Character count in C won't return any value after input of a character

Question

My code does not return any value. Can anyone help me explain why it does not work?

#include<stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int nc;
    nc = 0;
    while (getchar() != EOF)
        ++nc;
    printf("%1d\n", nc);
}

I am using Mac OS. I am expecting it to return number of character in an input character. — Bill Cao, Jan 24 '18 at 05:49
For example, if I type a character C, then it should return 2. — Bill Cao, Jan 24 '18 at 05:50
@BillCao Number of characters in an input character? Do you mean number of characters in input string? — J...S, Jan 24 '18 at 05:56
@theausome The code does give that output. `nc`'s value is incremented twice. Once for `2` and the other for typing enter key. — J...S, Jan 24 '18 at 06:06

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '18 at 05:49

1

You have to input EOF to get out of the loop.

Windows: Ctrl+Z

Linux : Ctrl+D

See C : How to simulate an EOF?

Only after getchar() returns EOF will the value of nc be printed.

And %1d is effectively same as %d as a number has at least one digit.

If you do %10d or something the number would be printed occupying the space that would've been occupied by a 10 digit number. Default alignment is right. You can make it left aligned with %-10d

answered Jan 24 '18 at 05:49

J...S

5,079
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I used Ctrl + Z in my Mac OS terminal console and it seems it only helped to terminate the while loop but it did not return any count value. – Bill Cao Jan 24 '18 at 05:57
Yes, I just tried it. I inputed "okay"\n "y", it returns 6D, what does it mean? – Bill Cao Jan 24 '18 at 06:10
If I just input "y", then it will return 1D. Does the program just count the the total of characters in an input string plus all the n\? – Bill Cao Jan 24 '18 at 06:11
@BillCao Is it not what you wanted to do? – J...S Jan 24 '18 at 06:12
@BillCao: Using control-Z on a Unix box suspends the process; it does not terminate the process. It is still running, but in suspended animation until you type a magic incantation at the shell (`fg %1`, for example). – Jonathan Leffler Jan 24 '18 at 06:47

Praful Jha · Answer 2 · 2018-01-24T06:06:54.983

0

I think you're missing the input when you run the code. You have to type in the console after compilation is done. Right now it's not getting any input character to count.

The same code works for me. You can check the below ideone screenshot where same code is returning the correct output .

edited Jan 24 '18 at 06:06

answered Jan 24 '18 at 05:52

Praful Jha

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Character count in C won't return any value after input of a character

2 Answers2