Behaviour of fstream in C++ - c++

Question

I have made the following script, that is supposed to read from a file:
char match[] = "match";
int a;
int b;
inp >> lin;
while(!inp.eof()) {
if(!strcmp(lin, match)) {
inp >> a >> b;
cout << a << " " << b <<endl;
}
inp >> lin;
}
inp.close();
return num_atm;
}
It is supposed to read all words, and if a line starts with match, it should then also print the rest of the line.
My input file is this:
match 1 2 //1
match 5 2 //2
nope 3 6 //3
match 5 //4
match 1 4 //5
match 5 9 //6
It will correctly print 1 2, 5 2, and skip 3 6. But then, it will get stuck and keep printing 5 0 and continue printing 5 0 for ever. I get that match is put into b, which is an integer, but I don't get why this is looped. Shouldn't the input read match 4 once, try to read/write 5 and match, and then be done with line 4 and the match from line 5? Then it should next read the number 1 and 4 and then match from number 6.
I would also understand that due to the word not fitting into the integer, it would read match in the fifth line again, but that's not what it does.
It goes back to the match in the fourth line which it already read, and reads it again. Why is this?

Answer 1

When you are reading with >> line enndings are handled the same as spaces: They are just more whitespace that is skipped. That means you see
match 1 2
match 5 2
nope 3 6
match 5
match 1 4
match 5 9
But the program sees
match 1 2 match 5 2 nope 3 6 match 5 match 1 4 match 5 9
Let's fast forward to where things go south
Contents of stream:
nope 3 6 match 5 match 1 4 match 5 9
Processing
inp >> lin; // reads nope stream: 3 6 match 5 match 1 4 match 5 9
if(!strcmp(lin, match)) { // nope != match skip body
}
inp >> lin; // reads 3 stream: 6 match 5 match 1 4 match 5 9
if(!strcmp(lin, match)) { // 3 != match skip body
}
inp >> lin; // reads 6 stream: match 5 match 1 4 match 5 9
if(!strcmp(lin, match)) { // 6 != match skip body
}
inp >> lin; // reads match stream: 5 match 1 4 match 5 9
if(!strcmp(lin, match)) { // match != match Enter body
inp >> a >> b; // reads 5 and fails to parse match into an integer.
// stream: match 1 4 match 5 9
// stream now in failure state
cout << a << " " << b <<endl; // prints 5 and garbage because b was not read
}
inp >> lin; // reads nothing. Stream failed
if(!strcmp(lin, match)) { // match != match Enter body
inp >> a >> b; // reads nothing. Stream failed
// stream: match 1 4 match 5 9
// stream now in failure state
cout << a << " " << b <<endl; // prints g and garbage because b was not read
}
Because nothing is ever read, while(!inp.eof()) is utterly worthless. The end of the file can never be reached. The program will loop forever, probably printing whatever it last read. Successfully read.
Fixing this depends entirely on what you want to do if you have a match line without 2 numbers on it, but a typical framework looks something like
std::string line;
while(std::getline(inp, line) // get a whole line. Exit if line can't be read for any reason.
{
std::istringstream strm(line);
std::string lin;
if(strm >> lin && lin == match) // enters if lin was read and lin == match
// if lin can't be read, it doesn't matter.
// strm is disposable
{
int a;
int b;
if (strm >> a >> b) // enters if both a and b were read
{
cout << a << " " << b <<"\n"; // endl flushes. Very expensive. just use a newline.
}
}
}
Output from this should be something like
1 2
5 2
1 4
5 9
If you want to make some use of match 5... Well it's up to you what you want to put in b if there is no b in the file.