read and gather variables in a text file - c

Question

I asked this a while ago but was really vague and I also made some changes to my code.
I have a file that I call "stats.txt" which I open with: (using "C" btw)
fopen("stats.txt", r+)
During the first run of my program, I will ask the user to fill in the variables used to write to the file:
fprintf(fp, "STR: %i(%i)\n", STR, smod);
fprintf(fp, "DEX: %i(%i)\n", DEX, dmod);
etc...
the file looks like this after the programs first run, with all the numbers corresponding to a variable in the program:
Level 1 Gnome Wizard:
STR: 8(-1)
DEX: 14(2)
CON: 14(2)
INT: 13(1)
WIS: 13(1)
CHR: 12(1)
APP: 11(0)
Fort save: 0
Reflex save: 0
Will save: 3
when the program closes and runs for a second time, I have an "IF" statement checking for and displaying text within the "stats.txt" file:
if (fgets(buf, 1000, fp) == NULL)
{
printf("Please enter in your base stats (no modifiers):\n");
enter_stats();
printf("Please indicate your characters level:\n");
printf("I am a level ");
level = GetInt();
Race_check();
spec_check();
printf("------Base saving throws (no modifiers)------\n");
saving_throws();
}
else
{
printf("%s",buf);
}
The problem that I am having is the fact that the program reads the file, but does not transfer any variable values it seems here:
Level 1 Gnome Wizard:
-------------------------
STR: 0(-5)
DEX: 0(-5)
CON: 0(-5)
INT: 0(-5)
WIS: 0(-5)
CHR: 0(-5)
APP: 0(-5)
-----Saving Throws------
Fortitude: 0
Reflex: 0
Will: 0
Can anyone give me their suggestions on how to read the variables as well?
PLease and Thank you

Answer 1

Computers only understand numbers - they don't understand text. This means that you have to write code to convert the numbers (that represent individual characters) back into the values you want and store them somewhere.
For example, you might load the entire file into an "array of char", then search that "array of char" for the 4 numbers that represent STR:, then skip any whitespace (between the STR: and the 0(0)), then convert the character/s 0 into the value 0 and store it somewhere, then check for a ( character, then convert the characters -1 into the value -1 and store it somewhere, then check for the ) character and the newline character \n.
More likely is to arrange the code as a "for each line" loop, where the first characters of a line determine how to process the other characters. E.g. if the first character is - then ignore the line; else if the first 5 characters are level call a function that processes the remainder of the line (1 Gnome Wizard); else if the first few characters are STR:, DEX:, CON, etc call a function to get both numbers (and check for the right brackets, etc); else...
In addition to all this, you should have good error handling. As a rough guide, about half of the code should be checks and error messages (like if( buffer[i] != '(' ) { printf("ERROR: Expecting left bracket after number on line %u", lineNumber); return -1;}).