mswift

Okay I am learning C++ using the book: Teach Yourself C++ third Edition.

I am trying to write a simple program, that asks the user for some text then, out puts that text as well as the count of characters used.

My program is using cin.get()
I need to use this so I can see the result of my program and make sure it is working correctly, but I can't seem to get cin.get() working. here is the code:

/*
A C++ program that uses I/O to prompt user for a striong and then display its length
*/

#include <iostream>
#include <string> // library that allows the use of cin.get(); (stops the program) I think
using namespace std;

int main()
{
char i;
double d;


cout << "Please enter some text.";

cin >> i;
cout << i;



cin.get();

return 0;

}

tempest

#include <iostream>
#include <conio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
  char in[1024];
  int len = 0;
  std::cout << "Please enter a string... " << std::endl << " -> ";
  std::cin.getline(in, 1024);

  for(int i=0;i<1024;i++)
    if(in[i] != NULL)
      len++;
    else break;

  std::cout << std::endl;
  std::cout << "The length of your string is: " << len << " characters";
  
  getch(); 
}

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Eggbert

>but I can't seem to get cin.get() working
It's best to assume that any use of cin>> [something] will leave a newline character in the stream. cin.get() isn't working because it finds a newline (which it terminates on) and finishes immediately without giving the user a chance to type anything. You'll find a similar problem, along with suitable solutions, here.

>getch();
getch should be avoided when there is a reasonable alternative that is also portable and standard.

Ooble

Is there a portable equivalent of getch() - a function that retuns a single character and doesn't echo?

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Eggbert

No, terminal operations are highly platform-dependent. Though it's generally a trivial task to simulate the functionality on a system that doesn't provide getch through a system API.

Ooble

Ah, well... worth a shot. Though it's a bit surprising there isn't something in std::cin.

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Eggbert

>Though it's a bit surprising there isn't something in std::cin.
Not when you consider that the standard input stream isn't necessarily a terminal. For example, how would getch work if the standard input stream were redirected to a file? The problem with getch is somewhat related to the screen clearing problem. How do you clear the screen? Well, how do you define a screen? How do you get everyone to use the same definition of a screen? What if the system doesn't have a screen? The standards body needed to take all of this into account since C++ is supposedly a "portable" programming language

Ooble

Fair enough

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