Hangman program string issue - c

Question

I am in an introduction-to-C-programming class and we were assigned to write a Hangman program.
In the game, the computer chooses a word at random and shows how many letters it has. The user must guess the word by entering a letter they think might be in the word. Also the user only has six chances to get the word correct. With every wrong guess the picture of the being hanged will be completed. The program needs to have a main menu with three options (New game, Score and Quit). The program also needs to have these three functions:
selectWord to make a random selection of words (I created a string of words within this function).
drawMan to draw the hangman.
checkWord to check to see if the input is correct and replaces dashes with correct letters.
The problem for me occurs when I run the game and instead of shows the dashes the line where the dashed are supposed to be just says (null). The picture still displays though.
I am perplexed as to what might be causing this. Here is what I have so far:
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<string.h>
char selectWord(char []);
int drawMan(int);
void checkWord(char, char [], char [], int, int);
int main()
{
int menuSelect;
int chances = 0;
char word[13];
int length;
int score;
do
{
printf("\n\t\t\tThe Hangman Game v1.0 has booted\n\n");
printf("\t\t[1]\t Create new game\n");
printf("\t\t[2]\t View Score\n");
printf("\t\t[3]\t Exit game\n");
printf("Please enter a number from the menu: ");
scanf("%d", &menuSelect);
switch(menuSelect)
{
case 1:
selectWord(word);
length = strlen(word);
char dash[20]; //Will create dashes considering the length of the selected word
int dashCount;
int letterTry;
int wordMatch = 0;
for(dashCount = 0; dashCount < length; dashCount++)
{
dash[dashCount] = '-';
}
dash[dashCount] = '\0';
while(wordMatch != 1)
{
drawMan(chances);
printf("\n%s", dash[dashCount]);
printf("\n\nPlease enter a letter: ");
fflush(NULL);
while(letterTry != '\n')
{
letterTry = getchar();
}
letterTry = getchar();
if(strcmp(dash, word) == 0)
{
printf("\nThat is correct!\n");
wordMatch = 1;
score++;
}
}
break;
case 2:
printf("The score is: %d", score);
break;
case 3:
printf("Thank you for playing!");
break;
}
}while(menuSelect != 3);
}
char selectWord(char word[])
{
int index;
char list[65][13]={{"sailboat"}, {"school"}, {"rug"}, {"chalk"}, {"tusk"}, {"camera"}, {"pajamas"}, {"cello"}, {"cake"}, {"beehive"}, {"gate"}, {"swing"}, {"lighthouse"}, {"toe"}, {"newspaper"}, {"stingray"}, {"brain"}, {"french"}, {"purse"}, {"soda"}, {"money"}, {"dryer"}, {"scale"}, {"clam"}, {"knee"}, {"artist"}, {"stomach"}, {"ticket"}, {"face"}, {"TV"}, {"can"}, {"blowfish"}, {"popsicle"}, {"beaver"}, {"snowball"}, {"dollar"}, {"sprinkler"}, {"hair"}, {"bathroom"}, {"rain"}, {"skirt"}, {"beach"}, {"suitcase"}, {"garden"}, {"doormat"}, {"pretzel"}, {"watering"}, {"fur"}, {"birthday"}, {"fries"}, {"owl"}, {"chin"}, {"spool"}, {"mushroom"}, {"peach"}, {"pelican"}, {"pineapple"}, {"flagpole"}, {"doghouse"}, {"boot"}, {"flute"}, {"quilt"}, {"hook"}, {"rainbow"}, {"happy"}};
srand(time(NULL));
index = rand()%65;
strcpy(word, list[index]);
return word;
}
int drawMan(int chances)
{
if(chances == 6)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 5)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 4)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 3)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 2)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 1)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | /");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 0)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | / \\");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
printf("\n\n\t You have lost!");
}
}
void checkWord(char ltrTry, char word[], char dash[], int length, int chances)
{
int count;
int correct = 0; // 0 is incorrect 1 is correct
for(count = 0; count < length; count++)
{
if(ltrTry == word[count])
{
dash[count] = word[count];
correct = 1;
}
}
}
Update #1: Thank you all for the dash string fix. Adding null character to the dash array fixed the dash problem. I added a new variable to case 1 in my main function called "wordMatch" and made it my control variable for the while loop since it's possible to get the word correct and exit the loop withuot using up all the chances. But it seems a new one has arisen. When selecting new game, the hangman is displayed twice and upon entering an incorrect letter the number of chances does not change nor does the image of the hangman change (giving me unlimited trys). However the loop exits correctly once I guess the word correctly. Why might this be happening?
Update #2: I have corrected the code and gotten it to perform correctly. The only problem now seems that the case 1 doesn't break, because it is stuck in the while loop with letterTry.

Answer 1

There are actually 2 problems. After assigning dashes, make sure that you terminate the string with \0 as follows:
for(dashCount = 0; dashCount < length; dashCount++)
{
dash[dashCount] = '-';
}
dash[dashCount] = '\0';
And in the while loop, print:
printf("\n%s", dash);
instead of:
printf("\n%s", dash[dashCount]);
Also, you are not updating the chances value after each try. You can do this by making checkWord function to return the correct and updating the chances count based on that, as follows:
int checkWord(char ltrTry, char word[], char dash[], int length, int trys)
{
...
return correct;
}
And in the loop, instead of just calling the function, do the following:
if(!checkWord(letterTry, word, dash, length, chances))
{
chances++;
}
Another problem I can see is while reading the letterTry value. When you read a character (in this case letterTry) after using scanf function before, the \n character will get stored in the variable. Then the program will not prompt for another input from you. In your case, the player will loose one chance for no reason. The simplest solution for this problem is to do as follows:
while(letterTry != '\n')
letterTry = getchar();
And, break from the main loop once the player gets the answer right.
if(strcmp(dash, word) == 0)
{
printf("You Won!");
score++;
break;
}
After understanding the above solutions, correctly, go through this fixed solution:
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<string.h>
char selectWord(char[]);
int drawMan(int);
int checkWord(char, char[], char[], int);
int main()
{
int menuSelect;
int chances = 0;
char word[13];
int length;
int score;
do
{
printf("\n\t\t\tThe Hangman Game v1.0 has booted\n\n");
printf("\t\t[1]\t Create new game\n");
printf("\t\t[2]\t View Score\n");
printf("\t\t[3]\t Exit game\n");
printf("Please enter a number from the menu: ");
scanf("%d", &menuSelect);
switch(menuSelect)
{
case 1:
selectWord(word);
length = strlen(word);
char dash[20]; //Will create dashes considering the length of the selected word
int dashCount;
int letterTry;
for(dashCount = 0; dashCount < length; dashCount++)
{
dash[dashCount] = '-';
}
dash[dashCount] = '\0';
chances = 0;
while(chances != 6)
{
drawMan(chances);
printf("\n%s\n", dash);
printf("chances = %d\n", chances);
printf("\n\nPlease enter a letter: ");
fflush(NULL);
//scanf("%c%c", &letterTry, &letterTry);
while(letterTry != '\n')
letterTry = getchar();
letterTry = getchar();
if(!checkWord(letterTry, word, dash, length))
{
chances++;
}
if(strcmp(dash, word) == 0)
{
printf("You Won!");
score++;
break;
}
}
break;
case 2:
printf("The score is: %d", score);
break;
case 3:
printf("Thank you for playing!");
break;
}
}while(menuSelect != 3);
}
char selectWord(char word[])
{
int index;
char list[65][13]={{"sailboat"}, {"school"}, {"rug"}, {"chalk"}, {"tusk"}, {"camera"}, {"pajamas"}, {"cello"}, {"cake"}, {"beehive"}, {"gate"}, {"swing"}, {"lighthouse"}, {"toe"}, {"newspaper"}, {"stingray"}, {"brain"}, {"french"}, {"purse"}, {"soda"}, {"money"}, {"dryer"}, {"scale"}, {"clam"}, {"knee"}, {"artist"}, {"stomach"}, {"ticket"}, {"face"}, {"TV"}, {"can"}, {"blowfish"}, {"popsicle"}, {"beaver"}, {"snowball"}, {"dollar"}, {"sprinkler"}, {"hair"}, {"bathroom"}, {"rain"}, {"skirt"}, {"beach"}, {"suitcase"}, {"garden"}, {"doormat"}, {"pretzel"}, {"watering"}, {"fur"}, {"birthday"}, {"fries"}, {"owl"}, {"chin"}, {"spool"}, {"mushroom"}, {"peach"}, {"pelican"}, {"pineapple"}, {"flagpole"}, {"doghouse"}, {"boot"}, {"flute"}, {"quilt"}, {"hook"}, {"rainbow"}, {"happy"}};
srand(time(NULL));
index = rand()%65;
strcpy(word, list[index]);
return word;
}
int drawMan(int chances)
{
if(chances == 0)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 1)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n |");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 2)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 3)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 4)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 5)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | /");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
}
else if(chances == 6)
{
printf("\n\n");
printf("\n +-------+");
printf("\n | |");
printf("\n | O");
printf("\n | /|\\");
printf("\n | / \\");
printf("\n | ");
printf("\n /|\\\n\n");
printf("\n\n\t You have lost!");
}
printf("print complete; exiting successfully");
}
int checkWord(char ltrTry, char word[], char dash[], int length)
{
int count;
int correct = 0; // 0 is incorrect 1 is correct
for(count = 0; count < length; count++)
{
if(ltrTry == word[count])
{
dash[count] = word[count];
correct = 1;
}
}
/* if(correct == 0)
{
trys--;
} */
return correct;
}