why does NULL condition terminate after 3 chars - c

I wrote this function which is supposed to read a string into an array up to the NULL char which represents the end of the string in the line. But it somehow doesn't quite work.
int main(void){
int MAX = 39;
char number1[MAX + 1];
int i;
read_array(number1, MAX);
for(i = 0; i <= MAX; i++)
printf("%c", number1[i]);
return 0;
}
int read_array(char* number, int size) {
printf("\nEnter an integer number at a maximum of 39 digits please.\n");
int result = 0;
char* i;
for (i = number; *i != NULL; i++)
scanf("%c", i);
return result;
}
No matter how many chars I type, as I print the result it just gives me the first 3 chars and I don't understand why. Any idea? THX

As I said earlier, scanf doesn't null-terminate your strings for you. If you want to read until the user hits enter/return, check for that. You can do that by replacing your for-loop with this do-while-loop:
do {
scanf("%c", i); // read the data into i *before* the loop condition check
} while (*i++ != '\n'); // check for '\n' (unless you expect the user to
// actually type the null character)
#NedStark point about i pointing to junk memory is correct. The data in number1 is never initialized, so it's just filled with junk. Your loop condition (*i != NULL) is checked before the scanf call, which means the loop condition is just checking old, junk data (and not the correct value).

The problem is in your loop
for (i = number; *i != NULL; i++)
scanf("%c", i);
After incrementing i, i points to the next memory location which contains garbage data because it
hasn't been properly initialized. Probably you want to something like:
char c;
i = number;
do
{
scanf("%c", &c);
*i = c;
++i;
} while (c!='\n')
*i = '\0';

Related

Reversing array in C

My array works fine if array is above 7 and if below 7 it will stuck at 7 and the remaining array will be filled with random characters
int main()
{
char inputString[1001];
for (int i = 0 ; i < sizeof(inputString) ; ++i) {
scanf("%c", &inputString[i]);
}
int length=0;
while(inputString[length] != '\0') length++;
// Reverse String
int x;
printf("%d\n", length+1);
for(x = length-1; x >= 0; x--) {
printf("%c", inputString[x]);
}
return 0;
}
TBH, there are many errors in that code, but i don't know how to fix it.
What can i do in this situation?
Start by initializing the array:
char inputString[1001] = {0};
I have a couple of notes.
First, you are using a for loop to insert x amount of characters into the array, and later checking with a while loop the length until it is '\0'. If you are using a for loop to insert to the array the length will be the same number you made the loop, which is 1001 in this case.
So length will always be 1001 since you can't enter "\0" with scanf.
You can use scanf("%s", inputString) this way the length will be until the user presses enter.
Second, if you want to do this without string.h strlen() function, you can reduce the while to while(inputString[length++]), because '\0' will be false and the while loop will end.
This is the code I made
int main()
{
char inputString[1001];
scanf("%s", inputString);
int length=0;
while(inputString[length++])
// Reverse String
int x;
printf("%d\n", length);
for(x = length-1; x >= 0; x--) {
printf("%c", inputString[x]);
}
return 0;
}

Manipulating dynamically allocated 2D char arrays in C

I'm having trouble with trying to manipulate 2d dynamic arrays in C. What I want to do is to store a char string in every row of the the 2d array then perform a check to see if the string contains a certain character, if so remove all occurrences then shift over the empty positions. What's actually happening is I get an exit status 1.
More about the problem, for example if I have
Enter string 1: testing
Enter string 2: apple
Enter string 3: banana
I would want the output to become
What letter? a // ask what character to search for and remove all occurences
testing
pple
bnn
Here is my full code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void removeOccurences2(char** letters, int strs, int size, char letter){
// Get size of array
// Shift amount says how many of the letter that we have removed so far.
int shiftAmt = 0;
// Shift array says how much we should shift each element at the end
int shiftArray[strs][size];
// The first loop to remove letters and put things the shift amount in the array
int i,j;
for(i=0;i < strs; i++){
for(j = 0; j < size - 1; j++) {
if (letters[i][j] == '\0'){
break;
}
else {
// If the letter matches
if(letter == letters[i][j]){
// Set to null terminator
letters[i][j] = '\0';
// Increase Shift amount
shiftAmt++;
// Set shift amount for this position to be 0
shiftArray[i][j] = 0;
}else{
// Set the shift amount for this letter to be equal to the current shift amount
shiftArray[i][j] = shiftAmt;
}
}
}
}
// Loop back through and shift each index the required amount
for(i = 0; i < strs; i++){
for(j = 0; j < size - 1; j++) {
// If the shift amount for this index is 0 don't do anything
if(shiftArray[i][j] == 0) continue;
// Otherwise swap
letters[i][j - shiftArray[i][j]] = letters[i][j];
letters[i][j] = '\0';
}
//now print the new string
printf("%s", letters[i]);
}
return;
}
int main() {
int strs;
char** array2;
int size;
int cnt;
int c;
char letter;
printf("How many strings do you want to enter?\n");
scanf("%d", &strs);
printf("What is the max size of the strings?\n");
scanf("%d", &size);
array2 = malloc(sizeof(char*)*strs);
cnt = 0;
while (cnt < strs) {
c = 0;
printf("Enter string %d:\n", cnt + 1);
array2[cnt] = malloc(sizeof(char)*size);
scanf("%s", array2[cnt]);
cnt += 1;
}
printf("What letter?\n");
scanf(" %c", &letter);
removeOccurences2(array2,strs,size,letter);
}
Thanks in advance!
You can remove letters from a string in place, because you can only shorten the string.
The code could simply be:
void removeOccurences2(char** letters, int strs, int size, char letter){
int i,j,k;
// loop over the array of strings
for(i=0;i < strs; i++){
// loop per string
for(j = 0, k=0; j < size; j++) {
// stop on the first null character
if (letters[i][j] == '\0'){
letters[i][k] = 0;
break;
}
// If the letter does not match, keep the letter
if(letter != letters[i][j]){
letters[i][k++] = letters[i][j];
}
}
//now print the new string
printf("%s\n", letters[i]);
}
return;
}
But you should free all the allocated arrays before returning to environment, and explicitely return 0 at the end of main.
Well, there are several issues on your program, basically you are getting segmentation fault error because you are accessing invalid memory which isn't allocated by your program. Here are some issues I found:
shiftAmt isn't reset after processing/checking each string which lead to incorrect value of shiftArray.
Values of shiftArray only set as expected for length of string but after that (values from from length of each string to size) are random numbers.
The logic to delete occurrence character is incorrect - you need to shift the whole string after the occurrence character to the left not just manipulating a single character like what you are doing.
1 & 2 cause the segmentation fault error (crash the program) because it causes this line letters[i][j - shiftArray[i][j]] = letters[i][j]; access to unexpected memory. You can take a look at my edited version of your removeOccurences2 method for reference:
int removeOccurences2(char* string, char letter) {
if(!string) return -1;
int i = 0;
while (*(string+i) != '\0') {
if (*(string+i) == letter) {
memmove(string + i, string + i + 1, strlen(string + i + 1));
string[strlen(string) - 1] = '\0'; // delete last character
}
i++;
}
return 0;
}
It's just an example and there is still some flaw in its logics waiting for you to complete. Hint: try the case: "bananaaaa123"
Happy coding!
"...if the string contains a certain character, if so remove all occurrences then shift over the empty positions."
The original string can be edited in place by incrementing two pointers initially containing the same content. The following illustrates.:
void remove_all_chars(char* str, char c)
{
char *pr = str://pointer read
char *pw = str;//pointer write
while(*pr)
{
*pw = *pr++;
pw += (*pw != c);//increment pw only if current position == c
}
*pw = '\0';//terminate to mark last position of modified string
}
This is the cleanest, simplest form I have seen for doing this task. Credit goes to this answer.

Array of dynamically allocated strings

This program is supposed to dynamically store each string entered into a pointer. Each pointer is part of an array of pointers that will collectively hold all of the strings. When the user enter an empty word, or NULL, it is supposed to quit. My problem is that the code just skips over the NULL conditional statement. I saw some similar posts and have been at it for hours but just can't solve it.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
void readWord(char wordChar[], int MAX_CHARS);
int main()
{
int MAX_CHARS = 20;
int wCount = 0;
char *wordArray[wCount]; // Array of pointers that will each point to wordChar
char wordChar[MAX_CHARS];
int i;
for(i = 0;;i++)
{
wCount++;
printf("Enter word: ");
readWord(wordChar, MAX_CHARS); //Reads one word at a time
//Dynamically store each
wordArray[i] = (char*) malloc((int) strlen(wordChar) * (int) sizeof(char));
wordArray[i] = wordChar;
printf("%s \n", wordArray[i]); //Troubleshooting *********************
// If loop ends scanning when word is NULL
if(wordArray[i] == 'NULL')
{
printf("if loop");
break;
}
else printf("no loop");
}
}
/***********************************************************/
void readWord(char wordChar[], int MAX_CHARS)
{
int letter, i = 0;
while((letter = getchar()) != '\n')
{
if(i < MAX_CHARS)
{
wordChar[i] = letter;
i++;
}
}
wordChar[i] = '\0';
}
The short and useless summary is: you're #includeing string.h; use it!
You're trying to compare two pointers directly.
if(wordArray[i] == 'NULL')
This line looks at the pointer value of wordArray[i] to the value of the multi-character literal 'NULL' (note that I didn't say string: you used single quotes here, so 'NULL' has the integer value 0x4e554c4c; see https://stackoverflow.com/a/7459943/510299). If wordArray[i] points to the address 0x12345678, then this is comparing 0x12345678 to 0x4e554c4c and sees that they're not equal.
What you want is to compare strings. In C, you can't do this with == because C strings are char arrays or pointers to chars; == compares the pointer (address) value, as I noted above.
Solution, use strcmp.
if(strcmp(wordArray[i], "NULL") == 0)
(Note the use of double quotes.)
EDIT: Also note that char *wordArray[wCount]; is declared when wCount == 0. This nominally means you tried to declare an array of length 0, which is undefined behaviour. You need to declare wordArray with some length (probably the maximum number of words you can store). [Thanks to riodoro1 for pointing this out in a comment.]
You made a similar blunder with string manipulation in C here:
wordArray[i] = (char*) malloc((int) strlen(wordChar) * (int) sizeof(char));
This line sets the pointer wordArray[i] to some newly allocated memory.
wordArray[i] = wordChar;
This line then proceeds to change the pointer wordArray[i] to point to the original location where the read word was stored. Oops. The next time you go through this loop, wordChar changes, and wordArray[i] is pointing to wordChar... so the new word "replaces" all the previous words.
Solution? You need to copy the string to the memory you just malloc'd. Use strcpy().
printf("if loop");
A conditional (if) statement is not a kind of loop.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h> //for realloc and free (malloc)
#include <string.h>
void readWord(char wordChar[], int MAX_CHARS);
int main(void){
int MAX_CHARS = 20;
int wCount = 0;
char **wordArray = NULL; // Array of pointers that will each point to wordChar
char wordChar[MAX_CHARS];
int i;
for(i = 0;;i++){
printf("Enter word: ");
readWord(wordChar, MAX_CHARS); //Reads one word at a time
if(*wordChar == '\0' || strcmp(wordChar, "NULL") == 0){//empty word or "NULL"
putchar('\n');
break;
}
wCount++;
wordArray = realloc(wordArray, wCount * sizeof(*wordArray));//check omitted
//Dynamically store each
wordArray[i] = malloc(strlen(wordChar) + 1);//+1 for NUL
strcpy(wordArray[i], wordChar);//copy string
}
//check print and free
for(i = 0; i < wCount; ++i){
printf("'%s'\n", wordArray[i]);
free(wordArray[i]);
}
free(wordArray);
return 0;
}
void readWord(char wordChar[], int MAX_CHARS){
int letter, i = 0;
while((letter = getchar()) != '\n' && letter != EOF){
if(i < MAX_CHARS -1)//-1 for NUL, or char wordChar[MAX_CHARS+1];
wordChar[i++] = letter;
else
;//drop letter upto newline
}
wordChar[i] = '\0';
}

C program Need help fixing my code for a word sort program

Hi I am still new to c and have been working on this word sort program for some time now. the guidelines are:
Write a program that sorts a series of words entered by the user. Assume that each word is no more than 20 characters long. Stop reading when the user enters an empty word. Store each word in a dynamically allocated string, using an array of pointers (use the read_line function). After all lines have been read sort the array. Then use a loop to print the words in sorted order.
The problem I seem to be having is that the program will accept words but when I enter the empty word it goes to a new line and nothing happens. An help or advice would be greatly appreciated. here is my code so far.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define LEN 20
#define LIM 20
int read_line(char str[], int n);
void sort_str(char *list[], int n);
int alpha_first(char *list[], int min_sub, int max_sub);
int main(void)
{
char *list[LIM];
char *alpha[LIM];
char word_str[LEN];
int word, i, j, num_count = 0;
for(;;){
printf("Enter a word: ");
scanf("%s", &word);
if(word == NULL)
break;
else
read_line(word_str, LEN);
list[i] = malloc(strlen(word_str) + 1);
strcpy(list[i], word_str);
alpha[i] = list[i];
}
sort_str(alpha, i);
for(i = 0; i < num_count; ++i){
printf("Sorted: ");
puts(list[i]);
}
return (0);
}
int read_line(char str[], int n)
{
int ch, i = 0;
while ((ch = getchar()) != '\n')
if (i < n)
str[i++] = ch;
str[i] = '\0';
return i;
}
void sort_str(char *list[], int n)
{
int i, index_of_min;
char *temp;
for (i= 0; i < n - 1; ++i) {
index_of_min = alpha_first(list, i, n - 1);
if (index_of_min != i) {
temp = list[index_of_min];
list[index_of_min] = list[i];
list[i] = temp;
}
}
}
int alpha_first(char *list[], int min_sub, int max_sub){
int i, first;
first = min_sub;
for(i = min_sub + 1; i <= max_sub; ++i){
if(strcmp(list[i], list[first]) < 0){
first = i;
}
}
return (first);
}
Your logic flow is flawed. If a word is entered, the scanf() will eat it from stdin and store a null-terminated string at the address of the integer 'word'. Any more than 3/7 chars entered, (32/64 bit, allowing for the null terminator), will start corrupting the stack. read_line() will then only have the line terminator to read from stdin, (assuming the UB doesn't blow it up first).
The problem I seem to be having is that the program will accept words but when I enter the empty word it goes to a new line and nothing happens.
There are several problems with this:
char word_str[LEN];
int word, i, j, num_count = 0;
/* ... */
scanf("%s", &word);
if(word == NULL)
break;
First, scanf("%s", &word) scans whitespace-delimited strings, and to that end it skips leading whitespace, including newlines. You cannot read an "empty word" that way, though you can fail to read a word at all if the end of the input is reached (or an I/O error occurs) before any non-whitespace characters are scanned.
Second, you are passing an inappropriate pointer to scanf(). You should pass a pointer to a character array, but you instead pass a pointer to an int. It looks like maybe you wanted to scan into word_str instead of into word.
Third, your scanf() format does not protect against buffer overflow. You should provide a field width to limit how many characters can be scanned. Moreover, you need to be sure to leave room for a string terminator.
Fourth, you do not check the return value of scanf(). If it fails to match any characters to the field, then it will not store any. Since it returns the number of fields that were successfully scanned (or an error indicator), you can detect this condition.
One way to correct the scanf() and "empty word" test would be:
int result;
result = scanf("%*[ \t]%19[^ \t\n]", word_str);
if (result < 1) break;
(That assumes a fixed maximum word length of 19 to go with your declared array length of 20.) You have several additional problems in your larger code, large among them that read_line() attempts to read the same data you just read via scanf() (in fact, that function looks altogether pointless). Also, you never update num_count, and after calling sort_str() you lose track of the number of strings you've read by assigning a new value to variable i.
There may be other problems, too.

Scanf and two strings

My task is read two strings of digits and save them in different arrays.
I decided to use scanf function, but program can read only first string.
This is my bad-code.
int main()
{
int firstArray[50], secondArray[50], i, j;
/* fill an array with 0 */
for(i=0; i<50; ++i)
{
firstArray[i]=secondArray[i]=0;
}
i=j=0;
while((scanf("%d", &firstArray[i]))== 1) { ++i; }
while((scanf("%d", &secondArray[j]))== 1) { ++j; }
/* Print this. */
for(i = 0; i < 20; ++i)
{
printf("%d ", firstArray[i]);
}
putchar('\n');
for(j = 0; j < 20; ++j)
{
printf("%d ", secondArray[j]);
}
return 0;
}
I just don't understand how scanf function works. Can someone please explain?
scanf ignores blank characters (including new line). Thus your scan will read entire input into firstArray if you have no "non blank" separator.
If file/data has ; at end of first line it will stop the read into firstArray there, and never read anything into secondArray - as you never consume the ;.
/* This will never be 1 as ; is blocking */
while((scanf("%d", &secondArray[i])) == 1) {
So: if you separate with i.e. ; you will have to read / check for this before you read into secondArray.
You could also add something like:
char c;
/* this can be done more tidy, but only as concept */
while((scanf("%d", &firstArray[i])) == 1 && i < max) {
++i;
if ((c = getchar()) == '\n' || c == ';')
break;
}
Also instead of initializing array to 0 by loop you can say:
int firstArray[50] = {0}; /* This set every item to 0 */
Also take notice to ensure you do not go over your 50 limit.
You say strings of digits and you read %d. The format scans the input for the longest sequence representing an integer (signed) value. Two "digit strings" are consumed by the first while loop.
EDIT Instead of "strings of digits" you should say "strings of integers". In this case it is a little bit more subtle since the first while can consume all the integers, unless they are separated by something that is not a possible integer (e.g. a ;).
So, to make the following to work, you must separate the two "lines" with something that can't be parsed as integer and which is not considered "white character". Not the better solution, but one the possible.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
int main()
{
int firstArray[50] = {0};
int secondArray[50] = {0};
int i, j, l1, l2;
int tmp;
i = j = 0;
// read integers, but not more than size of array
while( scanf("%d", &firstArray[i]) == 1 && i < sizeof(firstArray) ) {
++i;
}
// consume non digits
for(tmp = getchar(); tmp != EOF && !isdigit(tmp); tmp = getchar());
// on EOF you should exit and stop processing;
// we read one more char, push it back if it was a digit
if (isdigit(tmp)) ungetc(tmp, stdin);
while( scanf("%d", &secondArray[j]) == 1 && j < sizeof(secondArray) ) {
++j;
}
l1 = i; // preserve how many ints were read
l2 = j;
/* Print this. */
for(i = 0; i < l1; ++i)
{
printf("%d ", firstArray[i]);
}
putchar('\n');
for(j=0; j < l2; ++j)
{
printf("%d ", secondArray[j]);
}
return 0;
}
EDIT A solution that maybe fits your need better is to read the lines (one per time) into a buffer and sscanf the buffer.
You cannot use scanf to do that.
Read the documentation.
Observations:
with scanf if you enter a digit your loop runs forever
there is no check on size 50 limit of your arrays
if you press return then it ignores that line because does not match your pattern
if you enter a letter the pattern does not match and loop breaks
So use some other function, maybe gets, atoi or strtol. And remember to check the size 50 limit of your arrays.
Actually, there is one special point in C's arrays.
Though you declare an array's size. say int arr[5]; You can store values beyond the size of 5. It doesn't show any error but leads to undefined behavior (Might overwrite other variables).
Please Refer this question: Array size less than the no. of elements stored in it
In you case, that was your problem. The compiler had never passed beyond the first while statements. Thus, you didn't get any output. In fact, it didn't even compile the whole code yet!
while((scanf("%d", &firstArray[i]))== 1) { ++i; }
So, you could write this while statement like this:
while( scanf("%d", &firstArray[i]) ==1 && i<50 )
i++;
or else:
while(i<50 )
{
scanf("%d", &firstArray[i]);
i++;
}
or else:
for (i=0; i<50; i++)
scanf("%d", &firstArray[i]);

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