I ran into an interesting problem when playing around with input streams in C++.
I know that if you attempt to enter a string that contains spaces using cin it will truncate the string at the first space unless you use getline to get the string.
However I found that even more unexpected results can occur ... If you have a second cin after the first one, and the first cin has spaces in it's input, the second input is skipped and its value is clobbered!
Why does this happen?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string myString;
int myInt;
// I know this will cut off the end of the string
cout << "Enter a string with spaces: ";
cin >> myString;
cout << endl;
cout << "Enter an integer: ";
cin >> myInt;
cout << endl;
cout << "String: " << myString << endl;
cout << "Int : " << myInt << endl;
return 0;
}
Output:
Enter a string with spaces: This is a string
Enter an integer:
String: This
Int : -858993460
Is there a way to trap on this error so an ignorant user doesn't enter a string with spaces and break an entire program?
Reading from cin does not read a whole line and then only return part of it. Conceptually, it reads a 'token', usually understood to mean a whitespace-separated string, and then parses it into whatever type you are reading. It has no concept of a 'line'. All the input lines are one consecutive stream of tokens. So after reading a string ("This"), the next token is "is", which of course cannot be parsed as an int, and thus the error.
Related
When I am trying to store more than one word in a string variable, it only outputs one word when I tell the program to print it. This is an example:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
string i;
int main() {
cout << "Input more than one word." << endl;
//in this case the user will input whats up//
cin >> i;
cout << i << endl;
//the program outputs 'whats'//
}
Instead of using cin >> i, use getline(cin, i).
The difference is that, with getline() you get all the words in a line, whereas with operator>> you get only one word at a time.
Replace that:
cin >> i;
for:
getline(cin, i);
and it will work :)
This question already has answers here:
Why does std::getline() skip input after a formatted extraction?
(5 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I need the following program to take the entire line of user input and put it into string names:
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);
With the cin >> number command before the getline() command however (which I'm guessing is the issue), it won't allow me to input names. Why?
I heard something about a cin.clear() command, but I have no idea how this works or why this is even necessary.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cin.ignore(256, '\n'); // remaining input characters up to the next newline character
// are ignored
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);
Another way of doing it is to put a
cin.ignore ( std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n' );
after your cin>>number; to flush the input buffer completely (rejecting all of the extra characters until a newline is found). You need to #include <limits> to get the max() method.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
if (cin >> number)
{
// throw away the rest of the line
char c;
while (cin.get(c) && c != '\n')
if (!std::isspace(c))
{
std::cerr << "ERROR unexpected character '" << c << "' found\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
cout << "Enter names: ";
string name;
// keep getting lines until EOF (or "bad" e.g. error reading redirected file)...
while (getline(cin, name))
...use name...
}
else
{
std::cerr << "ERROR reading number\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
In the code above, this bit...
char c;
while (cin.get(c) && c != '\n')
if (!std::isspace(c))
{
std::cerr << "ERROR unexpected character '" << c << "' found\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
...checks the rest of the input line after the number contains only whitespace.
Why not just use ignore?
That's pretty verbose, so using ignore on the stream after >> x is an oft-recommended alternative way to discard content through to the next newline, but it risks throwing away non-whitespace content and in doing so, overlooking corrupt data in the file. You may or may not care, depending on whether the file's content's trusted, how important it is to avoid processing corrupt data etc..
So when would you use clear and ignore?
So, std::cin.clear() (and std::cin.ignore()) isn't necessary for this, but is useful for removing error state. For example, if you want to give the user many chances to enter a valid number.
int x;
while (std::cout << "Enter a number: " &&
!(std::cin >> x))
{
if (std::cin.eof())
{
std::cerr << "ERROR unexpected EOF\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
std::cin.clear(); // clear bad/fail/eof flags
// have to ignore non-numeric character that caused cin >> x to
// fail or there's no chance of it working next time; for "cin" it's
// common to remove the entire suspect line and re-prompt the user for
// input.
std::cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max());
}
Can't it be simpler with skipws or similar?
Another simple but half-baked alternative to ignore for your original requirement is using std::skipws to skip any amount of whitespace before reading lines...
if (std::cin >> number >> std::skipws)
{
while (getline(std::cin, name))
...
...but if it gets input like "1E6" (e.g. some scientist trying to input 1,000,000 but C++ only supports that notation for floating point numbers) won't accept that, you'd end up with number set to 1, and E6 read as the first value of name. Separately, if you had a valid number followed by one or more blank lines, those lines would be silently ignored.
Try:
int number;
cin >> number;
char firstCharacterOfNames;
cin >> firstCharacterOfNames; // This will discard all leading white space.
// including new-line if there happen to be any.
cin.unget(); // Put back the first character of the name.
std::string names;
std::getline(cin, names); // Read the names;
Alternatively. If you know that number and names will always be on different lines.
cin >> number;
cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
std::getline(cin, names);
You can use std::ws to extract any whitespace characters in the input buffer before using getline. Header for std::ws is sstream.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
cin>>ws;
getline(cin, names);
Try cin.ignore() when you use cin before getline() function
void inputstu(){
cout << "Enter roll Number:";
cin >> roll_no;
cin.ignore(); //ignore the withspace and enter key
cout << "Enter name:";
getline(cin, stu_name);
}
Or you can flush the input buffer to read the string
fflush(stdin)
it is defined in header stdio.h.
This code works..
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
fflush(stdin); //FLUSHING STDIN
getline(cin, names);
i just used
getline(cin >> ws,lard.i_npute);
with the standard
#include <iostream>
header in the instances where I was having problems with carriage returns and the ws manipulator worked. I will probably start embedding looping functions as classes and using constructor and destructor calls atleast.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);//works on the \n left behind
getline(cin, names);//continues and rewrites names
its pretty self explainatory, there is a \n left behind in the stream that cin >> number uses, which gets assigned to names the first time its used. Reusing the getline writes the correct value now.
You can find the answer you want in cppreference.
When used immediately after whitespace-delimited input, e.g. after int n; std::cin >> n;, getline consumes the endline character left on the input stream by operator>>, and returns immediately. A common solution is to ignore all leftover characters on the line of input with cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n'); before switching to line-oriented input.
you want to use cin.ignore() after your cin statements because you want to ignore the "\n" left in the buffer after taking your int variable with cin.
i have a similar program i used with a similar problem:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <limits>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int i = 4;
double d = 4.0;
string s = "HackerRank ";
// Declare second integer, double, and String variables.
int n;
double d2;
string str;
// Read and save an integer, double, and String to your variables.
cin >> n;
cin >> d2;
cin.ignore();
getline(cin, str);
// Print the sum of both integer variables on a new line.
cout << i + n << endl;
// Print the sum of the double variables on a new line.
cout << d + d2 << endl;
// Concatenate and print the String variables on a new line
cout << s << str << endl;
// The 's' variable above should be printed first.
return 0;
}
Conceptually, I think you want each answer to be neatly one line. So why don't you try this?
cout << "Enter the number: ";
string line;
getline(cin, line);
int number = std::stoi(line);
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);
The code consumes the first newline character correctly, gives you the number if the line is correct or throws an exception if it is not. All for free!
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
// USE peek() TO SOLVE IT! ;)
if (cin.peek() == '\n') {
cin.ignore(1 /*numeric_limits<streamsize>::max()*/, '\n');
}
getline(cin, names);
return 0;
}
Just peek ahead using cin.peek() and see if a '\n' is still left in cin's internal buffer. If so: ignore it (basically skip over it)
This question already has answers here:
Why does std::getline() skip input after a formatted extraction?
(5 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I need the following program to take the entire line of user input and put it into string names:
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);
With the cin >> number command before the getline() command however (which I'm guessing is the issue), it won't allow me to input names. Why?
I heard something about a cin.clear() command, but I have no idea how this works or why this is even necessary.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cin.ignore(256, '\n'); // remaining input characters up to the next newline character
// are ignored
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);
Another way of doing it is to put a
cin.ignore ( std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n' );
after your cin>>number; to flush the input buffer completely (rejecting all of the extra characters until a newline is found). You need to #include <limits> to get the max() method.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
if (cin >> number)
{
// throw away the rest of the line
char c;
while (cin.get(c) && c != '\n')
if (!std::isspace(c))
{
std::cerr << "ERROR unexpected character '" << c << "' found\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
cout << "Enter names: ";
string name;
// keep getting lines until EOF (or "bad" e.g. error reading redirected file)...
while (getline(cin, name))
...use name...
}
else
{
std::cerr << "ERROR reading number\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
In the code above, this bit...
char c;
while (cin.get(c) && c != '\n')
if (!std::isspace(c))
{
std::cerr << "ERROR unexpected character '" << c << "' found\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
...checks the rest of the input line after the number contains only whitespace.
Why not just use ignore?
That's pretty verbose, so using ignore on the stream after >> x is an oft-recommended alternative way to discard content through to the next newline, but it risks throwing away non-whitespace content and in doing so, overlooking corrupt data in the file. You may or may not care, depending on whether the file's content's trusted, how important it is to avoid processing corrupt data etc..
So when would you use clear and ignore?
So, std::cin.clear() (and std::cin.ignore()) isn't necessary for this, but is useful for removing error state. For example, if you want to give the user many chances to enter a valid number.
int x;
while (std::cout << "Enter a number: " &&
!(std::cin >> x))
{
if (std::cin.eof())
{
std::cerr << "ERROR unexpected EOF\n";
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
std::cin.clear(); // clear bad/fail/eof flags
// have to ignore non-numeric character that caused cin >> x to
// fail or there's no chance of it working next time; for "cin" it's
// common to remove the entire suspect line and re-prompt the user for
// input.
std::cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max());
}
Can't it be simpler with skipws or similar?
Another simple but half-baked alternative to ignore for your original requirement is using std::skipws to skip any amount of whitespace before reading lines...
if (std::cin >> number >> std::skipws)
{
while (getline(std::cin, name))
...
...but if it gets input like "1E6" (e.g. some scientist trying to input 1,000,000 but C++ only supports that notation for floating point numbers) won't accept that, you'd end up with number set to 1, and E6 read as the first value of name. Separately, if you had a valid number followed by one or more blank lines, those lines would be silently ignored.
Try:
int number;
cin >> number;
char firstCharacterOfNames;
cin >> firstCharacterOfNames; // This will discard all leading white space.
// including new-line if there happen to be any.
cin.unget(); // Put back the first character of the name.
std::string names;
std::getline(cin, names); // Read the names;
Alternatively. If you know that number and names will always be on different lines.
cin >> number;
cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
std::getline(cin, names);
You can use std::ws to extract any whitespace characters in the input buffer before using getline. Header for std::ws is sstream.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
cin>>ws;
getline(cin, names);
Try cin.ignore() when you use cin before getline() function
void inputstu(){
cout << "Enter roll Number:";
cin >> roll_no;
cin.ignore(); //ignore the withspace and enter key
cout << "Enter name:";
getline(cin, stu_name);
}
Or you can flush the input buffer to read the string
fflush(stdin)
it is defined in header stdio.h.
This code works..
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
fflush(stdin); //FLUSHING STDIN
getline(cin, names);
i just used
getline(cin >> ws,lard.i_npute);
with the standard
#include <iostream>
header in the instances where I was having problems with carriage returns and the ws manipulator worked. I will probably start embedding looping functions as classes and using constructor and destructor calls atleast.
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);//works on the \n left behind
getline(cin, names);//continues and rewrites names
its pretty self explainatory, there is a \n left behind in the stream that cin >> number uses, which gets assigned to names the first time its used. Reusing the getline writes the correct value now.
You can find the answer you want in cppreference.
When used immediately after whitespace-delimited input, e.g. after int n; std::cin >> n;, getline consumes the endline character left on the input stream by operator>>, and returns immediately. A common solution is to ignore all leftover characters on the line of input with cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n'); before switching to line-oriented input.
you want to use cin.ignore() after your cin statements because you want to ignore the "\n" left in the buffer after taking your int variable with cin.
i have a similar program i used with a similar problem:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <limits>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int i = 4;
double d = 4.0;
string s = "HackerRank ";
// Declare second integer, double, and String variables.
int n;
double d2;
string str;
// Read and save an integer, double, and String to your variables.
cin >> n;
cin >> d2;
cin.ignore();
getline(cin, str);
// Print the sum of both integer variables on a new line.
cout << i + n << endl;
// Print the sum of the double variables on a new line.
cout << d + d2 << endl;
// Concatenate and print the String variables on a new line
cout << s << str << endl;
// The 's' variable above should be printed first.
return 0;
}
Conceptually, I think you want each answer to be neatly one line. So why don't you try this?
cout << "Enter the number: ";
string line;
getline(cin, line);
int number = std::stoi(line);
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
getline(cin, names);
The code consumes the first newline character correctly, gives you the number if the line is correct or throws an exception if it is not. All for free!
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
cout << "Enter the number: ";
int number;
cin >> number;
cout << "Enter names: ";
string names;
// USE peek() TO SOLVE IT! ;)
if (cin.peek() == '\n') {
cin.ignore(1 /*numeric_limits<streamsize>::max()*/, '\n');
}
getline(cin, names);
return 0;
}
Just peek ahead using cin.peek() and see if a '\n' is still left in cin's internal buffer. If so: ignore it (basically skip over it)
This question already has answers here:
Why does std::getline() skip input after a formatted extraction?
(5 answers)
Closed 7 years ago.
I have a little problem. I've created a program that asks user to enter part's name and part's price for four diffrent parts. Each name and price fills a structure, and I have an array of four structures. When i do a for loop to fill all the names and prices, my getline functon doesn't work properly, it simply just skipps the entering part after I enter the first part's name. Can you please tell me why?
Here's my code:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
struct part {
std::string name;
double cost;
};
int main() {
const int size = 4;
part apart[size];
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
std::cout << "Enter the name of part № " << i + 1 << ": ";
getline(std::cin,apart[i].name);
std::cout << "Enter the price of '" << apart[i].name << "': ";
std::cin >> apart[i].cost;
}
}
std::getline consumes the newline character \n, whereas std::cin will consume the number you enter and stop.
To illustrate why this is a problem, consider the following input for the first two 'parts':
item 1\n
53.25\n
item 2\n
64.23\n
First, you call std::getline, which consumes the text: item 1\n. Then you call std::cin >> ..., which recognises the 53.25, parses it, consumes it, and stops. You then have:
\n
item 2\n
64.23\n
You then call std::getline for a second time. All it sees is a \n, which is recognised as the end of a line. Therefore, it sees a blank string, stores nothing in your std::string, consumes the \n, and stops.
To solve this, you need to make sure the newline is consumed when you store the floating-point value using std::cin >>.
Try this:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
// required for std::numeric_limits
#include <limits>
struct part {
std::string name;
double cost;
};
int main() {
const int size = 4;
part apart[size];
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
std::cout << "Enter the name of part № " << i + 1 << ": ";
getline(std::cin,apart[i].name);
std::cout << "Enter the price of '" << apart[i].name << "': ";
std::cin >> apart[i].cost;
// flushes all newline characters
std::cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
}
}
How do you use a pointer-to-struct to get input that will be stored in a string variable? I thought simply passing pz->szCompany to getline() would behave the same as if I had used the . operator on a normal instance of Pizza (instead of a pointer-to), but when I run this program it skips over the company name prompt completely.
// Parts of the program omitted.
struct Pizza {
string szCompany;
float diameter;
float weight;
};
Pizza* pz = new Pizza;
cout << "Enter the weight: ";
cin >> pz->weight;
cout << "Enter the company name: ";
// use getline because the company name can have spaces in it.
getline(cin, pz->szCompany);
cout << "Enter the diameter: ";
cin >> pz->diameter;
cout << "\nCompany name: " << pz->szCompany;
cout << "\nWeight: " << pz->weight;
cout << "\nDiameter: " << pz->diameter;
// cannot forget this step.
delete pz;
return 0;
When you use >> to read input, it will leave unread characters in the stream (those, that couldn't be converted to integer, at least the return character you type to enter input), which the following getline will consume thinking it has already read an (empty) line.
#include <limits>
//...
cin >> pz->diameter;
cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
cout << "Enter the company name: ";
// use getline because the company name can have spaces in it.
getline(cin, pz->szCompany);
Your problem has nothing to do with the struct or pointers, just the normal behavior of input streams.
You may also have to deal with incorrect input. For example, entering a non-number where a number is expected would put the stream in an error state, so that all subsequent attempts to read would fail unless you deal with it. Better take Neil's advice, but for getting input from the user, it might also make sense to use a function for formatted input that prompts you until you get valid input:
template <class T>
T input(const std::string& prompt, const std::string& error_prompt)
{
std::cout << prompt;
T result;
while (!(std::cin >> result)) {
std::cin.clear();
std::cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
std::cout << error_prompt;
}
std::cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
return result;
}
//...
pz->weight = input<float>("Enter the weight: ", "Please enter a numeric value: ");
This has nothing to do with the pointer to the structure instance. It is simply not a good idea to mix line input with formatted input. In fact, it's not a good idea to use formatted input from an interactive input stream at all. You should instead read each input using getline() and then convert to the required type.
Add either:
cout << "Enter the company name: " << std::endl;
or
cout << "Enter the company name: ";
cout.flush();
You problem concerned with bufferization of stream