scanf formatted multiple special characters with array

Question

Terminal:

| ^ !

 | ^

The code is here:

#include <stdio.h>

char a[10], b[10], c[10];
int i;
int count;

int main(int argc, char const *argv[]) {
    scanf("%d", &count);

    for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
        scanf("%c %c %c", &a[i], &b[i], &c[i]);
        printf("%c %c %c\n", a[i], b[i], c[i]);
    }
    return 0;
}

Please tell me what am I doing wrong. Thanks.

That snippet of code works fine for me. Can you add the entire source of your program, as well as copy and paste the exact input and output, including where you hit Enter? — Joseph Sible-Reinstate Monica, Oct 13 '18 at 16:32
`scanf("%c %c %c"` --> `scanf(" %c %c %c"` Add space. Else `&a[i]` is a linefeed. — chux - Reinstate Monica, Oct 13 '18 at 18:14

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 13 '18 at 18:46

To read single characters symbols optionally separated by whitespaces, you must explicitly ignore this whitespace with a in the format string before the %c.

Also check the return value of scanf().

Here is a corrected version:

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char const *argv[]) {
    char a[10], b[10], c[10];
    int i, count;

    if (scanf("%d", &count) == 1 && count <= 10) {
        for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
            if (scanf(" %c %c %c", &a[i], &b[i], &c[i]) != 3)
                break;
            printf("%c %c %c\n", a[i], b[i], c[i]);
        }
    }
    return 0;
}

scanf formatted multiple special characters with array

1 Answers1