C Programming

Handling User Input In C
scanf() has problems, in that if a user is expected to type an integer, and types a string instead, often the program bombs. This can be overcome by reading all input as a string (use getchar()), and then converting the string to the correct data type.


/* example one, to read a word at a time */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#define MAXBUFFERSIZE   80

void cleartoendofline( void );  /* ANSI function prototype */

void cleartoendofline( void )
{
	char ch;
	ch = getchar();
	while( ch != '\n' )
		ch = getchar();
}

main()
{
	char    ch;                     /* handles user input */
	char    buffer[MAXBUFFERSIZE];  /* sufficient to handle one line */
	int     char_count;             /* number of characters read for this line */
	int     exit_flag = 0;
	int     valid_choice;

	while( exit_flag  == 0 ) {
		printf("Enter a line of text (<80 chars)\n");
		ch = getchar();
		char_count = 0;
		while( (ch != '\n')  &&  (char_count < MAXBUFFERSIZE)) {
			buffer[char_count++] = ch;
			ch = getchar();
		}
		buffer[char_count] = 0x00;      /* null terminate buffer */
		printf("\nThe line you entered was:\n");
		printf("%s\n", buffer);

		valid_choice = 0;
		while( valid_choice == 0 ) {
			printf("Continue (Y/N)?\n");
			scanf(" %c", &ch );
			ch = toupper( ch );
			if((ch == 'Y') || (ch == 'N') )
				valid_choice = 1;
			else
				printf("\007Error: Invalid choice\n");
			cleartoendofline();
		}
		if( ch == 'N' ) exit_flag = 1;
	}
}

Another Example, read a number as a string


/* example two, reading a number as a string */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define MAXBUFFERSIZE   80

void cleartoendofline( void );          /* ANSI function prototype */

void cleartoendofline( void )
{
	char ch;
	ch = getchar();
	while( ch != '\n' )
		ch = getchar();
}

main()
{
	char    ch;                     /* handles user input */
	char    buffer[MAXBUFFERSIZE];  /* sufficient to handle one line */
	int     char_count;             /* number of characters read for this line */
	int     exit_flag = 0, number, valid_choice;

	while( exit_flag  == 0 ) {
		valid_choice = 0;
		while( valid_choice == 0 ) {
			printf("Enter a number between 1 and 1000\n");
			ch = getchar();
			char_count = 0;
			while( (ch != '\n')  &&  (char_count < MAXBUFFERSIZE)) {
				buffer[char_count++] = ch;
				ch = getchar();
			}
			buffer[char_count] = 0x00;      /* null terminate buffer */
			number = atoi( buffer );
			if( (number < 1) || (number > 1000) )
				printf("\007Error. Number outside range 1-1000\n");
			else
				valid_choice = 1;
		}
		printf("\nThe number you entered was:\n");
		printf("%d\n", number);

		valid_choice = 0;
		while( valid_choice == 0 ) {
			printf("Continue (Y/N)?\n");
			scanf(" %c", &ch );
			ch = toupper( ch );
			if((ch == 'Y') || (ch == 'N') )
				valid_choice = 1;
			else
				printf("\007Error: Invalid choice\n");
			cleartoendofline();
		}
		if( ch == 'N' ) exit_flag = 1;
	}
}

Other validation examples