I'm stuck on how to read from a text file - c++

Question

/* In the text file I have a char followed by a blankspace then a string. I'm trying to read the char and string into seperated arrays. Any help is appreciated */
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
char arrivOrDepart;
string licensePlt;
ifstream inFile;
inFile.open("Text.txt");
if (!inFile)
{
cout << "Can't open file" << endl;
return 1;
}
for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
getline(cin, arrivOrDepart[i]);
getline(cin, licensePlt[i]);
}
inFile.close();
cin.get();
return 0;
}
//text file
A QWE123
A ASD123
A ZXC123
A WER123
A SDF123

Answer 1

#include <fstream>
#include <iterator>
#include <vector>
this reads from file into vector
std::ifstream input("d:\\testinput.txt");
std::vector<std::string> bytes(
(std::istreambuf_iterator<std::string>(input)),
(std::istreambuf_iterator<std::string>()));
input.close();
then, just put the data into whatever container you want. you should almost always prefer vector over array btw

Answer 2

There are a few problems with the code:
getline is the wrong tool of choice for this. if you want to split a stream based on spaces, use >>.
arrivOrDepart and licensePlt are not defined as arrays but are used as arrays.
reading from cin, not from file.
My suggested fixes (excluding using vectors instead of arrays):
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std; // avoid using this
int main()
{
const int MAXARRAY = 4; // avoid using magic numbers
char arrivOrDepart[MAXARRAY]; // made an array, but prefer std::vector
string licensePlt[MAXARRAY]; //made an array
ifstream inFile;
inFile.open("Text.txt");
if (!inFile)
{
cout << "Can't open file" << endl;
return 1;
}
string temp;
int i = 0;
while (i < MAXARRAY && // not overrunning the arrays
inFile >> temp >> licensePlt[i] && // read data from file stream
temp.length() == 1) // read only one character for arrivOrDepart
{
arrivOrDepart = temp[0];
i++;
}
inFile.close();
cin.get();
return 0;
}
Recommended reading:
Why is "using namespace std" considered bad practice?
What is a magic number, and why is it bad?
std::vector documentation (Alternate easier to read but often less accurate documentation)
std::getline documentation. Note the third parameter used to set the parsing delimiter.