How to read spaced string with get line() from a file? - c++

Question

I want to read a name like "Penelope Pasaft" all together from a file and save it to a variable "person". I have understood that I have to use the get line(file, person). But I have a problem doing it because I want also to read other variables before.
Imagine a .txt like:
1
[phone]
Penelope Pasaft
So here is the code:
typedef struct {
string number; //I use string because it is an alphanumeric cellphone number
string person;
int identifier;
} cellphone;
ifstream entry;
entry.open(fileName.c_str());
cellphone c[10];
int j=0;
if(entry)
{
cout << "The file has been successfully opened\n\n";
while(!entry.eof())
{
entry >> c[j].identifier >> c[j].number;
getline(entry,c[j].person);
cout << "Start: " << c[j].identifier << "\nNumber: " <<
c[j].number << "\nPerson: " << c[j].person << endl << endl;
j++;
}
}
Well the problem I have it's that it doesn't seem to print or save me any data to the variable c[j].person

Answer 1

Problem is that your input file has empty lines in it.
If you use cin >> only, it will work OK because >> operator skips blank chars (but stops at blank chars, as you noted: can't have it all)
On the other hand, getline will read the line, even if it's blank.
I propose the following standalone code slightly modified from yours: note the loop until end of file or non-blank line.
(note: it there are spaces only in the line, it will fail)
I also replaced array by a vector, resized on the fly (more C++-ish)
#include<iostream>
#include<fstream>
#include<string>
#include<vector>
using namespace std;
typedef struct {
string number; //I use string because it is an alphanumeric cellphone number
string person;
int identifier;
} cellphone;
int main()
{
ifstream entry;
string fileName = "file.txt";
entry.open(fileName.c_str());
vector<cellphone> c;
cellphone current;
int j=0;
if(entry)
{
cout << "The file has been successfully opened\n\n";
while(!entry.eof())
{
entry >> current.identifier >> current.number;
while(!entry.eof())
{
getline(entry,current.person);
if (current.person!="") break; // stops if non-blank line
}
c.push_back(current);
cout << "Start: " << c[j].identifier << "\nNumber: " << c[j].number << "\nPerson: " << c[j].person <<endl<<endl;
j++;
}
}
return 0;
}
output:
The file has been successfully opened
Start: 1
Number: [phone]
Person: Penelope Pasaft