Weird Text File Output and Writing Issues - c++

Question

In my code:
int newEntry()
{
string input;
Client person;
char response = 'y';
//create file object and open file
fstream customer("customer.dat", ios::out | ios::app);
if (!customer)
{
cout << "Error opening file. Program aborting." << endl;
return 0;
}
do
{
cout << "Enter person information:" << endl << endl;
cout << "Name: " << endl;
getline(cin, input);
strcpy(person.name, input.c_str());
cout << endl << "Street Adress (And Apartment Number):" << endl;
cin >> person.address1;
getline(cin, input);
strcpy(person.address1, input.c_str());
cout << endl << "City, State, Zipcode: " << endl;
cin >> person.address2;
getline(cin, input);
strcpy(person.address2, input.c_str());
cout << endl << "Phone: " << endl;
cin >> person.phone;
getline(cin, input);
strcpy(person.phone, input.c_str());
cout << endl << "Account Balance: " << endl;
cin >> person.acctBal;
//input validation to ensure a non neg number
cin.ignore();
cout << endl << "Last Payment: " << endl;
cin >> person.lastPay;
//input validation to ensure a non neg number
customer.write(reinterpret_cast<char *>(&person),
sizeof(person));
cout << endl << "Do you want to enter another record? (Enter Y for Yes, N
for No) " << endl;
cin >> response;
cout << "_______________________________________________" << endl << endl;
if (toupper(response) == 'Y')
{
cin.ignore();
}
} while (toupper(response) == 'Y');
customer.close();
return 1;
}
It seems as though the block:
cout << endl << "Street Address (And Apartment Number):" << endl;
cin >> person.address1;
getline(cin,input);
strcpy(person.address1, input.c_str());
and its neighboring address 2 prompt (identical) are causing bad output to the file when
customer.write(reinterpret_cast<char *>(&person),sizeof(person));
is used to write to the file. The output is missing the very first word . For example if "211 Harvey Road" was entered, 211 would be cut off. Another example, if "Harvey Road" was entered, than it seems as though "harvey" is cut off. When (in another function) the file is read, the structure of arrays is missing the beginning, as well as the file.
On top of that, in the textfile, this is the data being written to it:
Frank Palmasani ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ Harvey Road ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ Haven, Alabama ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ 504617772 ÌÌÌÌ èŽ# èŽ#James Harris ni ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ Street AVEN ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ China. Alabama ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌÌ 546457474 ÌÌÌÌ ð? ð?
As you can see, where the Ì are popping up is where the file and program are somehow losing the first word. I have tried everything I can think of to fix this problem, hopefully someobody else has ran into a similar problem.
I have tried changing methods of saving the data held in the structure of arrays to the file, but found that I couldn't read from the file in one large grouping. In my text book, the method I used to read out to the file is used so that is the one I believe I should follow.
However, I am considering writing each one separately on each line, and saving it precisely in the order so that I can read it in the same order, saving it to a structure of vectors. Again, I'd I would like to avoid that but would love to hear your opinion on the matter whether if you are able to help me here or not.
In case you needed it, here is my structure:
const int NAME_SIZE = 51, ADDR_SIZE = 51, PHONE_SIZE = 14;
struct Client
{
char name[NAME_SIZE];
char address1[ADDR_SIZE];
char address2[ADDR_SIZE];
char phone[PHONE_SIZE];
double acctBal;
double lastPay;
};

Answer 1

Your output file looks like that because you are doing a raw dump of the Client struct. So there will be 51 bytes written for name, 51 for address1, etc. Regardless of string length.
You need to properly write each field individually.
customer << input.name << endl;
customer << input.address1 << endl;
etc.....

Answer 2

cout << endl << "Street Adress (And Apartment Number):" << endl;
cin >> person.address1;
getline(cin, input);
strcpy(person.address1, input.c_str());
You're getting the first token, in the case you mentioned 211 and putting it in address1, then getting the rest of the line and replacing what was in address1 with it. That's where your 211 went.
You should open the file in binary mode if your intent is to write/read entire structures as a binary blob like this. If you want to store the data as text use std::string, avoid the strcpy mess, and write/read each member individually on their own ines.