C++ Program Not Reading Characters from File

Question

So, I'm trying to get the program to read a file and print out the number of sunny, cloudy and rainy days. It just keeps printing 0. What am I missing? I've tried to change the file from a .dat to .txt but still the same result. Here's what's in the data file:

RRCSSSCSCRRRCSSSCSSRSCCRCRRCSS SSSCCSSSCCSSSCCSSSCRCRCCSSSSSS SSSSCSSSCSSSCRRCCCSSSSSCSSSSCS

  #include <iostream> 
    #include <fstream>
    #include <iomanip>
    #include <string>  

    using namespace std;

    int main()

    {  

    const int MONTH = 3;

    const int DAY = 30;

    char name[MONTH][DAY] = {"June", "July", "August"};
    char rain = 'R'; 
    char sun = 'S';    
    char cloud = 'C';    
    char letter;    
    int day = 0;    
    int count = 0;    
    int rainy = 0;    
    int cloudy = 0;
    int sunny = 0;          

    ifstream inputFile;

    cout << " Weather for Summer Months\n";

    cout << "--------------------\n\n";   

    inputFile.open("C:\rainorshine.dat");    

    if (inputFile)
    {
    cout << "Error opening data file.\n";
        system("pause");
    }
    else

    {   cout << "Weather Report\n\n";

    while (inputFile >> letter)
    {
        cout << letter << endl;  // print out characters read from file 
    }             
   for (count = 0; count < MONTH; count++)    
    {    
        for (day = 0; day < DAY; day++)    
        {    
            cout  << name[count][day];    
           inputFile >> name[count][day];    
            if (name[count][day] == 'R')    
                rainy++;
                else if (name[count][day] == 'S')    
                sunny++;            
            else if (name[count][day] == 'C')    
                cloudy++;
        }

        cout << endl;        
        cout << "  Sunny Days Total: " << rainy << endl;    
        cout << "  Rainy Days Total: " << sunny << endl;    
        cout << "  Cloudy Days Total: " << cloudy << endl << endl;      
    }
    system("pause");
        return 0;
    inputFile.close();


    }
    }

if (inputFile) { /* error */ } This condition seems to be the opposite of what you'd want. — jrok
– jrok, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 22:50

us2012 · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-13 22:48:42Z

5

This:

while (inputFile >> letter)
{
    cout << letter << endl;  // print out characters read from file 
}

munches through all the letters, when it's done you're at the end of the file. So when you try to read your data again in the for loop, there's nothing left to read.

answered Mar 13, 2013 at 22:48

us2012

16.3k3 gold badges50 silver badges63 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Anna Thpvng Over a year ago

I added that line to see if the file was even reading each character and it isn't - even if I remove that loop, the outputs are still 0

us2012 Over a year ago

@Anna When I remove the loop on my system, it works (although I modified your program to use cin instead of file input). Read the comments by Shmil and jrok below your question for hints how to fix your file problems.

jrok · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-13 22:57:34Z

3

"C:\rainorshine.dat"
// ^^

This isn't a backslash followed by a 'r', it's an escape sequence for carriage return character. You need to use forward slash or escape the backslash itself:

"C:/rainorshine.dat" or "C:\\rainorshine.dat"

Which means you never open the file. You would've noticed that if your condition were

if (!inputFile) // notice the !
{
    cout << "Error opening data file.\n";

instead of logically incorrect

if (inputFile) ...

answered Mar 13, 2013 at 22:57

jrok

55.5k10 gold badges114 silver badges146 bronze badges

1 Comment

Anna Thpvng Over a year ago

Thank you! I knew I was missing something

evanmcdonnal · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-13 22:55:25Z

1

After this line;

while (inputFile >> letter)
{
    cout << letter << endl;  // print out characters read from file 
}

You need to reopen the file or seek back to the beginning. The next time you try to read the file you're already at the end so you get nothing.

Something like;

 inputFile.seekg(0, inputFile.beg);

should solve the problem.

edited Mar 13, 2013 at 22:55

answered Mar 13, 2013 at 22:49

evanmcdonnal

48.5k17 gold badges111 silver badges119 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

C++ Program Not Reading Characters from File

3 Answers 3

2 Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

2 Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related