Readfile is not reading the the blank spaces from my text file? - c++

Question

I am reading in a text file and have found that it will not print the blank characters between the words. I want to read each character a character at a time and then print the character to the output window. The read will read the file but does not show the blank spaces and I have not been able to find out why the blank spaces are being skipped.
Question: Why is my read not reading the blank characters in my test file?
When i find a blank character I want to print the word Blank Space.
Code:
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "iostream"
#include<iostream>
#include<fstream>
void readTestFile()
{
char ch;
std::fstream fin("C:/Users/itpr13266/Desktop/myTest.txt", std::fstream::in);
while (fin >> ch) {
std::cout << "Letter: " << ch << std::endl;
if (ch == ' ') <-- should catch a blank spaces
{
std::cout << "Blank Space" << std::endl;
}
else <-- Just write the letter
{
std::cout << ch << std::endl;
}
}
}
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
readTestFile();
getchar();
return 0;
}
Test File:
This is testing for fprintf...
This is testing for fputs...
Output
Letter: T
T
Letter: h
h
...etc...

Answer 1

The standard input function istream::operator>>() skips all leading whitespace before performing input. If you need to obtain spaces, there are a couple options you can use:
std::noskipws
By setting the std::ios_base::noskipws flag, the stream will not discard leading whitespace and ch will be given the value of each consecutive character. Note that this succeeds only with the overload that takes a char (ch will be given the value of the space). For any other data type this will not work:
while (fin >> std::noskipws >> ch)
{
// ...
}
std::istream::get()
get() is an UnformattedInputFunction function, and thus will not parse the input beforehand.
while (fin.get(ch))
{
// ...
}
std::istreambuf_iterator<>
You can also use iterators to work directly with the buffer. std::istreambuf_iterator<> also doesn't parse the input:
std::copy(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>{fin},
std::istreambuf_iterator<char>{},
std::ostreambuf_iterator<char>{std::cout},

Answer 2

You are performing formatted input, use unformatted input
std::fstream::traits_type::int_type ch;
while((ch = fin.get()) != std::fstream::traits_type::eof()) {
// ...
}

Answer 3

By default, operator>> on streams skips any leading whitespace before parsing the value. This is, for example, what allows you to read the input 30 60 95 with int i,j,k; fin >> i >> j >> k; (otherwise reading j would fail because after the 30, there follows a space, not an integer).
You now have two options if you want to read the spaces as well:
(preferred): Use the member function get() for unformatted reading of a character.
Instruct the stream not to eat whitespace before reading: fin >> std::noskipws >> ch.

Answer 4

Read more about the different iostream methods. In particular, you are using istream's operator>>. Take careful note of how it is designed to work; it uses whitespace as a delimiter and does not store the whitespace.
If you want to read every char from your stream (e.g. a file stream), you should not be using >>, but rather consider using istream::get().
// stream is an istream, such as cin or ifstream
char ch;
while (ch = stream.get()) { }

Answer 5

This worked for me. I set it in a function so you can copy paste. It detects the space, and also the change in line. I tried it with ASCII art and it worked fine.
void print2()
{
char ch;
std::fstream myStream("GameOver.txt", std::fstream::in);
while (myStream.get(ch))
{
std::cout << ch;
}
}