How to validate that there are only digits in a string? - c++

Question

I'm new to C++. I'm working on a project where I need to read mostly integers from the user through the console. In order to avoid someone entering non-digit characters I thought about reading the input as a string, checking there are only digits in it, and then converting it to an integer. I created a function since I need to check for integers several times:
bool isanInt(int *y){
string z;
int x;
getline(cin,z);
for (int n=0; n < z.length(); n++) {
if(!((z[n] >= '0' && z[n] <= '9') || z[n] == ' ') ){
cout << "That is not a valid input!" << endl;
return false;
}
}
istringstream convert(z); //converting the string to integer
convert >> x;
*y = x;
return true;
}
When I need the user to input an integer I'll call this function. But for some reason when I make a call tho this function the program doesn't wait for an input, it jumps immediately to the for-loop processing an empty string. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

There are many ways to test a string for only numeric characters. One is
bool is_digits(const std::string &str) {
return str.find_first_not_of("0123456789") == std::string::npos;
}

Answer 2

This would work:
#include <algorithm> // for std::all_of
#include <cctype> // for std::isdigit
bool all_digits(const std::string& s)
{
return std::all_of(s.begin(),
s.end(),
[](char c) { return std::isdigit(c); });
}

Answer 3

You can cast the string in a try/catch block so that if the cast fails you it would raise an exception and you can write whatever you want in the console.
For example:
try
{
int myNum = strtoint(myString);
}
catch (std::bad_cast& bc)
{
std::cerr << "Please insert only numbers "<< '\n';
}

Answer 4

Character-classification is a job typically delegated to the ctype facets of a locale. You're going to need a function that takes into account all 9 digits including the thousands separator and the radix point:
bool is_numeric_string(const std::string& str, std::locale loc = std::locale())
{
using ctype = std::ctype<char>;
using numpunct = std::numpunct<char>;
using traits_type = std::string::traits_type;
auto& ct_f = std::use_facet<ctype>(loc);
auto& np_f = std::use_facet<numpunct>(loc);
return std::all_of(str.begin(), str.end(), [&str, &ct_f, &np_f] (char c)
{
return ct_f.is(std::ctype_base::digit, c) || traits_type::eq(c, np_f.thousands_sep())
|| traits_type::eq(c, np_f.decimal_point());
});
}
Note that extra effort can go into making sure the thousands separator is not the first character.

Answer 5

try another way like cin.getline(str,sizeof(str)), and str here is char*. I think ur problem may be cause by other functions before calling this function. Maybe u can examine other parts of ur codes carefully. Breakpoints setting is recommended too.

Answer 6

Always use off-the-shelf functions. Never write alone.
I recommend
std::regex
Enjoy.