How to fix Error that leads to program Crash

Question

For some reason or another I cannot figure out why the data when opened does not get put into arrays and the program crashes. I have searched around for a answer to no avail. I get the feeling I will be posting a here a few more times before I finish this program!

#include <iostream>              
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std; 

string bookTitle [14];
string bookAuthor [14];
int loadData (string pathname);         
void showall (int counter);

int main ()
{
    int counter;  
    string pathname;

    cout<<"Input the name of the file to be accessed: ";
    cin>>pathname;
    loadData (pathname);
    showall (counter);

    cout<<"Press <Enter> to Exit";
    cin.ignore();
    cin.get();      
    return 0;                
}

int loadData (string pathname) // Loads data from infile into arrays
{
    fstream infile; 
    int counter = 0;
    infile.open(pathname.c_str()); //Opens file from user input in main
    if( infile.fail() )
    {
        cout << "File failed to open";
        return 0;
    }   
    while (!infile.eof())
    {
        cout<<"File Opened";   // I get the "File Opened" text and then a crash
        infile >> bookTitle [14] ;  //takes input and puts into parallel arrays
        infile >> bookAuthor [14];
        cout<<"Data Put in Arrays";
        counter++;
    }

    infile.close();
}

void showall (int counter)        // shows input in title(author) format
{
    cout<<bookTitle<<"("<<bookAuthor<<")";
}

Edit: The assignment is to take a file with names in a format such as title author title author Then it must output the arrays to screen in a title(author) format.

After this I must make it a looping program so a search can be chosen of one of the arrays and returns the entry in a title(author) format.

Here is how the code stands now;

#include <iostream>              
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std; 

string bookTitle [50];
string bookAuthor [50];
int loadData (string pathname);         
int showall (int counter);

int main ()

{  
string pathname;
int counter=0;

cout<<"Input the name of the file to be accessed: ";
cin>>pathname;
loadData (pathname);



showall (counter);

cout<<"Press <Enter> to Exit";
cin.ignore();
cin.get();      
return 0;                
}


int loadData (string pathname) // Loads data from infile into arrays
{
    fstream infile; 
    int counter = 0;
    infile.open(pathname.c_str()); //Opens file from user input in main
    if( infile.fail() )
     {
         cout << "File failed to open";
         return 0;
     }   

     while (!infile.eof())
     {

           infile >> bookTitle [counter] ;  //takes input and puts into parallel arrays
           infile >> bookAuthor [counter];
           counter++;
     }

     infile.close();
}

int showall (int counter)        // shows input in title(author) format
{

     cout<<bookTitle<<"("<<bookAuthor<<")";






return 0;
}

is this homework? if so, you should clearly indicate it is and what you were asked to do so other can help you learn without doing the work for you. — cbrulak, Mar 23 '12 at 02:56
yes it is, My only problem with declaring something I post as HW is that for some reason I get alot of people that just post links that have basic c++ info. I know the basic info the problem is I usually can't find info pertaining to my particular question. — kd7vdb, Mar 23 '12 at 03:09

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 23 '12 at 02:55

2

A Quick problem I see is:

 infile >> bookTitle [14] ; 
 infile >> bookAuthor [14];

Is incorrect, What you need is:

 infile >> bookTitle[counter]; 
 infile >> bookAuthor [counter];

Also,

The counter variable declared in main() and in loadData() are two different variables. The one declared in main()is never iniitalized at all.

answered Mar 23 '12 at 02:55

Alok Save

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It Now seems to be loading into the arrays but when it try's to cout the arrays it crashes. – kd7vdb Mar 23 '12 at 03:06
@kd7vdb: Since you have array of size `14` the valid array indices are only `0` to `13`, You should ensure that You are not writing beyond this boundary.If you do so, You wont get any warnings or compilation errors but You would end up with a Undefined Behavior which might crash your program or show any rando behavior. – Alok Save Mar 23 '12 at 03:19

grigy · Answer 2 · 2012-03-23T03:08:36.053

1

There are many problems with this code.

Main problem

These lines write only into 14th elements of the arrays

infile >> bookTitle [14] ;  //takes input and puts into parallel arrays
infile >> bookAuthor [14];

In order to fill the entire array you need to use the counter variable for index:

infile >> bookTitle [counter] ;  //takes input and puts into parallel arrays
infile >> bookAuthor [counter];

BTW: if array's size is 14 then the maximum index is 13. So you can't access an element with index 14. And that's probably causes the crash.

How to fix Error that leads to program Crash

2 Answers2

Main problem

Other problems I noticed

Linked