why does my program not print out the final result?

Question

why when i run this code to take in a string input by the user why does it not print out the final result ?

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

/* Function Declerations */

/* Global Variables */
char *text = NULL;
int size;
int main(){
    /* Initializing Global Variables */

    printf("enter a number limit for text: ");
    scanf("%d", &size);
    /* Initial memory allocation */
    text = (char *) malloc(size * sizeof(char));

    if(text != NULL){
        printf("Enter some text: \n");
        scanf("%s", &text);
        // scanf(" ");
        // gets(text);
        printf("You inputed: %s", text);
    }

    free(text);
    return 0;
}

/* Function Details */

in fact the end result looks like this

enter a number limit for text: 20
Enter some text: 
jason

PS:[Do I cast the result of malloc?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/605845/4139593) — TruthSeeker, May 12 '22 at 17:31

Marco Balo · Accepted Answer · 2022-05-12T17:24:33.753

3

text is already a char *, so you don't have to pass &text to scanf, but only text.

scanf takes a pointer as argument in order to modify the pointed value, but if you pass a char ** as an argument, you will modify the pointer to the string instead of the pointed string

edited May 12 '22 at 17:24

answered May 12 '22 at 17:17

Marco Balo

336
2
9

1

Crank up [the compiler diagnostics](https://godbolt.org/z/T9o5YTd1d) and you'll probably get a warning – user4581301 May 12 '22 at 17:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 12 '22 at 20:57

0

you just have to remove the address from &text because text is a pointer and the string always pointe to the first character.

answered May 12 '22 at 20:57

Hicham Zakroum

74
10

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community May 13 '22 at 22:17

why does my program not print out the final result?

2 Answers2