Why is the next line not executing C++ - c++

Question

I have attached my full source code of my program that can open a .txt file. It doesn't execute after the cout << length. I am trying to store the .txt file information in memory by using an array.
#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;
char filename[128];
char file[10][250];
int count;
int length;
string line;
int main ()
{
int count = 0;
int length = 0;
cout << "Filename: ";
cin.clear();
cin.getline(filename, sizeof(filename));
string new_inputfile(filename);
ifstream inputfiles (new_inputfile.c_str());
if(!inputfiles.is_open())
{
cout << "File could not be opened. \n ";
}
else
{
for (int i=0; getline(inputfiles,line); i++)
{
length++;
}
cout << length;
// char file[length][250]; <- How can I create the array based on the length variable?
// CODE DOES NOT EXECUTE AFTER THIS.
while(!inputfiles.eof() && (count<10))
{
inputfiles.getline(file[count],250);
count++;
}
for(int i=0; i < count; i++)
{
cout << file[i] << endl;
}
}
inputfiles.close();
return 0;
}
Also, since file[] is char, say for example file[1] contained the char Name=Mike, how do I strip off everything before the =. I want just Mike. I know with string, I can use substr() method, but I don't know for char.

Answer 1

This is horribly wasteful way to count number of lines in a file.
for (int i=0; getline(inputfiles,line); i++) // i is also completely useless here
{
length++;
}
You're reading the whole file only to throw everything away and start again! And after this loop is done, inputfiles.eof() will be true and you'll never enter neither the next while loop nor the last for loop (because i == count). Execution skips directly to inputfiles.close() and then you return from main.
I suggest you work on the line string as you go:
for ( ; getline(inputfiles, line); )
{
// do stuff with line and ditch the global char arrays
}
If you want store the lines for later, well, just save them :) The easiest thing to do is to use a vector:
std::vector<std::string> all_them_lines;
while (getline(file, line) all_them_lines.emplace_back(line);
There, the entire file is now saved in all_them_lines, line by line. You can access them just like you would in an array, like all_them_lines[0]. You also don't need to know the number of lines beforehand - vectors expand automatically when you add stuff to them.
Now to parse a line and extract formatted input from it, check out what stringstream class has to offer.

Answer 2

You asked:
// char file[length][250]; <- How can I create the array based on the length variable?
Declare file as:
char (*file)[250] = NULL;
and then,
file = new char[length][250];
Make sure you call delete [] file before the end of the function.
You said:
// CODE DOES NOT EXECUTE AFTER THIS.
You can rewind the stream and start reading from it again.
inputfiles.seekg(0);
count = 0;
while(!inputfiles.eof())
{
inputfiles.getline(file[count],250);
count++;
}