How can i use input data from a file in C programming? - c

Question

I have a program that uses word search. I have a data file which contains the puzzle and the words. What can i implement into my program so that it reads the file and stores the letters present in it as an array?
Example of the data file (it is called testdata):
h e l l o a c d
f g b w o r l d
h a c c v b n a
e q b x n t q q
y e h n c a q r
hello
world
hey
I want to store all the letters in a 2-d array.
Also, I need to store all the words in a 1-dimensional array.
The maximum number of rows of columns or rows that AxA square of letters that is possible in a data file is 25. So, I believe that I should declare an array of that size for the letter and then write them into that array.
I just can't figure out how to read them into that array. There is a space after each letter in the array and no spaces in the words so I think that might be helpful when putting the letters in one array and words in another.

Answer 1

Given your question, and your input, there are a few questions, but in the interest of time, for now, I have made some assumptions about the dimensions of the array, i.e. that it is not necessarily square (as implied by columns or rows that AxA square). The actual data sample disagrees, so I wrote a routine that counts everything as it goes. The letter array is simply an array of arrays, but since it is stored in sequential memory, it just looks like one long array. The strings are each in there own location as well. In any case, this code should illustrate enough to get you on the right track...
#include <ansi_c.h>
#include <stdio.h>
void GetFileContents(char *file, int *nWords, int *lw, int *r, int *c);
void allocMemoryStr(int numStrings, int max);
void allocMemoryLtr(int numStrings, int max);
void freeMemoryStr(int numStrings);
void freeMemoryLtr(int numletters);
#define FILENAME "c:\\dev\\play\\_puzzle.txt"
char **letters;
char **strings;
int main()
{
int longest, cnt, wCount, rows, cols, i;
char line[260];
FILE *fp;
char *buf=0;
GetFileContents(FILENAME, &wCount, &longest, &rows, &cols);
allocMemoryStr(wCount, longest); //for strings
allocMemoryLtr(rows*cols, 1); //for strings
//read file into string arrays
fp = fopen(FILENAME, "r");
cnt=0;
for(i=0;i<rows;i++)
{
fgets(line, 260, fp);
buf = strtok(line, " \n");
while(buf)
{
strcpy(letters[cnt], buf);
buf = strtok(NULL, " \n");
cnt++; //use as accurate count of words.
}
}
cnt=0;
while(fgets(line, 260, fp)) //get remainder of lines into strings
{
//[EDIT]removed fgets()
buf = strtok(line, " \n");
while(buf)
{
strcpy(strings[cnt], buf);
buf = strtok(NULL, " \n");
cnt++; //use as accurate count of words.
}
}
fclose(fp);
freeMemoryStr(wCount);
freeMemoryLtr(rows*cols);
return 0;
}
void GetFileContents(char *file, int *nWords, int *lw, int *r, int *c)
{
char line[260];
FILE *fp;
char *buf=0;
char temp[80];
int wc=0, rc=0, cc=0, ck=0;
fp = fopen(FILENAME, "r");
while(fgets(line, 260, fp))
{
rc++;
buf = strtok(line, " \n");
while(buf)
{
strcpy(temp, buf); // word handler
if(strlen(temp) > 1)
{
wc++;
rc--; //
}
else if(strlen(temp) == 1) //leter handler
{
cc++;
(cc>ck)?(ck=cc):(cc=cc);
}
buf = strtok(NULL, " \n");
}
cc = 0;
}
fclose(fp);
*nWords = wc;
*r = rc;
*c = ck;
}
void allocMemoryStr(int numStrings, int max)
{
int i;
strings = calloc(sizeof(char*)*(numStrings+1), sizeof(char*));
for(i=0;i<numStrings; i++)
{
strings[i] = calloc(sizeof(char)*max + 1, sizeof(char));
}
}
void allocMemoryLtr(int numletters, int max)
{
int i;
letters = calloc(sizeof(char*)*(numletters+1), sizeof(char*));
for(i=0;i<numletters; i++)
{
letters[i] = calloc(sizeof(char)*max + 1, sizeof(char));
}
}
void freeMemoryStr(int numStrings)
{
int i;
for(i=0;i<numStrings; i++)
if(strings[i]) free(strings[i]);
free(strings);
}
void freeMemoryLtr(int numletters)
{
int i;
for(i=0;i<numletters; i++)
if(letters[i]) free(letters[i]);
free(letters);
}

Answer 2

I would parse the file line by line and char by char looking for what i need. In the example (which is untested), i hold three counters to help filling the arrays correctly.
char letters[25][25];
char words[10][25]
int letters_x_pos = 0; // Row counter
int letters_y_pos = 0; // Column counter
int words_pos = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < 25; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < 25; j++) {
letters[i][j] = '\0';
}
}
const char *line;
while (line = some_read_function()) {
if (!(strlen(line) > 1)) {
continue;
}
if (line[1] == ' ') {
// Line contains letters
const char *letter = line;
while (*letter != '\0') {
if (*letter == ' ' || *letter == '\n' || *letter == '\r') {
continue;
}
else {
letters[letters_x_pos][letters_y_pos++] = *letter;
}
if (letters_y_pos == 25) {
// Maximum reached
break;
}
letter++;
}
// Increment row counter and reset column counter
letters_x_pos++;
letters_y_pos = 0;
if (letters_x_pos == 25) {
// Maximum reached
break;
}
}
else {
// Line contains word
strncpy(words[words_pos++], line, 25);
if (words_pos == 25) {
// Maximum reached
break;
}
}
}