) {currentlist=&norm; n2l_flag=0;} //if n2l list was used last time as well (flag is set), use entry from the norm list instead
if (currentlist==&n2l) n2l_flag = 1; //is using n2l this time, set flag so it won't be used next time as well
if (currentlist->entries==0) currentlist = &norm;//if current list is empty, default to normal list
if (currentlist->entries==0 && !n2l_flag) currentlist = &n2l;//if normal list is empty, try n2l list if it wasn't used last time
if (currentlist->entries==0 && list_selector%10==5) currentlist = &old;//if list is still empty, in 10% of cases try old list
if (currentlist->entries==0) currentlist = &known;//in the other 90% of cases, or if old is empty, use the known list
if (currentlist->entries==0) currentlist = &old;//if known list is empty, try the old list
if (currentlist->entries==0) {currentlist = &n2l;n2l_flag=1;}//if old list is empty, use n2l list EVEN if it was used last time
if (currentlist->entries==0) {printf("No entries in list!");return;} //if list is STILL empty, abort
fprintf(stderr,"modified list pointer\nAssigning entry selector...");
//we now have the desired list of words with at least one entry, let's select an entry at random from this list
entry_selector = (((float)rand() / 32767) * currentlist->entries)+1;
fprintf(stderr,"assigned entry selector value %i\nAssignig pointer...",entry_selector);
currententry = currentlist->head;
fprintf(stderr,"set entry pointer to head, going to loop to it...\n");
while (currententry->index!=entry_selector)
{
currententry = currententry->next;//move through list until index matches the random number
if (currententry==NULL) {printf("Indexing error!\nCurrent list selector: %i, entries: %i, entry selector: %i\n",list_selector,currentlist->entries,entry_selector);return;}//in case not found in list
}
fprintf(stderr,"Looped, testing.\n");
printf("Translate the following:\n\n\t%s\n\n",currententry->question);
if (!currententry->info) printf("There is no additional information for this entry.\n");
else printf("Useful Info: %s\n\n",currententry->info);
printf("Your Translation:\n\n\t");
gettextfromkeyboard(youranswer,MAXTEXTLENGTH);
if (!strcmp(youranswer,currententry->answer))//if you're right
{
printf("Yay!\n");
if(currententry->right) currententry->counter++;
else currententry->right = currententry->counter = 1;
if (currententry->counter>2) printf("You answered correctly the last %i times in a row!\n",currententry->counter);
//make comments based on how well it's known, and move to a higher list if appropriate
if (currentlist==&n2l && currententry->counter>=N2LTONORM)
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
printf("Looks like you know this one a little better now!\nIt will be brought up less frequently.\n");
currententry->counter = 0;
addtolist(currententry,&norm);
}
if (currentlist==&norm && currententry->counter>=NORMTOKNOWN)
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
printf("Looks like you know this one now!\nIt will be brought up much less frequently.\n");
currententry->counter = 0;
addtolist(currententry,&known);
}
if (currentlist==&known && currententry->counter>=KNOWNTOOLD)
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
printf("OK! So this one's well-learnt.\nIt probably won't be brought up much any more.\n");
currententry->counter = 0;
addtolist(currententry,&old);
}
}
else //if you're wrong
{
printf("\nSorry, the correct answer is:\n\n\t%s\n\n",currententry->answer);
if(!currententry->right) currententry->counter++;
else {currententry->right = 0; currententry->counter = 1;}
if (currententry->counter>1) printf("You've got this one wrong the last %i times.\n",currententry->counter);
if (currentlist==&norm && currententry->counter>=NORMTON2L)
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
printf("This one could do with some learning...\n");
currententry->counter = 0;
addtolist(currententry,&n2l);
}
if (currentlist==&known && currententry->counter>=KNOWNTONORM)
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
printf("OK, perhaps you don't know this one as well as you once did...\n");
currententry->counter = 0;
addtolist(currententry,&norm);
}
if (currentlist==&old && currententry->counter>=OLDTONORM)
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
printf("This old one caught you out, huh? It will be brought up a few more times to help you remember it.\n");
currententry->counter = 0;
addtolist(currententry,&norm);
}
}
fprintf(stderr,"Tested, options menu?\n");
printf("Type 'o' for options or strike enter for another question\n");
testmenuchoice = getchar();
fprintf(stderr,"Got choice\n");
if (tolower(testmenuchoice)=='o') bringupmenu = 1;
fprintf(stderr,"set menuflag\n");
if (testmenuchoice!='\n') while (getchar()!='\n')getchar();
fprintf(stderr,"cleared getchar\n");
while (bringupmenu)
{
system("cls");
printf("Current Entry:\n\nQuestion: %s\nAnswer: '%s'\n",currententry->question,currententry->answer);
if (currententry->info) printf("Info: %s\n",currententry->info); else printf("No info.\n");
if (currententry->hint) printf("Hint: %s\n\n",currententry->hint); else printf("No hint.\n\n");
printf("Options Menu:\n\nType q to modify the question phrase displayed for translation.\nType a to change the answer phrase you must provide.\nType i to add/modify additional info for this entry.\nType h to add/modify the hint for this entry.\nType p to mark this entry as high priority to learn.\nType d to delete this entry from the database.\nType x to end testing and return to the main menu.\n\n");
testmenuchoice=getchar();
while (getchar()!='\n') getchar();
switch (testmenuchoice)
{
case 'q': printf("Enter new question text for this entry (max %i chars):\n",maxtextlength);
currententry->question=gettextfromkeyboard(currententry->question,MAXTEXTLENGTH);
break;
case 'a': printf("Enter new answer text for this entry (max %i chars):\n",maxtextlength);
currententry->answer=gettextfromkeyboard(currententry->answer,MAXTEXTLENGTH);
break;
case 'i': printf("Enter new info for this entry (max %i chars):\n",maxtextlength);
currententry->info=gettextfromkeyboard(currententry->info,MAXTEXTLENGTH);
break;
case 'h': printf("Enter new hint for this entry (max %i chars):\n",maxtextlength);
currententry->hint=gettextfromkeyboard(currententry->hint,MAXTEXTLENGTH);
break;
case 'p': if(currentlist=&n2l)printf("Already marked as priority!\n");
else
{
removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,0);
currententry->counter = 0;
currentlist=&n2l;
addtolist(currententry,currentlist);
printf("Entry will be brought up more often\n");
}
break;
case 'd': printf("Are you sure you want to delete this entry?\nOnce you save, this will be permanent!(y/n)");
if (getyesorno()) {removefromlist(currententry,currentlist,1);printf("Entry deleted!\n");bringupmenu=0;}
else printf("Entry was NOT deleted.\n");
break;
case 'x': bringupmenu = testagain = 0;
break;
default: printf("Invalid choice.\n");
}
if (bringupmenu)
{
printf("Select again from the options menu? (y/n)");
bringupmenu = getyesorno();
}
if (!bringupmenu&&testagain)
{
printf("Continue testing? (y/n)");
testagain = getyesorno();
}
}
fprintf(stderr,"End of 'testagain' loop.\n Clearing Screen...");
system("cls");
}
free(youranswer);
// getchar();
return;
}
char * gettextfromkeyboard(char * target,int maxchars)
{
int i =0;
char ch;
if (!target)//if no memory already allocated (pointer is NULL), do it now
{
target=(char *)malloc(maxchars+1);
if (!target) {printf("Memory allocation failed!");return NULL;} //return null if failed
}
ch = getchar();
if (ch=='\n') {free(target);return NULL;}//if zero length, free mem and return null pointer
while (!isalnum(ch))//cycle forward past white space
{
ch=getchar();
if (ch=='\n') {free(target);return NULL;}//if all white space, free mem and return null pointer
}
while (ch!='\n' && i<maxchars)
{
target[i++]=ch;
ch=getchar();
}
target[i]='\0';
return target;
}
int getyesorno()
{
char yesorno = '\n';
while (toupper(yesorno)!='Y'&&toupper(yesorno)!='N')
{
yesorno=getchar();
if (toupper(yesorno)!='Y'&&toupper(yesorno)!='N') printf("Invalid choice. You must enter Y or N:\n");
}
while (getchar()!='\n') getchar();
if (toupper(yesorno)=='Y') return 1;
else return 0;
}
void testrandom()
{
return;
}
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
char * inputfilename = DINPUTFILENAME;
char * outputfilename = DOUTPUTFILENAME;
char separator = '~';
char menuchoice = '\0';
n2l.entries = norm.entries = known.entries = old.entries = 0;
srand((unsigned)time(NULL));
fprintf(stderr,"Start...\n");
printf("Loading...\nLoad default database? (y/n)");
if (!getyesorno())
{
printf("Default file type is .~sv. Import .csv file instead? (y/n)");
if (getyesorno())
{
separator = ',';
printf("Enter name of .csv file to import:\n");
}
else
{
printf("Enter name of .~sv file to load:\n");
}
inputfilename = gettextfromkeyboard(inputfilename,256);
}
getrecordsfromfile(inputfilename,separator);
while (menuchoice!='x')
{
printf("Welcome to the Vocab Test, version C!\n\nMain menu:\n\n\tt: Test Me!\n\ts: Save\n\tx: Exit\n\n");
menuchoice = getchar();
while (getchar()!='\n') getchar();
switch (tolower(menuchoice))
{
case 'x': break;
case 't': testme(); break;
case 's': writeliststofile();break;
case 'w': testrandom(); break;
default: printf("Invalid choice. Please try again.\n"); break;
}
system("cls");
}
system("cls");
printf("Bye for now!\n\nPress enter to exit.");
getchar();
fprintf(stderr,"Successfully closed\n");
return 0;
}
I tried adding the output of stderr on a typical run, but it makes the body too long. Also tried adding it as an answer, but:
Users with less than 100 reputation can't answer their own question for 8 hours after asking. You may self-answer in 7 hours. Until then please use comments, or edit your question instead.
Background: I made my first foray into programming earlier this year, and decided I wanted to start with C before moving on to C++, Java, and perhaps Python and C#.
To get me started in C, after the obligatory hello world, I wrote a small game (text based, also including the "cls" command), and then moved onto this little vocab tester, which was to help me learn Indonesian while I was away in Austria speaking German :-D. I eventually got exasperated at the cls crash and haven't programmed since. I really want to pick it back up, so I'm starting here with this question.
Have you tried printing '\f'? That's the "formfeed" character.
EDIT: I've had a closer look at your code, and there's some stuff going on that I don't like. :-)
For example, in gettextfromkeyboard, if you enter only whitespace, it'll free target, even if that was non-NULL on entry.
In this line:
inputfilename = gettextfromkeyboard(inputfilename,256);
it passes inputfilename, which points to a constant string, into gettextfromkeyboard. Trying to free that is a bad idea.
I also have my doubts about while (getchar()!='\n') getchar();.
Suppose the input is "ABC\n".
The condition will consume and return 'A', the body of the loop will consume 'B', the condition will consume and return 'C', and the body of the loop will consume '\n'.
Try one of the many curses, ncurses, etc. packages around. There should be one somewhere on the web for your version of C, if it is not too uncommon. It should handle all kinds of text screen functionality, including clearing the screen and it is pretty portable.
Possibly system('cls') has been deprecated? Here is another way of doing it.
The code runs fine for me and the CLS command works. Non-reproduceable crashes often indicate memory corruption. I'd say a good place to look first is your readtextfromfile function since it will overwrite the input buffer if a file contains 256 chars.