Exit a while loop with one specific key stroke in C++ - c++

Question

I am trying to exit a while loop with this one specific character key input |.
The only way I figured out how is to transform the int user input in char. For some reason, when I input the | character when the program is running, I only receive: Press any key to continue.... My final goal (as I hope is visible from my code) is for the program to actually list all inputs in my vector and then terminate.
I am new to C++ and very lost on this point. If anyone could point me in the right direction I will be very appreciative.
I am running a Windows 8 Entreprise machine.
About the program
This is a simple program that takes user input of integers, adds them to a vector and compares the last two to see which one is bigger, smaller etc.
Full code is here
#include "../../std_lib_facilities.h"
// conversion of units to meters
double funconvert(double x, string unit)
{
const double cm_m = 1.0 / 100.0, in_cm = 2.54, ft_in = 12;
if (unit == "m")
return x;
else if (unit == "cm")
return x = x * cm_m;
else if (unit == "in")
return x = x * in_cm * cm_m;
else if (unit == "ft")
return x = x * ft_in * in_cm * cm_m;
else
cout << "Unknown unit value.\n";
}
// printing the large and the small variables
void printresult(double smallest, double largest)
{
cout << "the smaller value is: " << smallest << "\n";
cout << "the larger value is: " << largest << "\n";
}
int main()
{
vector<double>numbers;
double a, b, smallest, largest;
char the_stop;
string unit;
cout << "Please enter an intiger followed by a measurment unit [e.g 10cm]:";
// Take input
while (cin >> a)
{
char the_stop = a;
cin >> unit;
cout << the_stop;
// check if this is the first number entered
if (numbers.size() == 0)
{
a = funconvert(a, unit);
b = a;
numbers.push_back(a);
numbers.push_back(b);
}
else if (the_stop == '|')
{
// This is not working for some reason... ERROR
sort(numbers);
for (int i = 0; i < numbers.size(); ++i)
cout << numbers[i];
break;
}
else
{
//assign a and b to the last two numbers in a vector
a = funconvert(a, unit);
numbers.push_back(a);
a = numbers[(numbers.size() - 1)];
b = numbers[(numbers.size() - 2)];
// numbers.erase(numbers.begin()); // enable if desire to keep the vector empty
}
// find out which variable is larger and smaller
if (a > b && (a/b-1) >= 0.01)
{
smallest = b;
largest = a;
printresult(smallest, largest);
}
else if (a < b && (b / a - 1) >= 0.01)
{
smallest = a;
largest = b;
printresult(smallest, largest);
}
else if ((a / b - 1) < 0.01 && (a / b - 1) != 0.00 || (b / a - 1) < 0.01 && (a / b - 1) != 0.00)
{
cout << "the nubers are almost equal\n";
}
else
cout << a << " equals " << b << "\n";
}
return 0;
}
Code UPDATED
#include "../../std_lib_facilities.h"
// conversion of units to meters
double funconvert(double x, string unit)
{
const double cm_m = 1.0 / 100.0, in_cm = 2.54, ft_in = 12;
if (unit == "m")
return x;
else if (unit == "cm")
return x = x * cm_m;
else if (unit == "in")
return x = x * in_cm * cm_m;
else if (unit == "ft")
return x = x * ft_in * in_cm * cm_m;
else
cout << "Unknown unit value.\n";
}
// printing the large and the small variables
void printresult(double smallest, double largest)
{
cout << "the smaller value is: " << smallest << "\n";
cout << "the larger value is: " << largest << "\n";
}
int main()
{
vector<double>numbers;
double a, b, smallest, largest;
char the_stop;
string unit;
cout << "Please enter an intiger:";
// Take input
while (cin >> a)
{
// check if the | character is pressed
char the_stop = a;
if (the_stop == '|')
{
cout << "start";
sort(numbers);
for (int i = 0; i < numbers.size(); ++i)
cout << numbers[i];
}
else
{
cout << "And now the unit value:";
cin >> unit;
}
// check if this is the first number entered
if (numbers.size() == 0)
{
a = funconvert(a, unit);
b = a;
numbers.push_back(a);
numbers.push_back(b);
}
else
{
//assign a and b to the last two numbers in a vector
a = funconvert(a, unit);
numbers.push_back(a);
a = numbers[(numbers.size() - 1)];
b = numbers[(numbers.size() - 2)];
// numbers.erase(numbers.begin()); // enable if desire to keep the vector empty
}
// find out which variable is larger and smaller
if (a > b && (a/b-1) >= 0.01)
{
smallest = b;
largest = a;
printresult(smallest, largest);
}
else if (a < b && (b / a - 1) >= 0.01)
{
smallest = a;
largest = b;
printresult(smallest, largest);
}
else if ((a / b - 1) < 0.01 && (a / b - 1) != 0.00 || (b / a - 1) < 0.01 && (a / b - 1) != 0.00)
{
cout << "the nubers are almost equal\n";
}
else
cout << a << " equals " << b << "\n";
}
return 0;
}