Scanf keeps looping - c

Well i have this code to find the paint quality of a room.
void get_room_size(char room_id, int * length, int * width) {
while (*length <= 0 && *width <= 0) {
printf("Enter length and width of room %c in feet: ", room_id);
if (scanf("%d,%d", length, width)) {
if (*length <= 0) {
printf("###Error! Length must be a positive value!\n");
}
if (*width <= 0) {
printf("###Error! Width must be a positive value!\n");
}
printf("\n");
} else {
printf("bad data");
*length = 0;
*width = 0;
}
}
}
Basically, if i enter
a,1
It will go crazy and keep looping. Whats the problem?

The reason it's going "crazy" is as follows. When scanf fails to read in a as a number (because it's not numeric, obviously), it won't advance the file pointer.
This is one reason why you shouldn't generally use scanf operations, a failure can leave the file pointer in an indeterminate position (such as if you only scan in 3 of 12 items).
The other reason is that scanf means "scan formatted" and you would be hard pressed finding anything more unformatted than user input.
Anyway, back to the failure. Because the file pointer isn't advanced, the next time you come back to do fscanf, it will try to read that a again (and again and again).
If you want a decent function for handling user input, look no further than here:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#define OK 0
#define NO_INPUT 1
#define TOO_LONG 2
static int getLine (char *prmpt, char *buff, size_t sz) {
int ch, extra;
// Get line with buffer overrun protection.
if (prmpt != NULL) {
printf ("%s", prmpt);
fflush (stdout);
}
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL)
return NO_INPUT;
// If it was too long, there'll be no newline. In that case, we flush
// to end of line so that excess doesn't affect the next call.
if (buff[strlen(buff)-1] != '\n') {
extra = 0;
while (((ch = getchar()) != '\n') && (ch != EOF))
extra = 1;
return (extra == 1) ? TOO_LONG : OK;
}
// Otherwise remove newline and give string back to caller.
buff[strlen(buff)-1] = '\0';
return OK;
}
This will input a line from the user, with overflow protection (unlike gets or scanf with unbounded "%s").
It also flushes to end of line if the input was too long, which will stop the remainder of the line from affecting the next input operation.
You can then sscanf the buffer to your heart's content without any concerns re the file pointer.
The following test program shows how to use this:
int main (void) {
int rc;
char buff[10];
rc = getLine ("Enter string> ", buff, sizeof(buff));
if (rc == NO_INPUT) {
// Extra NL since my system doesn't output that on EOF.
printf ("\nNo input\n");
return 1;
}
if (rc == TOO_LONG) {
printf ("Input too long [%s]\n", buff);
return 1;
}
printf ("OK [%s]\n", buff);
return 0;
}
As an aside, you may want to re-examine your logic for a valid sized room. What you currently have would allow a room to be entered as 7 by -42 feet :-)
It's also not usually good form to rely on the output values being set to specific values on entry. If length and width are (for example) 3 and 4 on entry, this function will exit straight away without asking the user for input.
The first problem can be fixed by using || instead of &&. The second by initialising the variables to 0 at the start of the function so that the loop is entered.
For completeness, if you combine that original snippet above (the include statements and the getLine() function) with the following slightly modified get_room_size() function:
static void get_room_size(char room_id, int * length, int * width) {
char buff[100];
*length = *width = 0;
while ((*length <= 0) || (*width <= 0)) {
printf("Enter length and width of room %c in feet: ", room_id);
int rc = getLine (NULL, buff, sizeof (buff));
if (rc == NO_INPUT) {
printf ("\nEnd of file encountered.\n");
return;
}
if (rc == TOO_LONG) {
printf ("\nInput too long, please retry.\n");
continue;
}
if (sscanf(buff, "%d,%d", length, width) != 2) {
*length = *width = 0;
printf ("\nInput not in desired form (<number>,<number>), "
"please retry.\n");
continue;
}
if ((*length <=0) || (*width <= 0)) {
*length = *width = 0;
printf ("\nBoth length and width must be greater than zero, "
"please retry.\n");
}
}
}
and the very simple test main(), you'll see a complete program showing how to do it.
int main (void) {
int len, wid;
get_room_size ('x', &len, &wid);
printf ("Length is %d, width is %d.\n", len, wid);
return 0;
}

your scanf is taking in two integer. A is a character, think you want to
scanf("%c", *room_id);
scanf("%d", length);
I reccommend you do them separately

Try this:
...
if (scanf("%d,%d", length, width) == 2) {
if (*length <= 0) {
printf("###Error! Length must be a positive value!\n");
}
if (*width <= 0) {
printf("###Error! Width must be a positive value!\n");
}
printf("\n");
} else {
printf("bad data");
*length = -1;
*width = -1;
}

You dont put & in scanf() statement so how its read
if (scanf("%d,%d", &length, &width))

Related

Scanf multiple lines until reach specific character

I have input like the following:
Someting sth
example
5 15
3
I want to scanf input by lines to get whole content of the line. But when reaching first digit (there can be spaces/tabs before it) I want to scanf it as int.
That's what I have come up with but it does not work as expected - cursor still does not stop at digit character.
char person_name[1000];
int n;
while (scanf("%[^\n/D]%*c", person_name) > 0) {
if (checkIfContainsNumber(person_name) == 0) {
appendToLinkedList(&head_ref, person_name);
} else {
break;
}
}
while (scanf("%d", &n) > 0) {
printf("%d ", n);
}
As far as I understand the problem, each line could be considered either as
a sequence of names or a sequence of integers.
So I would try to read the file line by line and analyse each extracted line
as one sequence or another (spaces are implicitly consumed).
The trick here is the usage of "%n" to go further in the analyse of the same line.
#include <stdio.h>
int
main(void)
{
FILE *input=fopen("input.txt", "r");
if(!input)
{
return 1;
}
char line[1024];
while(fgets(line, sizeof(line), input))
{
int pos=0;
int value, count;
char name[256];
if(sscanf(line+pos, "%d%n", &value, &count)==1)
{
pos+=count;
printf("a line with values: <%d>", value);
while(sscanf(line+pos, "%d%n", &value, &count)==1)
{
pos+=count;
printf(" <%d>", value);
}
printf("\n");
}
else if(sscanf(line+pos, "%255s%n", name, &count)==1)
{
pos+=count;
printf("a line with names: <%s>", name);
while(sscanf(line+pos, "%255s%n", name, &count)==1)
{
pos+=count;
printf(" <%s>", name);
}
printf("\n");
}
}
fclose(input);
return 0;
}
Read the input line-wise with fgets and keep a mode: TEXT for text, NUMBER for numbers and ERROR for an error condition. (The error condition is undescribed. It could occur when you encounter non-numeric data in NUMBER mode, for example.)
Start out with TEXT. Before processing a line in text mode, check whether it could be a digit by a simple sscanf into the line. If you can read a number, switch to number mode, where you scan all numbers from a line.
char line[80];
enum {TEXT, NUMBER, ERROR = -1} mode = TEXT;
while (mode != ERROR && fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin)) {
if (mode == TEXT) {
int n;
if (sscanf(line, "%d", &n) > 0) mode = NUMBER;
}
if (mode == TEXT) {
line[strcspn(line, "\n")] = '\0';
process_string(line);
} else if (mode == NUMBER) {
char *p = line;
char *end;
int n = strtol(p, &end, 0);
if (end == p) mode = ERROR;
while (end > p) {
process_number(n);
p = end;
n = strtol(p, &end, 0);
}
}
}
(But this approach will fail if the numbers are all in one very long. fgets truncates the input so that the specified size will nor be exceeded.)
Consider changing the scan strategy - ignore all characters that are non-digit, and then read the integer from that digits forward
if ( scanf("%*[^0-9]%d", &n) == 1 ) { ... }
The first field '%*[...]' will skip over anything that is non-digit. Note that it's possible to reach EOF before finding a digit - if statement is needed to check.

Using isdigit with if

int main()
{
int f;
printf("Type your age");
scanf("%d", &f);
if(!isdigit(f))
{
printf("Digit");
}
else
{
printf("Is not a digit");
}
return 0;
}
No matter if a typed 6 or a always shows me the "Digit" message
isdigit() should be passed a char not an int. And your if-else logic is reversed:
int main() {
char f;
printf("Type your age");
scanf("%c", &f);
if (isdigit(f)) {
printf("Digit");
} else {
printf("Is not a digit");
}
return 0;
}
As mentioned in the comments, this will only work for a single digit age. Validating input is a major topic under the 'C' tag, a search will reveal many approaches to more robust validation.
%d is an integer specifier. Change int f to char f and parse as a character. You are always passing an int into isdigit, which is why it is always true.
There's actually no need to use isdigit at all here since scanf with the %d format specifier already guarantees that the characters will be digits with an optional leading sign. And there's a separate specifier to get rid of the leading sign, %u.
If what you input isn't of the correct format, scanf will tell you (since it returns the number of items successfully scanned).
So, for a simple solution, you can just use something like:
unsigned int age;
if (scanf("%u", &age) == 1) {
puts("Not a valid age");
return 1;
}
// Now it's a valid uint, though you may want to catch large values.
If you want robust code, you may have to put in a little more effort than a one-liner scanf("%d") - it's fine for one-time or throw-away programs but it has serious shortcomings for code intended to be used in real systems.
First, I would use the excellent string input routine in this answer(a) - it pretty much provides everything you need for prompted and checked user input.
Once you have the input as a string, strtoul allows you to do the same type of conversion as scanf but with the ability to also ensure there's no trailing rubbish on the line as well. This answer (from the same author) provides the means for doing that.
Tying that all together, you can use something like:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
// Code to robustly get input from user.
#define OK 0 // Return codes - okay.
#define NO_INPUT 1 // - no input given.
#define TOO_LONG 2 // - input was too long.
static int getLine (
char *prmpt, // The prompt to use (NULL means no prompt).
char *buff, // The buffer to populate.
size_t sz // The size of the buffer.
) {
int ch, extra;
// Get line with buffer overrun protection.
if (prmpt != NULL) {
printf ("%s", prmpt);
fflush (stdout);
}
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL)
return NO_INPUT;
// If it was too long, there'll be no newline. In that case, we flush
// to end of line so that excess doesn't affect the next call.
if (buff[strlen(buff)-1] != '\n') {
extra = 0;
while (((ch = getchar()) != '\n') && (ch != EOF))
extra = 1;
return (extra == 1) ? TOO_LONG : OK;
}
// Otherwise remove newline and give string back to caller.
buff[strlen(buff)-1] = '\0';
return OK;
}
// Code to check string is valid unsigned integer and within range.
// Returns true if it passed all checks, false otherwise.
static int validateStrAsUInt(
char *str, // String to evaluate.
unsigned int minVal, // Minimum allowed value.
unsigned int maxVal, // Maximum allowed value.
unsigned int *pResult // Address of item to take value.
) {
char *nextChar;
unsigned long retVal = strtoul (str, &nextChar, 10);
// Ensure we used the *whole* string and that it wasn't empty.
if ((nextChar == str) || (*nextChar != '\0'))
return 0;
// Ensure it's within range.
if ((retVal < minVal) || (retVal > maxVal))
return 0;
// It's okay, send it back to caller.
*pResult = retVal;
return 1;
}
// Code for testing above functions.
int main(void) {
int retCode;
unsigned int age;
char buff[20];
// Get it as string, detecting input errors.
retCode = getLine ("Enter your age> ", buff, sizeof(buff));
if (retCode == NO_INPUT) {
printf ("\nError, no input given.\n");
return 1;
}
if (retCode == TOO_LONG) {
printf ("Error, input too long [%s]\n", buff);
return 1;
}
// Check string is valid age.
if (! validateStrAsUInt(buff, 0, 150, &age)) {
printf("Not a valid age (0-150)\n");
return 1;
}
// It's okay, print and exit.
printf("Age is valid: %u\n", age);
return 0;
}
(a) I'm reliably informed the author is actually quite clever, and very good looking :-)

proper use of scanf in a while loop to validate input

I made this code:
/*here is the main function*/
int x , y=0, returned_value;
int *p = &x;
while (y<5){
printf("Please Insert X value\n");
returned_value = scanf ("%d" , p);
validate_input(returned_value, p);
y++;
}
the function:
void validate_input(int returned_value, int *p){
getchar();
while (returned_value!=1){
printf("invalid input, Insert Integers Only\n");
getchar();
returned_value = scanf("%d", p);
}
}
Although it is generally working very well but when I insert for example "1f1" , it accepts the "1" and does not report any error and when insert "f1f1f" it reads it twice and ruins the second read/scan and so on (i.e. first read print out "invalid input, Insert Integers Only" and instead for waiting again to re-read first read from the user, it continues to the second read and prints out again "invalid input, Insert Integers Only" again...
It needs a final touch and I read many answers but could not find it.
If you don't want to accept 1f1 as valid input then scanf is the wrong function to use as scanf returns as soon as it finds a match.
Instead read the whole line and then check if it only contains digits. After that you can call scanf
Something like:
#include <stdio.h>
int validateLine(char* line)
{
int ret=0;
// Allow negative numbers
if (*line && *line == '-') line++;
// Check that remaining chars are digits
while (*line && *line != '\n')
{
if (!isdigit(*line)) return 0; // Illegal char found
ret = 1; // Remember that at least one legal digit was found
++line;
}
return ret;
}
int main(void) {
char line[256];
int i;
int x , y=0;
while (y<5)
{
printf("Please Insert X value\n");
if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin)) // Read the whole line
{
if (validateLine(line)) // Check that the line is a valid number
{
// Now it should be safe to call scanf - it shouldn't fail
// but check the return value in any case
if (1 != sscanf(line, "%d", &x))
{
printf("should never happen");
exit(1);
}
// Legal number found - break out of the "while (y<5)" loop
break;
}
else
{
printf("Illegal input %s", line);
}
}
y++;
}
if (y<5)
printf("x=%d\n", x);
else
printf("no more retries\n");
return 0;
}
Input
1f1
f1f1
-3
Output
Please Insert X value
Illegal input 1f1
Please Insert X value
Illegal input f1f1
Please Insert X value
Illegal input
Please Insert X value
x=-3
Another approach - avoid scanf
You could let your function calculate the number and thereby bypass scanf completely. It could look like:
#include <stdio.h>
int line2Int(char* line, int* x)
{
int negative = 0;
int ret=0;
int temp = 0;
if (*line && *line == '-')
{
line++;
negative = 1;
}
else if (*line && *line == '+') // If a + is to be accepted
line++; // If a + is to be accepted
while (*line && *line != '\n')
{
if (!isdigit(*line)) return 0; // Illegal char found
ret = 1;
// Update the number
temp = 10 * temp;
temp = temp + (*line - '0');
++line;
}
if (ret)
{
if (negative) temp = -temp;
*x = temp;
}
return ret;
}
int main(void) {
char line[256];
int i;
int x , y=0;
while (y<5)
{
printf("Please Insert X value\n");
if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin))
{
if (line2Int(line, &x)) break; // Legal number - break out
printf("Illegal input %s", line);
}
y++;
}
if (y<5)
printf("x=%d\n", x);
else
printf("no more retries\n");
return 0;
}
Generally speaking, it is my opinion that you are better to read everything from the input (within the range of your buffer size, of course), and then validate the input is indeed the correct format.
In your case, you are seeing errors using a string like f1f1f because you are not reading in the entire STDIN buffer. As such, when you go to call scanf(...) again, there is still data inside of STDIN, so that is read in first instead of prompting the user to enter some more input. To read all of STDIN, you should do something the following (part of code borrowed from Paxdiablo's answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4023921/2694511):
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h> // Used for strtol
#define OK 0
#define NO_INPUT 1
#define TOO_LONG 2
#define NaN 3 // Not a Number (NaN)
int strIsInt(const char *ptrStr){
// Check if the string starts with a positive or negative sign
if(*ptrStr == '+' || *ptrStr == '-'){
// First character is a sign. Advance pointer position
ptrStr++;
}
// Now make sure the string (or the character after a positive/negative sign) is not null
if(*ptrStr == NULL){
return NaN;
}
while(*ptrStr != NULL){
// Check if the current character is a digit
// isdigit() returns zero for non-digit characters
if(isdigit( *ptrStr ) == 0){
// Not a digit
return NaN;
} // else, we'll increment the pointer and check the next character
ptrStr++;
}
// If we have made it this far, then we know that every character inside of the string is indeed a digit
// As such, we can go ahead and return a success response here
// (A success response, in this case, is any value other than NaN)
return 0;
}
static int getLine (char *prmpt, char *buff, size_t sz) {
int ch, extra;
// Get line with buffer overrun protection.
if (prmpt != NULL) {
printf ("%s", prmpt);
fflush (stdout);
}
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL)
return NO_INPUT;
// If it was too long, there'll be no newline. In that case, we flush
// to end of line so that excess doesn't affect the next call.
// (Per Chux suggestions in the comments, the "buff[0]" condition
// has been added here.)
if (buff[0] && buff[strlen(buff)-1] != '\n') {
extra = 0;
while (((ch = getchar()) != '\n') && (ch != EOF))
extra = 1;
return (extra == 1) ? TOO_LONG : OK;
}
// Otherwise remove newline and give string back to caller.
buff[strlen(buff)-1] = '\0';
return OK;
}
void validate_input(int responseCode, char *prompt, char *buffer, size_t bufferSize){
while( responseCode != OK ||
strIsInt( buffer ) == NaN )
{
printf("Invalid input.\nPlease enter integers only!\n");
fflush(stdout); /* It might be unnecessary to flush here because we'll flush STDOUT in the
getLine function anyway, but it is good practice to flush STDOUT when printing
important information. */
responseCode = getLine(prompt, buffer, bufferSize); // Read entire STDIN
}
// Finally, we know that the input is an integer
}
int main(int argc, char **argv){
char *prompt = "Please Insert X value\n";
int iResponseCode;
char cInputBuffer[100];
int x, y=0;
int *p = &x;
while(y < 5){
iResponseCode = getLine(prompt, cInputBuffer, sizeof(cInputBuffer)); // Read entire STDIN buffer
validate_input(iResponseCode, prompt, cInputBuffer, sizeof(cInputBuffer));
// Once validate_input finishes running, we should have a proper integer in our input buffer!
// Now we'll just convert it from a string to an integer, and store it in the P variable, as you
// were doing in your question.
sscanf(cInputBuffer, "%d", p);
y++;
}
}
Just as a disclaimer/note: I have not written in C for a very long time now, so I do apologize in advance if there are any error in this example. I also did not have an opportunity to compile and test this code before posting because I am in a rush right now.
If you're reading an input stream that you know is a text stream, but that you are not sure only consists of integers, then read strings.
Also, once you've read a string and want to see if it is an integer, use the standard library conversion routine strtol(). By doing this, you both get a confirmation that it was an integer and you get it converted for you into a long.
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
bool convert_to_long(long *number, const char *string)
{
char *endptr;
*number = strtol(string, &endptr, 10);
/* endptr will point to the first position in the string that could
* not be converted. If this position holds the string terminator
* '\0' the conversion went well. An empty input string will also
* result in *endptr == '\0', so we have to check this too, and fail
* if this happens.
*/
if (string[0] != '\0' && *endptr == '\0')
return false; /* conversion succesful */
return true; /* problem in conversion */
}
int main(void)
{
char buffer[256];
const int max_tries = 5;
int tries = 0;
long number;
while (tries++ < max_tries) {
puts("Enter input:");
scanf("%s", buffer);
if (!convert_to_long(&number, buffer))
break; /* returns false on success */
printf("Invalid input. '%s' is not integer, %d tries left\n", buffer,
max_tries - tries);
}
if (tries > max_tries)
puts("No valid input found");
else
printf("Valid input: %ld\n", number);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
ADDED NOTE: If you change the base (the last parameter to strtol()) from 10 to zero, you'll get the additional feature that your code converts hexadecimal numbers and octal numbers (strings starting with 0x and 00 respectively) into integers.
I took #4386427 idea and just added codes to cover what it missed (leading spaces and + sign), I tested it many times and it is working perfectly in all possible cases.
#include<stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int validate_line (char *line);
int main(){
char line[256];
int y=0;
long x;
while (y<5){
printf("Please Insert X Value\n");
if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin)){//return 0 if not execute
if (validate_line(line)>0){ // check if the string contains only numbers
x =strtol(line, NULL, 10); // change the authentic string to long and assign it
printf("This is x %d" , x);
break;
}
else if (validate_line(line)==-1){printf("You Have Not Inserted Any Number!.... ");}
else {printf("Invalid Input, Insert Integers Only.... ");}
}
y++;
if (y==5){printf("NO MORE RETRIES\n\n");}
else{printf("%d Retries Left\n\n", (5-y));}
}
return 0;}
int validate_line (char *line){
int returned_value =-1;
/*first remove spaces from the entire string*/
char *p_new = line;
char *p_old = line;
while (*p_old != '\0'){// loop as long as has not reached the end of string
*p_new = *p_old; // assign the current value the *line is pointing at to p
if (*p_new != ' '){p_new++;} // check if it is not a space , if so , increment p
p_old++;// increment p_old in every loop
}
*p_new = '\0'; // add terminator
if (*line== '+' || *line== '-'){line++;} // check if the first char is (-) or (+) sign to point to next place
while (*line != '\n'){
if (!(isdigit(*line))) {return 0;} // Illegal char found , will return 0 and stop because isdigit() returns 0 if the it finds non-digit
else if (isdigit(*line)){line++; returned_value=2;}//check next place and increment returned_value for the final result and judgment next.
}
return returned_value; // it will return -1 if there is no input at all because while loop has not executed, will return >0 if successful, 0 if invalid input
}

fgets, sscanf, and writing to arrays

beginner question here, I haven't been able to find examples that relate. I'm working on a C program that will take integer input from stdin using fgets and sscanf, and then write it to an array. However, I'm not sure how to make fgets write to the array.
#define MAXINT 512
char input[MAXINT]
int main(void)
{
int i;
int j;
int count=0;
int retval;
while (1==1) {
fgets(input, MAXINT[count], stdin);
retval = sscanf(input, "%d", &i);
if (retval == 1) {
count = count++;
}
else
if (retval != 1) {
break;
}
}
Would I simply put fgets in a for loop? or is it more complicated than that?
fgets() reads into a string (array of char), not an array of int.
Your loop should be:
char line[4096];
while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin) != 0)
{
...code using sscanf() iteratively to read into the array of int...
}
Not checking inputs leads to problems. At best, your code would process the last line of input twice, most likely. You're only allowed to do that if it means that my refund gets processed twice. At worst, your code might never terminate until your program gets bored to death, or runs out of memory, or you lose patience with it and kill it.
[This] doesn't answer the question of how I would write to the array within the while loop. Would I enclose the sscanf function in a for loop for however many numbers got entered? Would I set something up to run each time Enter is pressed?
Given that you only have one number per line, then the code in the body of the loop is simple:
char line[4096];
int array[1024];
int i = 0;
while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin) != 0)
{
if (i >= 1024)
break; // ...too many numbers for array...
if (sscanf(line, "%d", &array[i++]) != 1)
...report error and return/exit...
}
Note that this code won't notice if there is garbage (other numbers, non-numbers) on the same line; it simply grabs the first number (if there is one) and ignores the rest.
If you need multiple numbers per line, look at How to use sscanf() in loops for more information.
If you want a blank line to terminate the input, then using fscanf() or scanf() is not an option; they read through multiple blank lines looking for input.
One can put fgets() & ssprintf() in one long condition:
#define MAXINT 512 /* suggest alternate name like Array_Size */
int input[MAXINT];
char buf[100];
int count = 0;
while ((NULL != fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin)) && (1 == sscanf(buf,"%d",&input[count]))) {
if (++count >= MAXINT) break;
}
... or something a bit more user friendly:
// While stdin not closed and input is more than an "Enter" ...
while ((NULL != fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin)) && (buf[0] != '\n')) {
if (1 != sscanf(buf,"%d",&input[count])) {
puts("Input was not an integer, try again.\n");
continue;
}
if (++count >= MAXINT) break;
}
Using sscanf is easy, but put into array ...
C is hard to dynamic init array in terms of size, this sometimes massacre perfectionists.
int main()
{
int total_n;
int n;
int i;
char *s = "yourpattern1yourpattern2yourpattern23";
printf("your string => %s\n", s);
int array[129] = {0};//some big enough number to hold the match
int count = 0;
while (1 == sscanf(s + total_n, "%*[^0123456789]%d%n", &i, &n))
{
total_n += n;
printf("your match => %d\n", i);
array[count] = i;
count++;
}
printf("your array => \n");
for (i=0;i<count;i++)
printf("array[i] => %d\n", array[i]);
}
and the output
[root#localhost ~]# ./a.out
your string => yourpattern1yourpattern2yourpattern23
your match => 1
your match => 2
your match => 23
your array =>
array[i] => 1
array[i] => 2
array[i] => 23

Get scanf to quit when it reads a newline?

If I input 5 5 at the terminal, press enter, and press enter again, I want to exit out of the loop.
int readCoefficents(double complex *c){
int i = 0;
double real;
double img;
while(scanf("%f %f", &real, &img) == 2)
c[i++] = real + img * I;
c[i++] = 1 + 0*I; // most significant coefficient is assumed to be 1
return i;
}
Obviously, that code isn't doing the job for me (and yes, I know there is a buffer overflow waiting to happen).
scanf won't quit unless I type in a letter (or some non-numeric, not whitespace string). How do I get scanf to quit after reading an empty line?
Use fgets to read console input:
int res = 2;
while (res == 2) {
char buf[100];
fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin);
res = sscanf(buf, "%f %f", &real, &img);
if (res == 2)
c[i++] = real + img * I;
}
c[i++] = 1 + 0*I; // most significant coefficient is assumed to be 1
return i;
The specific problem you're having is that a scanf format string of %f will skip white space (including newlines) until it finds an actual character to scan. From the c99 standard:
A conversion specification is executed in the following steps:
- Input white-space characters (as specified by the isspace function) are skipped, unless the specification includes a '[', 'c', or 'n' specifier.
and, elsewhere, describing isspace():
The standard white-space characters are the following: space ' ', form feed '\f', new-line '\n', carriage return '\r', horizontal tab '\t', and vertical tab '\v'.
Your best bet is to use fgets to get the line (and this can be protected from buffer overflow very easily), then use sscanf on the resultant line.
The scanf function is one of those ones you should look at very warily. The following piece of code is one I often use to handle line input:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#define OK 0
#define NO_INPUT 1
#define TOO_LONG 2
static int getLine (char *prmpt, char *buff, size_t sz) {
int ch, extra;
// Get line with buffer overrun protection.
if (prmpt != NULL) {
printf ("%s", prmpt);
fflush (stdout);
}
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL)
return NO_INPUT;
// If it was too long, there'll be no newline. In that case, we flush
// to end of line so that excess doesn't affect the next call.
if (buff[strlen(buff)-1] != '\n') {
extra = 0;
while (((ch = getchar()) != '\n') && (ch != EOF))
extra = 1;
return (extra == 1) ? TOO_LONG : OK;
}
// Otherwise remove newline and give string back to caller.
buff[strlen(buff)-1] = '\0';
return OK;
}
// Test program for getLine().
int main (void) {
int rc;
char buff[10];
rc = getLine ("Enter string> ", buff, sizeof(buff));
if (rc == NO_INPUT) {
// Extra NL since my system doesn't output that on EOF.
printf ("\nNo input\n");
return 1;
}
if (rc == TOO_LONG) {
printf ("Input too long [%s]\n", buff);
return 1;
}
printf ("OK [%s]\n", buff);
return 0;
}
Testing it with various combinations:
pax> ./prog
Enter string>[CTRL-D]
No input
pax> ./prog
Enter string> a
OK [a]
pax> ./prog
Enter string> hello
OK [hello]
pax> ./prog
Enter string> hello there
Input too long [hello the]
pax> ./prog
Enter string> i am pax
OK [i am pax]
What I would do is to use this function to get a line safely, then simply use:
sscanf (buffer, "%f %f", &real, &img)
to get the actual values (and check the count).
In fact, here's a complete program which is closer to what you want:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#define OK 0
#define NO_INPUT 1
#define TOO_LONG 2
static int getLine (char *prmpt, char *buff, size_t sz) {
int ch, extra;
// Get line with buffer overrun protection.
if (prmpt != NULL) {
printf ("%s", prmpt);
fflush (stdout);
}
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL)
return NO_INPUT;
// If it was too long, there'll be no newline. In that case, we flush
// to end of line so that excess doesn't affect the next call.
if (buff[strlen(buff)-1] != '\n') {
extra = 0;
while (((ch = getchar()) != '\n') && (ch != EOF))
extra = 1;
return (extra == 1) ? TOO_LONG : OK;
}
// Otherwise remove newline and give string back to caller.
buff[strlen(buff)-1] = '\0';
return OK;
}
int main (void) {
int i = 1, rc;
char prompt[50], buff[50];
float real, imag;
while (1) {
sprintf (prompt, "\nEnter real and imaginary for #%3d: ", i);
rc = getLine (prompt, buff, sizeof(buff));
if (rc == NO_INPUT) break;
if (*buff == '\0') break;
if (rc == TOO_LONG) {
printf ("** Input too long [%s]...\n", buff);
}
if (sscanf (buff, "%f %f", &real, &imag) == 2) {
printf ("Values were %f and %f\n", real, imag);
i++;
} else {
printf ("** Invalid input [%s]\n", buff);
}
}
return 0;
}
along with a test run:
pax> ./testprog
Enter real and imaginary for # 1: hello
** Invalid input [hello]
Enter real and imaginary for # 1: hello there
** Invalid input [hello there]
Enter real and imaginary for # 1: 1
** Invalid input [1]
Enter real and imaginary for # 1: 1.23 4.56
Values were 1.230000 and 4.560000
Enter real and imaginary for # 2:
pax> _
There's a way to do what you want using just scanf:
int readCoefficents(double complex *c) {
int i = 0;
double real;
double img;
char buf[2];
while (scanf("%1[\n]", buf) == 0) { // loop until a blank line or EOF
if (scanf("%lf %lf", &real, &img) == 2) // read two floats
c[i++] = real + img * I;
scanf("%*[^\n]"); // skip the rest of the line
scanf("%*1[\n]"); // and the newline
}
c[i++] = 1 + 0*I; // most significant coefficient is assumed to be 1
return i;
}
If the user only enters 1 float on a line, it will read the next line for the second value. If any random garbage is entered, it will skip up to a newline and try again with the next line. Otherwise, it will just go on reading pairs of float values until the user enters a blank line or an EOF is reached.
re PAXDIABLO solution: it does not work properly with EMPTY line entered by user, so this line shall be added in your getLine() function
if (strlen(buff) <= 1) return NO_INPUT;
after the line:
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL)
return NO_INPUT;
So it will become :
...
if (strlen(buff) <= 1) return NO_INPUT;
if (fgets (buff, sz, stdin) == NULL) return NO_INPUT;
....
Instead of
while(scanf("%f %f", &real, &img) == 2)
try
while(scanf("%f %f%*c", &real, &img) == 2)
scanf("%f%*c", &myfloat); // will read a float and all eventual characters after it

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