Whats wrong with this c++ reverse string function - c++

void reverse (char s[]){
int len = strlen(s);
int j = len - 1;
for (int i = 0; i < j; i++,j--){
cout << s[i];
char ch = s[i];
s[i] = s[j]; //error line - giving exception, cannot write to the memory
s[j] = ch;
}
}
I am using Visual Studion 2008 and i can't understand whats the problem here .. :s .. I am out of C++ practice :$ .

The problem is that it uses C-style strings instead of C++ style strings. In particular, you are apparently trying to write to a constant string literal:
char const* str = "I cannot be written to";
C++ allows to omit the const here for backwards compatibility but the literal is still constant.
Finally, C++ already has a reverse function:
#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
int main() {
std::string str = "Hello world";
std::reverse(str.begin(), str.end());
std::cout << str << std::endl;
}

I'd guess the problem is with how you're calling it, probably with a string literal, something like:
reverse("This is a string");
or:
char *string = "This is a string";
reverse(string);
or some other minor variation. In any case, you're trying to write to a string literal, which gives undefined behavior.
Since you're apparently using C++, I'd consider using an std::string instead:
void reverse(std::string &s) {
int j=s.length()-1;
for (int i=0; i<j; i++, j--) {
// ..
}
}

Are you calling this on a const char* or a string literal?
Are you trying to reverse
reverse("foo");
or
char *s = "foo";
reverse(s);
You'll need to create a new string from the non-writeable one and reverse that instead. You can use strdup.
char *s = strdup("foo");
reverse(s);
free(s, strlen(s));
Also note that your question is tagged c++, so you should probably be using std::string.

Related

initializer fails to determine size of string in C++

I wrote a program to remove spaces from string in c++. But when i compile this program i got two errors. They are error: initializer fails to determine size of ‘str1’ and error: array must be initialized with a brace-enclosed initializer.
Can any one show me the error of my code. I am new for C++. I mentioned my code below
#include <stack>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;
char *delSpaces(char *str)
{
int i = 0, j = 0;
while (str[i])
{
if (str[i] != ' ')
str[j++] = str[i];
i++;
}
str[j] = '\0';
return str;
}
int main(){
string s;
cin >> s;
char str1[]=s;
cout << delSpaces(str1);
}
char str1[]=s;
is not valid C++.
I recommend changing your function to take a string argument by reference.
But if you can't do that, then one way to get read/write access to the char buffer of non-const s, since C++11, is
&s[0]
Since C++17 you can also use s.data().
However, note that your delSpaces creates a zero-terminated string in the supplied buffer, without knowing anything about a string. Since a string can hold any binary data s.length() would be unaffected by the call to delSpaces. You could fix that by adding a call to s.resize(), but again, a better approach is to express delSpaces with a string& argument.
You can't initialize a char[] buffer with a std::string object, that is why you are getting errors.
You would have to do something more like this instead:
char *str1 = new char[s.size()+1];
std::copy(s.begin(), s.end(), str1);
str1[s.size()] = '\0';
std::cout << delSpaces(str1);
delete[] str1;
A better option would be to change the delSpaces() function to take a std::string by reference instead:
void delSpaces(std::string &str) {
size_t j = 0;
for (size_t i = 0; i < str.size(); ++i) {
if (str[i] != ' ')
str[j++] = str[i];
}
str.resize(j);
}
...
std::string s;
std::cin >> s;
delSpaces(s);
You can even let the STL remove the space characters for you:
void delSpaces(std::string &str) {
str.erase(
std::remove(str.begin(), str.end(), ' '),
str.end()
);
}
That being said, note that by default, when operator>> is reading character data, it ignores leading whitespace and then stops reading when it encounters whitespace, so your use of operator>> in this situation will never return a std::string that has spaces in it, thus your delSpaces() function is pretty useless as shown. Use std::getline() instead, which reads until it encounters a line break, and thus can return a string with spaces in it:
std::getline(std::cin, s);

C++ How to write function that return char pointer

I want to write a function that receive an int argument then converter to a char pointer (c-string), but my code output is not right.
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <sstream>
using namespace std;
char *stoc(int n){
stringstream stream;
stream <<"Log"<<n<<".txt";
string name;
stream >>name;
int len = name.length();
char ch[len+1];
for(int i=0; i<len; i++){
ch[i]=name[i];
}
ch[len+1] = '\0';
return ch;
}
int main() {
char *name = stoc(3);
cout << name << endl;
return 0;
}
Summarising the comments:
You normally do not use C-style-strings in C++, just stick to std::strings. Therefor you should rather return name instead of your converted ch, especially since you have already created a std::string. Having access to at least C++11 you can then easily convert your rather long function into a one-liner
C++11
std::string stoc(int n) {
return "Log" + std::to_string(n) + ".txt";
}
prior C++11
std::string stoc(int n) {
std::ostringstream oss;
oss << "Log" + n + ".txt";
return oss.str(); // by accessing a stringstreams content directly there is no need to use an extra variable
}
If you do need to use a C-style-string later on somewhere, e.g. as a parameter for a C-library function, you can use c_str to convert any std::string into it's C-style equivalent:
int main() {
std::string name = stoc(3);
std::cout << name << std::endl;
}
You should do this instead of returning a pointer to a local variable (which yields in undefined behaviour):
...
char *ch = new char[len+1];
for(int i=0; i<len; i++){
ch[i]=name[i];
}
ch[len] = '\0';
...
int main() {
char *name = stoc(3);
cout << name << endl;
delete [] name; // delete what has been allocated in stoc
return 0;
}
Also note the ch[len] = '\0' instead of ch[len + 1] = '\0'.
But in C++ you should rather use std::string and not deal with char arrays, new and delete at all.

How to convert string to char array in C++?

I would like to convert string to char array but not char*. I know how to convert string to char* (by using malloc or the way I posted it in my code) - but that's not what I want. I simply want to convert string to char[size] array. Is it possible?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
// char to string
char tab[4];
tab[0] = 'c';
tab[1] = 'a';
tab[2] = 't';
tab[3] = '\0';
string tmp(tab);
cout << tmp << "\n";
// string to char* - but thats not what I want
char *c = const_cast<char*>(tmp.c_str());
cout << c << "\n";
//string to char
char tab2[1024];
// ?
return 0;
}
Simplest way I can think of doing it is:
string temp = "cat";
char tab2[1024];
strcpy(tab2, temp.c_str());
For safety, you might prefer:
string temp = "cat";
char tab2[1024];
strncpy(tab2, temp.c_str(), sizeof(tab2));
tab2[sizeof(tab2) - 1] = 0;
or could be in this fashion:
string temp = "cat";
char * tab2 = new char [temp.length()+1];
strcpy (tab2, temp.c_str());
Ok, i am shocked that no one really gave a good answer, now my turn. There are two cases;
A constant char array is good enough for you so you go with,
const char *array = tmp.c_str();
Or you need to modify the char array so constant is not ok, then just go with this
char *array = &tmp[0];
Both of them are just assignment operations and most of the time that is just what you need, if you really need a new copy then follow other fellows answers.
str.copy(cstr, str.length()+1); // since C++11
cstr[str.copy(cstr, str.length())] = '\0'; // before C++11
cstr[str.copy(cstr, sizeof(cstr)-1)] = '\0'; // before C++11 (safe)
It's a better practice to avoid C in C++, so std::string::copy should be the choice instead of strcpy.
Easiest way to do it would be this
std::string myWord = "myWord";
char myArray[myWord.size()+1];//as 1 char space for null is also required
strcpy(myArray, myWord.c_str());
Just copy the string into the array with strcpy.
Try this way it should be work.
string line="hello world";
char * data = new char[line.size() + 1];
copy(line.begin(), line.end(), data);
data[line.size()] = '\0';
Try strcpy(), but as Fred said, this is C++, not C
You could use strcpy(), like so:
strcpy(tab2, tmp.c_str());
Watch out for buffer overflow.
If you don't know the size of the string beforehand, you can dynamically allocate an array:
auto tab2 = std::make_unique<char[]>(temp.size() + 1);
std::strcpy(tab2.get(), temp.c_str());
If you're using C++11 or above, I'd suggest using std::snprintf over std::strcpy or std::strncpy because of its safety (i.e., you determine how many characters can be written to your buffer) and because it null-terminates the string for you (so you don't have to worry about it). It would be like this:
#include <string>
#include <cstdio>
std::string tmp = "cat";
char tab2[1024];
std::snprintf(tab2, sizeof(tab2), "%s", tmp.c_str());
In C++17, you have this alternative:
#include <string>
#include <cstdio>
#include <iterator>
std::string tmp = "cat";
char tab2[1024];
std::snprintf(tab2, std::size(tab2), "%s", tmp.c_str());
Well I know this maybe rather dumb than and simple, but I think it should work:
string n;
cin>> n;
char b[200];
for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(n); i++)
{
b[i] = n[i];
cout<< b[i]<< " ";
}

Converting to uppercase in C++

Let's say you have:
const char * something = "m";
How would one make this uppercase, using toupper (or something else, if applicable)?
I want to use a char * instead of a string (I can use a string, but then I have to use str.c_str()).
So, how can I make char * something = "m"; contain "M"?
I find you choice of C strings disturbing.. but anyway.
You can't change a string literal (char *something). Try an array:
char something[] = "m";
something[0] = toupper(something[0]);
To change an entire string:
char something[] = "hello";
char *p = something;
while (*p) {
*p = toupper(*p);
p++;
}
As explained in the very famous C book - The C Programming Language by Kernighan & Ritchie in section 5.5 Character Pointers and Functions,
char amessage[] = "now is the time"; /* an array */
char *pmessage = "now is the time"; /* a pointer */
`amessage` is an array, just big enough to hold the
sequence of characters and `'\0'` that initializes it.
Individual characters within the array may be changed
but `amessage` will always refer to the same storage.
On the other hand, `pmessage` is a pointer, initialized
to point to a string constant; the pointer may subsequently
be modified to point elsewhere, but the result is undefined
if you try to modify the string contents.
OTOH, in C, to convert to upper case letters, you can use the following program as a reference.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
int main(void)
{
int i=0;
char str[]="Test String.\n";
char c;
while (str[i]) {
c=str[i];
putchar(toupper(c));
i++;
}
return 0;
}
In C++
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <locale>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
locale loc;
string str="Test String.\n";
for (size_t i=0; i<str.length(); ++i)
cout << toupper(str[i],loc);
return 0;
}
EDIT: Adding pointer version (as requested by #John) for the C version
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
int main(void)
{
int i=0;
char str[]="Test String.\n";
char *ptr = str;
while (*ptr) {
putchar(toupper(*ptr));
ptr++;
}
return 0;
}
Hope it helps!
You can use the same algorithmic approach that you know for std::string for raw arrays:
char s[] = "hello world";
std::transform(s, s + std::strlen(s), s, static_cast<int(*)(int)>(std::toupper));
You cannot do this for immutable string literals (like const char * s = "hello world;") for obvious reasons, so you won't get around an additional allocation/copy for that.
Update: As Ildjarn says in the comment, it's important to note that string literals are always read-only, even though for historical reasons you are allowed to bind them to a pointer-to-mutable, like char * s = "hello world";. Any decent C++ compiler should slap you in the face if you attempt this, but it is valid C++ -- but any attempt to actually modify any element of s is undefined behaviour.
You can convert C-string to std::string and then use boost::to_upper to change string in place or boost::to_upper_copy to create upper case copy of the string. Here is the code example:
#include <iostream>
#include <boost/algorithm/string/case_conv.hpp>
int main ()
{
char const * s = "Test String.\n";
std::string str(s);
std::cout << boost::to_upper_copy(str).c_str() << std::endl;
return 0;
}
Hope this helps.
You could do:
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>
#include <ctype.h>
char test[] = "m";
std::transform(std::begin(test), std::end(test), std::begin(test), ::topper);
This applies the ::toupper function to character of the string. This is the ::toupper function in the global namespace that comes from C. std::toupper has multiple overloads and ::toupper looks more elegant than static_cast<int (*)(int)>(&std::toupper).

Reversing a string, weird output c++

Okay, so I'm trying to reverse a C style string in C++ , and I'm coming upon some weird output. Perhaps someone can shed some light?
Here is my code:
int main(){
char str[] = "string";
int strSize = sizeof(str)/sizeof(char);
char str2[strSize];
int n = strSize-1;
int i =0;
while (&str+n >= &str){
str2[i] = *(str+n);
n--;
i++;
}
int str2size = sizeof(str)/sizeof(char);
int x;
for(x=0;x<str2size;x++){
cout << str2[x];
}
}
The basic idea here is just making a pointer point to the end of the string, and then reading it in backwards into a new array using pointer arithmetic.
In this particular case, I get an output of: " gnirts"
There is an annoying space at the beginning of any output which I'm assuming is the null character? But when I try to get rid of it by decrementing the strSize variable to exclude it, I end up with some other character on the opposite end of the string probably from another memory block.
Any ideas on how to avoid this? PS: (would you guys consider this a good idea of reversing a string?)
A valid string should be terminated by a null character. So you need to keep the null character in its original position (at the end of the string) and only reverse the non-null characters. So you would have something like this:
str2[strSize - 1] = str[strSize - 1]; // Copy the null at the end of the string
int n = strSize - 2; // Start from the penultimate character
There is an algorithm in the Standard Library to reverse a sequence. Why reinvent the wheel?
#include <algorithm>
#include <cstring>
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
char str[] = "string";
std::reverse(str, str + strlen(str)); // use the Standard Library
std::cout << str << '\n';
}
#ildjarn and #Blastfurnace have already given good ideas, but I think I'd take it a step further and use the iterators to construct the reversed string:
std::string input("string");
std::string reversed(input.rbegin(), input.rend());
std::cout << reversed;
I would let the C++ standard library do more of the work...
#include <cstddef>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
typedef std::reverse_iterator<char const*> riter_t;
char const str[] = "string";
std::size_t const strSize = sizeof(str);
char str2[strSize] = { };
std::copy(riter_t(str + strSize - 1), riter_t(str), str2);
std::cout << str2 << '\n';
}
while (&str+n >= &str){
This is nonsense, you want simply
while (n >= 0) {
and
str2[i] = *(str+n);
should be the much more readable
str2[i] = str[n];
Your while loop condition (&str+n >= &str) is equivalent to (n >= 0).
Your *(str+n) is equivalent to str[n] and I prefer the latter.
As HappyPixel said, your should start n at strSize-2, so the first character copied will be the last actual character of str, not the null termination character of str.
Then after you have copied all the regular characters in the loop, you need to add a null termination character at the end of the str2 using str2[strSize-1] = 0;.
Here is fixed, working code that outputs "gnirts":
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char **argv){
char str[] = "string";
int strSize = sizeof(str)/sizeof(char);
char str2[strSize];
int n = strSize-2; // Start at last non-null character
int i = 0;
while (n >= 0){
str2[i] = str[n];
n--;
i++;
}
str2[strSize-1] = 0; // Add the null terminator.
int str2size = sizeof(str)/sizeof(char);
int x;
cout << str2;
}