Alright Stack Overflow, I am running into a decently persistent problem in my C++ code. I'm sure this is one of those dumb mistake moments, but I have tried everything and cannot seem to squish this bug.
I have a bit of code here, and it's behavior is very odd. I have a main function that opens a file containing text I want to read in. I was taught in programming fundamentals class at my university that I could use getline() as a condition for the while loop, which is nice since it automatically terminates when it reaches the end of the file.
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
fstream input_mem_traces("gcc.txt");
string trace_to_parse = "";
while(getline(input_mem_traces, trace_to_parse))
{
cout << trace_to_parse << endl;
}
}
When I compile and run it, it works just fine. It reads out every single line of the file I pass it, and returns with no problems.
However, when I try to use gdb, and set a breakpoint at the line
cout << trace_to_parse << endl;
it didn't hit the breakpoint. Curious as to why that was, I broke above the loop, and tried single stepping through the code. When I got to the while loop, and tried to step, it simply skipped to the line after it, which happened to be the end of the program.
This behavior occurs both using the VSCode GUI front end for gdb, as well as straight gdb from the command line. I am running this on Windows using Ubuntu under WSL2, and VSCode as my IDE with the Remote - WSL extension enabled.
Turns out there was some weirdness going on with the working directory with GDB. For some reason, my working directory was changing under the VSCode GUI, thus the file was not able to be opened, and the while loop condition performed as expected for that circumstance by not entering the loop. Upon the recommendation by Retired Ninja in the comments, I used an absolute path in the fstream object constructor, and that solved the issue.
I have a very weird problem. The setup is the following:
Library A uses Library B
Both libraries are installed as shared library independently and A links to B using CMake packages.
When I create an executable that directly links to B, everything works fine.
When I create an executable that links to A however, which is using B, then for some reason my fstream in B fails to open a specific file. I am 100% certain the file exists, is not requiring authorization and is not currently used. The error thrown by strerror(errno) is "No such file or directory".
I really have no clue what might go wrong. This is the code snippet I use for opening:
ifstream f;
f.open(filename.c_str(), ios_base::in|ios::binary);
if (f.fail()) {
std::cout << "Opening Vocabulary failed: " << std::strerror(errno) << std::endl;
return false;
}
I triple checked the path in filename is correct. These are the last resorts I can think of:
Maybe Library A uses another C++ Standard as B, which is why the call to fstream fails?
Maybe filename string is somehow corrupted, even though the path seems to be correct?
Maybe some memory leak corrupts my c_str() command?
Is there anything else that I could check?
Edit: Ah, one thing I forgot: The fstream command is in a templated function in a header file. Maybe this has something to do with it?
Edit2: Here is the stack trace. "ORBVoc.bin" is the file I wanted to open. The only information I get out of this is, it does not exist...though it does exist.
https://www.file-upload.net/download-14359408/strace.log.html
Okay, apparently a reboot was all it takes. Today everything works flawlessly. No permissions, file or line of code was changed. I assume either something went terribly wrong, when my Laptop came back from hibernation. Or it was some pending ubuntu update? I really have no idea. I could swear it was shutdown at least once the past 2-3 days. But jeah, I have no other explanation. Maybe someone smarter can answer this with his glass ball...
Anyway, thanks for the answers, appreciate it! At least I learned about strace $:^)
Lately, I've been trying to learn C++ from this website. Unfortunately whenever I try to run one of the code samples, I see that program open for about a half second and then immediately close. Is there a way to stop the program from closing immediately so that I can see the fruits of my effort?
If you are using Visual Studio and you are starting the console application out of the IDE:
pressing CTRL-F5 (start without debugging) will start the application and keep the console window open until you press any key.
Edit: As Charles Bailey rightly points out in a comment below, this won't work if there are characters buffered in stdin, and there's really no good way to work around that. If you're running with a debugger attached, John Dibling's suggested solution is probably the cleanest solution to your problem.
That said, I'll leave this here and maybe someone else will find it useful. I've used it a lot as a quick hack of sorts when writing tests during development.
At the end of your main function, you can call std::getchar();
This will get a single character from stdin, thus giving you the "press any key to continue" sort of behavior (if you actually want a "press any key" message, you'll have to print one yourself).
You need to #include <cstdio> for getchar.
The solution by James works for all Platforms.
Alternatively on Windows you can also add the following just before you return from main function:
system("pause");
This will run the pause command which waits till you press a key and also displays a nice message Press any key to continue . . .
If you are using Microsoft's Visual C++ 2010 Express and run into the issue with CTRL+F5 not working for keeping the console open after the program has terminated, take a look at this MSDN thread.
Likely your IDE is set to close the console after a CTRL+F5 run; in fact, an "Empty Project" in Visual C++ 2010 closes the console by default. To change this, do as the Microsoft Moderator suggested:
Please right click your project name and go to Properties page, please expand Configuration Properties -> Linker -> System, please select Console (/SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE) in SubSystem dropdown. Because, by default, the Empty project does not specify it.
I usually just put a breakpoint on main()'s closing curly brace. When the end of the program is reached by whatever means the breakpoint will hit and you can ALT-Tab to the console window to view the output.
Why not just run the program from a console ie run the program from cmd.exe if you're using Windows. That way the window stays open after the program finishes.
[EDIT]: When I use KDevelop4 there is a fully fledged instance of Bash (a Linux CLI) running in a tab at the bottom of the IDE. Which is what I use in these sort of circumstances.
Before the end of your code, insert this line:
system("pause");
This will keep the console until you hit a key.
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string s;
cout << "Please enter your first name followed by a newline\n";
cin >> s;
cout << "Hello, " << s << '\n';
system("pause"); // <----------------------------------
return 0; // This return statement isn't necessary
}
Call cin.get(); 2 times:
//...
cin.get();
cin.get();
return 0
}
If you run your code from a competent IDE, such as Code::Blocks, the IDE will manage the console it uses to run the code, keeping it open when the application closes. You don't want to add special code to keep the console open, because this will prevent it functioning correctly when you use it for real, outside of the IDE.
I just do this:
//clear buffer, wait for input to close program
std::cin.clear(); std::cin.ignore(INT_MAX, '\n');
std::cin.get();
return 0;
Note: clearing the cin buffer and such is only necessary if you've used cin at some point earlier in your program. Also using std::numeric_limits::max() is probably better then INT_MAX, but it's a bit wordy and usually unnecessary.
Okay I'm guessing you are on Windows using Visual Studio... why? Well because if you are on some sort of Linux OS then you'd probably be running it from the console.
Anyways, you can add crap to the end of your program like others are suggesting, or you can just hit CTRL + F5 (start without debugging) and Visual Studio will leave the console up once complete.
Another option if you want to run the Debug version and not add crap to your code is to open the console window (Start -> Run -> cmd) and navigate to your Debug output directory. Then, just enter the name of your executable and it will run your debug program in the console. You can then use Visual Studio's attach to process or something if you really want to.
Just add the following at the end of your program. It will try to capture some form of user input thus it stops the console from closing automatically.
cin.get();
If you are actually debugging your application in Visual C++, press F5 or the green triangle on the toolbar. If you aren't really debugging it (you have no breakpoints set), press Ctrl+F5 or choose Start Without Debugging on the menus (it's usually on the Debug menu, which I agree is confusing.) It will be a little faster, and more importantly to you, will pause at the end without you having to change your code.
Alternatively, open a command prompt, navigate to the folder where your exe is, and run it by typing its name. That way when it's finished running the command prompt doesn't close and you can see the output. I prefer both of these methods to adding code that stops the app just as its finished.
Add the following lines before any exit() function or before any returns in main():
std::cout << "Paused, press ENTER to continue." << std::endl;
cin.ignore(100000, "\n");
For Visual Studio (and only Visual Studio) the following code snippet gives you a 'wait for keypress to continue' prompt that truly waits for the user to press a new key explicitly, by first flushing the input buffer:
#include <cstdio>
#include <tchar.h>
#include <conio.h>
_tprintf(_T("Press a key to continue "));
while( _kbhit() /* defined in conio.h */ ) _gettch();
_gettch();
Note that this uses the tchar.h macro's to be compatible with multiple 'character sets' (as VC++ calls them).
Use #include "stdafx.h" & system("pause"); just like the code down below.
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
std::cout << "hello programmer!\n\nEnter 2 numbers: ";
int x, y;
std::cin >> x >> y;
int w = x*y;
std::cout <<"\nyour answer is: "<< w << endl;
system("pause");
}
simply
#include <cstdio>
int main(){
// code...
std::getchar();
std::getchar();
return 0;
}
for some reason there is usually 1 character possible to read with getchar already in stdin when you run a program. so the first getchar reads this character, and the second getchar waits for user (your) input before exiting the program. And after a program exits most of terminals, especially on Windows close terminal immediately.
so what we aim to is a simple way of preventing a program from finishing after it outputs everything.
Of course there are more complex and clean ways to solve this, but this is the simplest.
Similar idea to yeh answer, just minimalist alternative.
Create a batch file with the following content:
helloworld.exe
pause
Then use the batch file.
See if your IDE has a checkbox in project setting to keep the window open after the program terminates. If not, use std::cin.get(); to read a character at the end of main function. However, be sure to use only line-based input (std::getline) or to deal with leftover unread characters otherwise (std::ignore until newline) because otherwise the .get() at the end will only read the garbage you left unread earlier.
This seems to work well:
cin.clear();
cin.ignore(2);
If you clear the buffer first it won't be a problem when you read the next one.
For some reason cin.ignore(1) does not work, it has to be 2.
You could always just create a batch file. For example, if your program is called helloworld.exe, some code would be:
#echo off
:1
cls
call helloworld.exe
pause >nul
goto :1
If you are running Windows, then you can do system("pause >nul"); or system("pause");. It executes a console command to pause the program until you press a key. >nul prevents it from saying Press any key to continue....
I'm putting a breakpoint at the last return 0 of the program. It works fine.
I used cin.get() and that is worked but one day I needed to use another cin.get([Array Variable]) before that to grab a ling string with blank character in middle of. so the cin.get() didn't avoid command prompt window from closing. Finally I found Another way:
Press CTRL+F5 to open in an external window and Visual Studio does not have control over it anymore. Just will ask you about closing after final commands run.
I tried putting a getchar() function at the end. But it didn't work. So what I did was add two getchar() functions one after another. I think the first getchar() absorbs the Enter key you press after the last data input. So try adding two getchar() functions instead of one
Instead of pressing the run button, press CTRL and F5 at the same time, it will give you the press any key to continue message. Or type "(warning use this only for testing not actual programs as an antiviruses don't like it!!!!)" at the end of your main function but: (warning use this only for testing not actual programs as an antiviruses don't like it!!!!)
just use cin.ignore() right before return 0; twice
main()
{
//your codes
cin.ignore();
cin.ignore();
return 0;
}
thats all
you can try also doing this
sleep (50000);
cout << "any text" << endl;
This will hold your code for 50000m, then prints message and closes. But please keep in mind that it will not pause forever.
Here's a problem, not so obvious. Somehow I had added a debug breakpoint at the very last line of my program. } Not sure how I did that, perhaps with an erroneous mouse click while jumping between different screens. I'm working in VS Code.
And when I go to debug, the system jumps immediately to that breakpoint. No error message, no interim output, nothing. I'm like, how did the program rush thru all my set breakpoints? This took too long to figure out.
Apparently the system sees that last line breakpoint as a "first" stop. The simple fix? Delete that breakpoint, doh! (insert forehead slap here.)
All you have to do set a variable for x then just type this in before the return 0;
cout<<"\nPress any key and hit enter to end...";
cin>>x;
Why does my C++ output screen disappear immediately? I'm a beginner in cpp. Can anyone help me to find the problem please?
You should either launch your application inside of a terminal, or add a line of code that waits for the input in order for the window to not close. E.g. add in the end of the function main a line:
std::cin.get();
And also add at beginning of the file the include that holds that function.
#include <iostream>
This is hard to answer since there can be many things that can cause your output box to close immediately. First try having a cout statement and then a cin statement. Something like:
cout<<"Hello"<<endl;
cin>>input>>endl;
Also make sure to have the necessary include statement at the top and whatever you want to return at the bottom.
#include<iostream>
return 0;
As you have said that you are beginner in C++, you should keep in mind ,three major things while coding in C++. You've mentioned that your screen disappears , then following things you should try.
1). in C++ conventionally main returns value of type int.And the format of your program should be like...
int main()
{
-------
//body of your program
-------
return 0;
}
If the function returns 0, that means it ran successfully.
2). You have to inlcude #include<iostream> on the top of your program.
3).check whether the IDE you are using is compatibale to your operating system or not.
Hope this will help you.
I am a beginner in C++ and I was trying to write a program that finds the average of two numbers, but when I run the program, the window disappears without allowing me to see the result. Can someone please help me?
Thanks
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int number1,number2,answer;
cout << "number1? ";
cin >> number1;
cout << "number2? ";
cin >> number2;
answer = (number1 + number2)/2;
cout << answer<<endl;
return 0;
}
Solution #0 (proper):
Run program from shell (cmd.exe, bash)
Solution #1 (proper):
Run program from orthodox file manager. Far Manager or midnight commander.
Solution #2 (alternative);
Redirect output to file. program.exe >file.txt from command line.
Solution #3 (improper):
Launch message box, use "sleep"/"Sleep" to delay program termination.
Solution #4 (improper):
Request user input at the end of program.
Solution #5 (improper):
Set breakpoint on "return 0", debug the program.
Solution #6 (windows+msvc):
Launch program from msvc by Ctrl+F5 using debug build. You'll get "press key to continue" prompt.
Put a breakpoint at your return statement. It won't stop on an uncaught exception but that can be fixed with a try/catch block at the outermost part of main.
Before you return add system("PAUSE"); and this should fix your problem.
If you are using Visual Studio, hit CTRL+F5 to run. That inserts a "Hit RETURN to continue" for a console application.
Include this header:
#include <stdio.h>
And add a call to getchar() before you return:
cout << answer<<endl;
getchar(); // wait for user input
return 0;
Solution #6 from SigTerm (above) is not guaranteed to work. In Visual Studio you should right-click your project and choose:
Properties | Configuration Properties | Linker | System | SubSystem
and in the dropdown choose Console (/SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE).
I always hated that...I always find the easiest to be system("pause"); right before you return, but that's not a portable solution (cin.get is though). There are many other ways as well, some of which are mentioned in the link below.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/Vsexpressvc/thread/1555ce45-8313-4669-a31e-b95b5d28c787
Edit: system("pause"); is terrible, should never be used, and may or may not end life on this planet as we know it, even if by a beginner in a project called 'Hello'. Using system("pause") is expensive and dangerous, and if you use it, you'll never see anyone you love again. Don't do it. Use cin.get or something else.