StringStream loop fails - c++

Question

I am reading a text file with this format:
grrr,some text,45.4321,54.22134
I just have my double valued stored in a string variable.
Why is it only giving me the first digit of the string?
If I start over with just one while loop and a text file of this new format:
21.34564
it works as it should.
The thing is, sLine has the the same value as the one when I started over. What is different is the three nested for loops that most likely is causing the problem.
Here is the code that gets me what I want:
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <iomanip>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <sstream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string usrFileStr,
fileStr = "test.txt", // declaring an obj string literal
sBuffer,
sLine,
str;
double dValue ;
int lineCount = 1;
int nStart;
istringstream issm;
fstream inFile; // declaring a fstream obj
// cout is the name of the output stream
cout << "Enter a file: ";
cin >> usrFileStr;
inFile.open( usrFileStr.c_str(), ios::in );
// at this point the file is open and we may parse the contents of it
while ( getline ( inFile, sBuffer ) && inFile.eof() )
{
cout << "Original String From File: " << sBuffer << endl;
cout << "Modified Str from File: " << fixed << setprecision(2)
<< dValue << endl;
}
fgetc( stdin );
return 0;
}
So there it works just like it should. But i cant get it to work inside a for loop or when i have multiple feilds in my text file...
With this code, why is it taken off the decimal?
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <iomanip>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <sstream>
#include <errno.h>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string usrFileStr,
myFileStr = "myFile.txt", // declaring an obj string literal
sBuffer,
sLine = "";
istringstream inStream;
int lineCount = 1;
int nStart;
double dValue = 0,
dValue2 = 0;
float fvalue;
fstream inFile; // declaring a fstream obj
// cout is the name of the output stream
cout << "Enter a file: ";
cin >> usrFileStr;
inFile.open( usrFileStr.c_str(), ios::in );
// at this point the file is open and we may parse the contents of it
if ( !inFile )
{
cout << "Not Correct " << endl;
}
while ( getline ( inFile, sBuffer ) )
{
nStart = -1 ;
for ( int x = nStart + 1; x < sBuffer.length(); x++ )
{
if ( sBuffer[ x ] == ',' )
{
nStart = x;
break;
}
cout << sBuffer[ x ];
}
for ( int x = nStart + 1; x < sBuffer.length(); x++ )
{
if ( sBuffer[ x ] == ',' )
{
nStart = x;
break;
}
cout << sBuffer[ x ];
}
for ( int x = nStart + 1; x < sBuffer.length(); x++ )
{
if ( sBuffer[ x ] == ',' )
{
nStart = x;
break;
}
sLine = sBuffer[ x ];
inStream.clear();
inStream.str( sLine );
if ( inStream >> dValue )
cout << setprecision(1) << dValue;
}
for ( int x = nStart + 1; x < sBuffer.length(); x++ )
{
if ( sBuffer[ x ] == ',' )
{
nStart = x;
break;
}
sLine = sBuffer[ x ];
inStream.clear();
inStream.str( sLine );
if ( inStream >> dValue2 )
cout << setprecision(1) << dValue2;
}
cout << ") \n";
lineCount++;
}
cout << "There are a Total of: " << lineCount -1 << " line(s) in the file."
<< endl;
inFile.clear(); // clear the file of any errors
inFile.close(); // at this point we are done with the file and may close it
fgetc( stdin );
return 0;
}
I don't have any other characters to loop over in the first code because im just reading a nice little double value.
In my second code, i have many characters to get to before the one that i want. But regardless, it is still isolated from the other characters and it is still in its own varaible. im to sick to realize what the problem is :/ although i think its the for loops.
I have also tried atof but i get a '0' where the decimal should be.
and strtod is hard because i need im not reading data into a const char *cPtr

Answer 1

Your code is a little tough to read. You probably want to think some point about encapsulation and breaking it up into functions.
Additionally, I would try to avoid reading in single characters and use the various functions and methods for reading data in fields - you can read a whole floating point or integer number using the >> stream extractors.
Finally, a useful skill to learn is how to use a debugger. You can step through the code and inspect the values of variables as you go.
That said, it looks like your problem is here:
if ( sBuffer[ x ] == ',' )
{
nStart = x;
break;
}
**** sLine = sBuffer[ x ];
inStream.clear();
inStream.str( sLine );
if ( inStream >> dValue2 )
cout << setprecision(1) << dValue2;
On the line marked with "****", you place exactly one character into the variable called "sLine". Having done so, you convert that one character into a double precision variable dValue2 and then output it. It should be obvious why this one character is converted into the first digit of the number you want.

Answer 2

Using instream>>dvalue is certainly the right way to do things. But sometimes what's right isn't always easiest or necessarily best.
We could do something like this:
int
main()
{
string s = "grrr,some text,45.4321,54.22134";
double a,b;
ASSERT_IS( 2, sscanf( s.c_str(), "%*[^,],%*[^,],%lf,%lf", & a, & b ) );
cout << setprecision(8);
SHOW(a);
SHOW(b);
}
Or perhaps something like this, while less efficient, might be easier to understand...
int
main()
{
string s = "grrr,some text,45.4321,54.22134";
vector<string> v;
StringSplit( & v, s, "," );
cout << setprecision(8);
SHOW(v);
SHOW(atof( v[2].c_str()));
SHOW(strtod(v[3].c_str(), (char**)NULL));
}
Assuming:
#define SHOW(X) cout << # X " = " << (X) f << endl
/* A quick & easy way to print out vectors... */
template<class TYPE>
inline ostream & operator<< ( ostream & theOstream,
const vector<TYPE> & theVector )
{
theOstream << "Vector [" << theVector.size() << "] {"
<< (void*)(& theVector) << "}:" << endl;
for ( size_t i = 0; i < theVector.size(); i ++ )
theOstream << " [" << i << "]: \"" << theVector[i] << "\"" << endl;
return theOstream;
}
inline void
StringSplit( vector<string> * theStringVector, /* Altered/returned value */
const string & theString,
const string & theDelimiter )
{
UASSERT( theStringVector, !=, (vector<string> *) NULL );
UASSERT( theDelimiter.size(), >, 0 );
size_t start = 0, end = 0;
while ( end != string::npos )
{
end = theString.find( theDelimiter, start );
// If at end, use length=maxLength. Else use length=end-start.
theStringVector -> push_back( theString.substr( start,
(end == string::npos) ? string::npos : end - start ) );
// If at end, use start=maxSize. Else use start=end+delimiter.
start = ( ( end > (string::npos - theDelimiter.size()) )
? string::npos : end + theDelimiter.size() );
}
}

Answer 3

Two points:
You might want to use sBuffer.find(',')
You set sLine to the last character before ",", is this intended to be so? You only parse single digit numbers correctly this way.