Decoding / Encloding Text File using Stack Library - Can't Encode Large Files C++ - c++

Question

I am working on a program that can encode and then decode text in C++. I am using the stack library. The way the program works is that it first asks you for a cypher key, which you put in manually. It then asks for the file name, which is a text file. If it is a normal txt file, it encodes the message to a new file and adds a .iia files extension. If the text file already has a .iia file extension, then it decodes the message, as long as the cypher key is the same as the one used to encode it.
My program does encode and decode, but how many characters it decodes is determined by temp.size() % cypher.length() that is in the while loop in the readFileEncode() function. I think this is what is keeping the entire file from being encoded and then decoded correctly. Another words, the ending file after it has been decoded from say "example.txt.iia" back to "example.txt" is missing a large portion of the text from the original "example.txt" file. I tried just cypher.length() but of course that does not encode or decode anything then. The entire process is determined by that argument for the decoding and encoding.
I cannot seem to find out the exact logic for this to encode and decode all the characters in any size file. Here is the following code for the function that does the decoding and encoding:
EDIT: Using WhozCraig's code that he edited for me:
void readFileEncode(string fileName, stack<char> &text, string cypher)
{
std::ifstream file(fileName, std::ios::in|std::ios::binary);
stack<char> temp;
char ch;
while (file.get(ch))
temp.push(ch ^ cypher[temp.size() % cypher.length()]);
while (!temp.empty())
{
text.push(temp.top());
temp.pop();
}
}
EDIT: A stack is required. I am going to implement my own stack class, but I am trying to get this to work first with the stack library. Also, if there is a better way of implementing this, please let me know. Otherwise, I believe that there is not much wrong with this except to get it to go through the loop to encode and decode the entire file. I am just unsure as to why it stops at, say 20 characters sometimes, or ten characters. I know it has to do with how long the cypher is too, so I believe it is in the % (mod). Just not sure how to rewrite.
EDIT: Ok, tried WhozCraig's solution and I don't get the desired output, so the error now must be in my main. Here is my code for the main:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <cctype>
#include <stack>
using namespace std;
void readFileEncode(string fileName, stack<char> &text, string cypher);
int main()
{
stack<char> text; // allows me to use stack from standard library
string cypher;
string inputFileName;
string outputFileName;
int position;
cout << "Enter a cypher code" << endl;
cin >> cypher;
cout << "Enter the name of the input file" << endl;
cin >> inputFileName;
position = inputFileName.find(".iia");//checks to see if the input file has the iia extension
if (position > 1){
outputFileName = inputFileName;
outputFileName.erase(position, position + 3);// if input file has the .iia extension it is erased
}
else
//outputFileName.erase(position, position + 3);// remove the .txt extension and
outputFileName = inputFileName + ".iia";// add the .iia extension to file if it does not have it
cout << "Here is the new name of the inputfile " << outputFileName << endl; // shows you that it did actually put the .iia on or erase it depending on the situation
system("pause");
readFileEncode(inputFileName, text, cypher); //calls function
std::ofstream file(outputFileName); // calling function
while (text.size()){// goes through text file
file << text.top();
text.pop(); //clears pop
}
system("pause");
}
Basically, I am reading .txt file to encrypt and then put a .iia file extension on the filename. Then I go back through, enter the file back with the .iia extension to decode it back. When I decode it back it is gibberish after about the first ten words.
#WhozCraig Does it matter what white space, newlines, or punctuation is in the file? Maybe with the full solution here you can direct me at what is wrong.

Answer 1

just for information: never read file char by char it will take you hours to finish 100Mb.
read at least 512 byte(in my case i read directly 1 or 2Mb ==> store in char * and then process).

Answer 2

If I understand what you're trying to do correctly, you want the entire file rotationally XOR'd with the chars in the cipher key. If that is the case, you can probably address your immediate error by simply doing this:
void readFileEncode(string fileName, stack<char> &text, string cypher)
{
std::ifstream file(fileName, std::ios::in|std::ios::binary);
stack<char> temp;
char ch;
while (file.get(ch))
temp.push(ch ^ cypher[temp.size() % cypher.length()]);
while (!temp.empty())
{
text.push(temp.top());
temp.pop();
}
}
The most notable changes are
Opening the file in binary-mode using std::ios::in|std::ios::binary for the open-mode. this will eliminate the need to invoke the noskipws manipulator (which is usually a function call) for every character extracted.
Using file.get(ch) to extract the next character. The member will pull the next char form the file buffer directly if one is available, otherwise load the next buffer and try again.
Alternative
A character by character approach is going to be expensive any way you slice it. That this is going through a stack<>, which will be backed by a vector or deque isn't going to do you any favors. That it is going through two of them just compounds the agony. You may as well load the whole file in one shot, compute all the XOR's directly, then push them on to you stack via a reverse iterator:
void readFileEncode
(
const std::string& fileName,
std::stack<char> &text,
const std::string& cypher
)
{
std::ifstream file(fileName, std::ios::in|std::ios::binary);
// retrieve file size
file.seekg(0, std::ios::end);
std::istream::pos_type pos = file.tellg();
file.seekg(0, std::ios::beg);
// early exit on zero-length file.
if (pos == 0)
return;
// make space for a full read
std::vector<char> temp;
temp.resize(static_cast<size_t>(pos));
file.read(temp.data(), pos);
size_t c_len = cypher.length();
for (size_t i=0; i<pos; ++i)
temp[i] ^= cypher[i % c_len];
for (auto it=temp.rbegin(); it!=temp.rend(); ++it)
text.push(*it);
}
You still get your stack on the caller-side, but I think you'll be considerably happier with the performance.