how to read strings with commas by omitting them %[^,] not working for me

Question

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#ifdef _MSC_VER
#include <crtdbg.h>  // needed to check for memory leaks (Windows only!)
#endif

#define FLUSH while(getchar() != '\n')

// Prototype Declarations
int readFile(FILE* ifp,char** words);

int main (void)
{
//  Local Definitions
FILE *ifp;
FILE *ofp;
char fnamer[100]="";
char **words;
int *freq;
int i;
int numWords =0;

//  Statements

    words = (char**)calloc (1001, sizeof(int));
        if( words == NULL )
        {
            printf("Error with Calloc\n");
            exit(111);
        }


  if (!(ifp=fopen("/Users/r3spectak/Desktop/song_row.txt", "r")))
  {
      printf("sucks");
      exit(100);
  }

    numWords = readFile(ifp,words);

    printf("%d", numWords);

    for(i=0;i<numWords;i++)
    printf("\n%s",words[i]);

    #ifdef _MSC_VER
    printf( _CrtDumpMemoryLeaks() ? "Memory Leak\n" : "No Memory Leak\n");
    #endif
    printf("\n\t\tEnd of Program\n");
    printf("\n\t\tHave a great day!\n");
   return 0;

}


/*===============readFile=================
Pre:
Post:
This function
*/

int readFile(FILE* ifp,char** words)
{

// Local Variables
char buffer[1000] = " ";
int numWords = 0;

// Statements
while (fscanf(ifp," %s",buffer)!=EOF)
    {
    words[numWords] = (char*)calloc(strlen(buffer)+1,sizeof(char));
                if( words[numWords] == NULL)
                {
                    printf("\n");
                    exit(111);
                }
                strcpy(words[numWords],buffer);
                numWords++ ;
    }

return numWords;

}

The input file contains the following : Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream.

After fscanf my array prints

  Row,
    row,
    row
    your
    boat, and so on

what i want is,

Row
row
row
your
boat

i've tried %[^,.\n] and its not working for me. it prints rubbish

You don't need to cast the return value of `calloc()` in a C program. — Carl Norum, Mar 02 '13 at 06:22
@KexyKathe Carl Norum means [this.](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/605845/do-i-cast-the-result-of-malloc) — , Mar 02 '13 at 06:26
@KexyKathe So you want an array of strings from the original string, with boundaries specified by the commas, or you just want to eliminate the commas from the string? — , Mar 02 '13 at 06:27
@H2CO3 read each word into the array omitting the commas. eliminate the commas and fullstops. if i were to use malloc all the other elements wont be set to null right? — Kexy Kathe, Mar 02 '13 at 06:30
@KexyKathe Your second question makes no sense, but anyway... Why don't you copy over all characters to the other string *except commas and dots?* — , Mar 02 '13 at 06:38
@KexyKathe `while (*original) { if (*original != ',') { *copy++ = *original++; } }` — , Mar 02 '13 at 06:43
H2CO3's answer will work (it should be an answer) or you could look up strtok(). I http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/cstring/strtok/ — c.fogelklou, Mar 02 '13 at 06:50

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 02 '13 at 07:17

You might find this function especially useful. It will split your string into tokens, like the C equivalent of split() or explode().

Example:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main (){
  char str[] ="Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream.";
  char * pch;
  printf ("Splitting string \"%s\" into tokens:\n",str);
  pch = strtok (str," ,.");
  while (pch != NULL){
     printf ("%s\n",pch);
     pch = strtok (NULL, " ,.");
  }
  return 0;
}

I basically copied the man page example. Calling the function again with the first argument as NULL will bring up the next string token.

how to read strings with commas by omitting them %[^,] not working for me

1 Answers1