Parse int to string with stringstream - c++

Well!
I feel really stupid for this question, and I wholly don't mind if I get downvoted for this, but I guess I wouldn't be posting this if I had not at least made an earnest attempt at looking for the solution.
I'm currently working on Euler Problem 4, finding the largest palindromic number of two three-digit numbers [100..999].
As you might guess, I'm at the part where I have to work with the integer I made. I looked up a few sites and saw a few standards for converting an Int to a String, one of which included stringstream.
So my code looked like this:
// tempTotal is my int value I want converted.
void toString( int tempTotal, string &str )
{
ostringstream ss; // C++ Standard compliant method.
ss << tempTotal;
str = ss.str(); // Overwrite referenced value of given string.
}
and the function calling it was:
else
{
toString( tempTotal, store );
cout << loop1 << " x " << loop2 << "= " << store << endl;
}
So far, so good. I can't really see an error in what I've written, but the output gives me the address to something. It stays constant, so I don't really know what the program is doing there.
Secondly, I tried .ToString(), string.valueOf( tempTotal ), (string)tempTotal, or simply store = temptotal.
All refused to work. When I simply tried doing an implicit cast with store = tempTotal, it didn't give me a value at all. When I tried checking output it literally printed nothing. I don't know if anything was copied into my string that simply isn't a printable character, or if the compiler just ignored it. I really don't know.
So even though I feel this is a really, really lame question, I just have to ask:
How do I convert that stupid integer to a string with the stringstream? The other tries are more or less irrelevant for me, I just really want to know why my stringstream solution isn't working.
EDIT:
Wow. Seriously. This is kind of embarrassing. I forgot to set my tempTotal variable to something. It was uninitialized, so therefore I couldn't copy anything and the reason the program gave me either a 0 or nothing at all.
Hope people can have a laugh though, so I think this question would now be better suited for deletion since it doesn't really serve a purpose unless xD But thanks to everybody who tried to help me!

Have you tried just outputting the integer as is? If you're only converting it to a string to output it, then don't bother since cout will do that for you.
else
{
// toString( tempTotal, store ); // Skip this step.
cout << loop1 << " x " << loop2 << "= " << tempTotal << endl;
}
I have a feeling that it's likely that tempTotal doesn't have the value you think it has.

I know this doesn't directly answer your question but you don't need to write your own conversion function, you can use boost
#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
using boost::lexical_cast;
//usage example
std::string s = lexical_cast<std::string>(tempTotal);

Try the following:
string toString(int tempTotal)
{
ostringstream ss;
ss << tempTotal;
return ss.str();
}
string store = toString(tempTotal);

If you want to output the integer, you don't even need to convert it; just insert it into the standard output:
int i = 100;
cout << i;
If you want the string representation, you're doing good. Insert it into a stringstream as you did, and ask for it's str().
If that doesn't work, I suggest you minimize the amount of code, and try to pinpoint the actual problem using a debugger :)

Short answer: your method to convert an int to a string works. Got any other questions?

Related

Wrong Output : counting the string

#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
using namespace std;
int main() {
char a[10001],b[10001];
int tot,s1,s2;
cin>>tot;
while(tot!=0) {
gets(a);
gets(b);
s1= strlen(a);
s2= strlen(b);
cout<<s1<<s2<<endl;
tot--;
s1=0;
s2=0;
}
}
this is a program to find length of two strings , with cases also entered
Input :
4
abcd
xyz
abcd
bcda
aabc
acaa
Codechef
elfedcc
Expected output
43
44
44
87
but output is
04
34
44
48
Why?
As noted in the comment, the compiler is punishing you for using gets1. I wasn't going to write an actual answer, but the answers you're getting seem to be trying to cover up the problems with the code, without actually fixing anything.
First: never use gets. There's simply no way to use it safely, and no excuse for even trying. It's just a badly designed function and we'd all be better off if it had never existed.
Second, in C++ there's almost never a good reason to use arrays of char for strings. strlen is pretty much the same way. These aren't as dangerous or horrible as gets but real reasons to use them in C++ (outside of things like extremely limited embedded systems) is sufficiently rare that until you know what you're doing and why, it's probably best to forget that they even exist as well.
While you're at it, using a while loop (counting down, no less) in a case like this mostly just obfuscates the code while gaining nothing in return. For that matter, using a variable name like tot instead of (for example) total or (better) pair_count is kind of silly as well.
So, having gotten bombastic about what you shouldn't do, what would I suggest instead? First, if you're going to use stream >> var type input, try to use it consistently. If you're going to read lines instead, try to do that consistently. In this case, you can use either one, but mixing the two leads to exactly the sort of problem you're having right now. As such, it's best to avoid that whole area if you can (and you almost always can).
For this, I'd use >> throughout, use std::string to hold the strings, and a for loop to execute the fixed number of iterations:
int word_count;
std::cin >> pair_count;
for (int i=0; i<pair_count; i++) {
std::string a, b;
std::cin >> a >> b;
std::cout << a.size() << b.size() << '\n';
}
Unlike the other recommendations you've gotten, this is typesafe (scanf and company don't even try to be), safe from buffer overflows (gets never is, and while scanf and company can be, they aren't when used as the other answers have recommended). It's also shorter and simpler without adding mostly-unexplained patches to cover up the real problems in the code.
If the preceding sounds harsh, I apologize for that. Unfortunately, that's sometimes just about necessary to get the point across, and at least to me, this seems like one of those times.
1. The zeroth commandment: thou shalt not use gets. If you do, you shall surely die (but not as soon as everybody maintaining your code wishes you had).
You should really try using the standard template library for string things:
std::string a, b;
int numberToAsk = 0;
cin >> numberToAsk;
while(numberToAsk!=0) {
cin >> a >> b;
cout << a.size() << ", " << b.size() << endl;
--numberToAsk;
}
(also make sure to use std::vector in stead of plain arrays!)
Also, you can avoid needing to ask for the number of entries upfront by just checking if standard input is still ok; your program will end as soon as you end the input stream (e.g. ctrl+z or F6 on windows, or ctrl+d on linux):
while(cin >> a >> b) {
cout << a.size() << ", " << b.size() << endl;
}
cin>>tot;
This code does not consume '\n' character. So the first gets call reads line between "4" and "\n". To see it you may try input
4abcd
xyz
abcd
bcda
aabc
acaa
Codechef
elfedcc
change cin to scanf works
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace std;
int main() {
char a[10001],b[10001];
int tot,s1,s2;
scanf("%d\n",&tot);
while(tot!=0) {
gets(a);
gets(b);
s1= strlen(a);
s2= strlen(b);
cout<<s1<<s2<<endl;
tot--;
s1=0;
s2=0;
}
}
Do it this way
scanf("%d ",%t);
For taking in no. of inputs. That space avoids '\n' character that you enter after entering a number input which is taken by first string. Rest of your code can be done as it is.
You need to include cstdio header. #include<cstdio>

ifstream / ofstream issue with c++?

I have been having a very hard time writing to a binary file and reading back. I am basically writing records of this format
1234|ABCD|efgh|IJKL|ABC
Before writing this record, I would write the length of this entire record ( using string.size()) and then I write the record to the binary file using ofstream as follows:
int size;
ofstream studentfile;
studentfile.open( filename.c_str(),ios::out|ios::binary );
studentfile.write((char*)&size,sizeof(int));
studentfile.write(data.c_str(),(data.size()*(sizeof(char))));
cout << "Added " << data << " to " << filename << endl;
studentfile.close();
And I read this data at some other place
ifstream ifile11;
int x;
std::string y;
ifile11.open("student.db", ios::in |ios::binary);
ifile11.read((char*)&x,sizeof(int));
ifile11.read((char*)&y,x);
cout << "X " << x << " Y " << y << endl;
first I read the length of the record into the variable x, and then read the record into string y. The problem is, the output shows x as being '0' and 'y' is empty.
I am not able figure this out. Someone who can look into this problem and provide some insight will be thanked very much.
Thank you
You can't read a string that way, as a std::string is really only a pointer and a size member. (Try doing std::string s; sizeof(s), the size will be constant no matter what you set the string to.)
Instead read it into a temporary buffer, and then convert that buffer into a string:
int length;
ifile11.read(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&length), sizeof(length));
char* temp_buffer = new char[length];
ifile11.read(temp_buffer, length);
std::string str(temp_buffer, length);
delete [] temp_buffer;
I know I am answering my own question, but I strictly feel this information is going to help everyone. For most part, Joachim's answer is correct and works. However, there are two main issues behind my problem :
1. The Dev-C++ compiler was having a hard time reading binary files.
2. Not passing strings properly while writing to the binary file, and also reading from the file. For the reading part, Joachim's answer fixed it all.
The Dev-C++ IDE didn't help me. It wrongly read data from the binary file, and it did it without me even making use of a temp_buffer. Visual C++ 2010 Express has correctly identified this error, and threw run-time exceptions and kept me from being misled.
As soon as I took all my code into a new VC++ project, it appropriately provided me with error messages, so that I could fix it all.
So, please do not use Dev-C++ unless you want to run into real troubles like thiis. Also, when trying to read strings, Joachim's answer would be the ideal way.

What's the difference between putting std::string and std::string::c_str() into a stringstream?

We're seeing a strange scenario that basically boils down to the following:
std::string something = "someval";
std::stringstream s;
s << something;
std::cout << s.str();
is not equal to:
std::string something = "someval";
std::stringstream s;
s << something.c_str();
std::cout << s.str();
Taking that a step farther - the output is not gibberish in either case. What is happening is the output from case 1 appears to be mapped to another (valid) string in the system whereas the output from case 2 is what is expected.
We see this behavior by simply changing:
s << something;
To:
s << something.c_str();
I know this sounds crazy (or it does to me), and I haven't been able to replicate it out of the larger system - so sorry for no "working" example. But does anyone know how this kind of thing can happen? Can we be stepping on memory somewhere or doing something to a stringtable in some location or anything else like that?
It is different if the string contains nul characters, '\0'.
The .c_str() version will compute the length up to the nul, while the std::string output will know its length and output all its characters.

C++ external file read: I know how to find and read a string, findMe. But how do I deal with findMei (finding any number, i, of the string)?

Apologies in advance, because I suspect this may be a silly question.
I have written a function for reading in data from an external file. I then use the data to perform calculations using other code I have written.
The function works by finding a data label that looks like this:
const std::string findMe = "<dataLabel>";
Each time I want to find data, I replace dataLabel with the label of whichever data I need from the file.
Here's what I want to do.
I don't want to have to write in the label of the data I want each time. I want to be able to do this:
for (int i = 0; i < anyNumberOfDataSets; i++)
{
findMe = "<dataLabeli>";
// Then run function for reading in data, put data into a vector.
}
I could then add any number of data sets to my external file, give each one the title
, and have each data set read into a vector.
The problem is, I simply can't figure out how to write findMe = "<dataLabeli>". Is this even possible?
I have tried things like, findMe = "<dataLabel" << i <<, but no luck!
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
It is very hard to understand what you mean, but I guess you want this
#include <sstream>
#include <string>
for (int i = 0; i < anyNumberOfDataSets; i++)
{
std::ostringstream strm;
strm << "<dataLabel" << i << ">";
const std::string findMe = strm.str();
//...
//proceed with searching findMe
}
You can read more about string streams, for instance, here
you've already got the right answer, so this is just trying to help you with solving such problems in the future:
Your core problem here is to convert the integer i into a string s (if you've done this, than you just do findMe = "<datalabel"; findMe += s; findMe += ">";.
Googling for c++ convert integer into string will give you this as the first result. Problem solved.
This is not saying "use google before/instead of asking", it's rather "try to identify the core problem".
Another solution:
using namespace boost;
findMe = str(format("<dataLabel%d>") % i);
This will substitute %d with the value of i, formatted like printf() does.

tokenizing and converting to pig latin

This looks like homework stuff but please be assured that it isn't homework. Just an exercise in the book we use in our c++ course, I'm trying to read ahead on pointers..
The exercise in the book tells me to split a sentence into tokens and then convert each of them into pig latin then display them..
pig latin here is basically like this: ball becomes allboy in piglatin.. boy becomes oybay.. take the first letter out, put it at the end then add "ay"..
so far this is what i have:
#include <iostream>
using std::cout;
using std::cin;
using std::endl;
#include <cstring>
using std::strtok;
using std::strcat;
using std::strcpy;
void printPigLatin( char * );
int main()
{
char sentence[500];
char *token;
cout << "Enter string to tokenize and convert: ";
cin.getline( sentence, 500 );
token = strtok( sentence, " " );
cout << "\nPig latin for each token will be: " << endl;
while( token != NULL )
{
printPigLatin( token );
token = strtok( NULL, " " );
}
return 0;
}
void printPigLatin( char *word )
{
char temp[50];
for( int i = 0; *word != '\0'; i++ )
{
temp[i] = word[i + 1];
}
strcat( temp, "ay" );
cout << temp << endl;
}
I understand the tokenizing part quite clearly but I'm not sure how to do the pig latin.. i tried to start by simply adding "ay" to the token and see what the results will be .. not sure why the program goes into an infinite loop and keeps on displaying "ayay" .. any tips?
EDIT: this one works fine now but im not sure how to add the first letter of the token before adding the "ay"
EDIT: this is how i "see" it done but not sure how to correctly implement it ..
You're running over your input string with strcat. You need to either create a new string for each token, copying the token and "ay", or simply print the token and then "ay". However, if you're using C++ why not use istream iterators and STL algorithms?
To be honest, I severly doubt the quality of the C++ book, judging from your example. The “basic stuff” in C++ isn't the C pointer style programming. Rather, it's applying high-level library functionality. As “On Freund” pointed out, the C++ standard library provides excellent features to tackle your task. You might want to search for recommendations of better C++ books.
Concerning the problem: your printPigLatin could use the existing function strcpy (or better: strncpy which is safer in regards to buffer overflows). Your manual copy omits the first character from the input because you're using the i + 1st position. You also have a broken loop condition which always tests the same (first) character. Additionally, this should result in an overflow anyway.
As the people before me pointed out, there are several other methods of achieving what you want to do.
However, the actual problem with your code seems to be the use of strcat, I see that you changed it a bit in the edit. Here is an explanation of why the initial one did not work char* and size issues
Basically, the pointer does not allocate enough memory to add the "ay" to the string provided. If you create a pointer using the technique shown in the link, it should work fine.
I got your program to work, taking the strcat out and using
cout << word << "ay" << endl
Your loop is infinite because of *word != '\0'.
The word pointer is not changed at any time in the loop.
This seemed to have worked:
void printPigLatin( char *word )
{
cout << word + 1 << word[0] << "ay" << endl;
}
Just not sure if it's a good idea to do that.