C++ binary input as a string to a decimal - c++

Question

I am trying to write a code that takes a binary number input as a string and will only accept 1's or 0's if not there should be an error message displayed. Then it should go through a loop digit by digit to convert the binary number as a string to decimal. I cant seem to get it right I have the fact that it will only accept 1's or 0's correct. But then when it gets into the calculations something messes up and I cant seem to get it correct. Currently this is the closest I believe I have to getting it working. could anyone give me a hint or help me with what i am doing wrong?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
string a;
int input();
int main()
{
input();
int decimal, x= 0, length, total = 0;
length = a.length();
// atempting to make it put the digits through a formula backwords.
for (int i = length; i >= 0; i--)
{
// Trying to make it only add the 2^x if the number is 1
if (a[i] = '1')
{
//should make total equal to the old total plus 2^x if a[i] = 1
total = total + pow(x,2);
}
//trying to let the power start at 0 and go up each run of the loop
x++;
}
cout << endl << total;
int stop;
cin >> stop;
return 0;
}
int input()
{
int x, x2, count, repeat = 0;
while (repeat == 0)
{
cout << "Enter a string representing a binary number => ";
cin >> a;
count = a.length();
for (x = 0; x < count; x++)
{
if (a[x] != '0' && a[x] != '1')
{
cout << a << " is not a string representing a binary number>" << endl;
repeat = 0;
break;
}
else
repeat = 1;
}
}
return 0;
}

Answer 1

I don't think that pow suits for integer calculation. In this case, you can use shift operator.
a[i] = '1' sets the value of a[i] to '1' and return '1', which is always true.
You shouldn't access a[length], which should be meaningless.
fixed code:
int main()
{
input();
int decimal, x= 0, length, total = 0;
length = a.length();
// atempting to make it put the digits through a formula backwords.
for (int i = length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
{
// Trying to make it only add the 2^x if the number is 1
if (a[i] == '1')
{
//should make total equal to the old total plus 2^x if a[i] = 1
total = total + (1 << x);
}
//trying to let the power start at 0 and go up each run of the loop
x++;
}
cout << endl << total;
int stop;
cin >> stop;
return 0;
}

Answer 2

I would use this approach...
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string str{ "10110011" }; // max length can be sizeof(int) X 8
int dec = 0, mask = 1;
for (int i = str.length() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if (str[i] == '1') {
dec |= mask;
}
mask <<= 1;
}
cout << "Decimal number is: " << dec;
// system("pause");
return 0;
}

Answer 3

Works for binary strings up to 32 bits. Swap out integer for long to get 64 bits.
#include <iostream>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
string getBinaryString(int value, unsigned int length, bool reverse) {
string output = string(length, '0');
if (!reverse) {
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
if ((value & (1 << i)) != 0) {
output[i] = '1';
}
}
}
else {
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
if ((value & (1 << (length - i - 1))) != 0) {
output[i] = '1';
}
}
}
return output;
}
unsigned long getInteger(const string& input, size_t lsbindex, size_t msbindex) {
unsigned long val = 0;
unsigned int offset = 0;
if (lsbindex > msbindex) {
size_t length = lsbindex - msbindex;
for (size_t i = msbindex; i <= lsbindex; i++, offset++) {
if (input[i] == '1') {
val |= (1 << (length - offset));
}
}
}
else { //lsbindex < msbindex
for (size_t i = lsbindex; i <= msbindex; i++, offset++) {
if (input[i] == '1') {
val |= (1 << offset);
}
}
}
return val;
}
int main() {
int value = 23;
cout << value << ": " << getBinaryString(value, 5, false) << endl;
string str = "01011";
cout << str << ": " << getInteger(str, 1, 3) << endl;
}

Answer 4

I see multiple misstages in your code.
Your for-loop should start at i = length - 1 instead of i = length.
a[i] = '1' sets a[i] to '1' and does not compare it.
pow(x,2) means and not . pow is also not designed for integer operations. Use 2*2*... or 1<<e instead.
Also there are shorter ways to achieve it. Here is a example how I would do it:
std::size_t fromBinaryString(const std::string &str)
{
std::size_t result = 0;
for (std::size_t i = 0; i < str.size(); ++i)
{
// '0' - '0' == 0 and '1' - '0' == 1.
// If you don't want to assume that, you can use if or switch
result = (result << 1) + str[i] - '0';
}
return result;
}