How can I save a string with spaces to a file that should also be apart of a parallel array

Question

int main (){
    int id[ms],qid,score[ms],oscores[ms],menu,age[ms],nstud,i, dob[ms],a;
    float stime[ms],ttime1[ms], cyctime[ms],ttime2[ms],runtime[ms],otime[ms];
    float koswin = 0, ikidswin = 0, ciwin = 0, swimwin = 0, cycwin = 0, runwin =0;
    char name[100][ms], sc[100][ms], etype[ms], gender [ms], kwin, iwin, 
    cwin,word[100],pname[100],psc[100];
    FILE *fh;
    FILE *fp;
    fh=fopen("participants.txt","a");

    printf("Would you like to:\n");
    printf("1.Register participants\n");
    printf("2.Access a participant's details\n");
    scanf("%d",&menu);
    system("cls");

    if (menu == 1)
    {
        printf("Please enter number of participants you would like to register\n");
        scanf("%d",&nstud);
        for (i = 0; i < nstud; i++){
            printf("Please enter the the ID number of the participant:\n");
            scanf("%d",&id[i]);
            printf("Please enter the participant's name:\n");
           fgets(pname, sizeof(pname), stdin);
            strcpy(sc[i], pname);
            printf("Please enter the participant's School/Club:\n");
            fgets(psc, sizeof(psc), stdin);
            strcpy(sc[i], psc);
            
        }
        for (i= 0; i < nstud; i++ )
        fprintf(fh,"\n%d\t\n%s\t",id[i],name[i]);
        fclose(fh);

    }

The code works up until I am to enter the name it skips over the name and goes to the school input but it doesn't even accept the school name. It continues by skipping another input. I first had scanf("%s", name[i]) and scanf("%s", sc[i]) and that worked perfectly but I wanted the user to be able to enter a space. So is there a way to accept a string that is apart of a parallel array with space and write it to a file?

What is a "parallel array"? Also, please show your exact run log. — kaylum, Mar 13 '22 at 21:56
`fprintf(fh,"\n%d\t\n%s\t",id[i],name[i]);` That looks wrong. The contents of `name` have never been set and hence contains indeterminate values. Treating it as a string results in Undefined Behaviour. — kaylum, Mar 13 '22 at 21:58
`int id[ms]` What is `ms`? It is not shown. Please provide complete code as a [mre]. — kaylum, Mar 13 '22 at 22:00
Does this answer your question? [scanf() leaves the newline character in the buffer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5240789/scanf-leaves-the-newline-character-in-the-buffer) — Oka, Mar 13 '22 at 22:36
Best to drop `scanf()` everywhere and use `fgets()` to read user input. — chux - Reinstate Monica, Mar 14 '22 at 00:02

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 13 '22 at 22:32

0

The entry of the name looks skipped because the previous scanf() for the entry of ID leaves the newline character in the input buffer and the fgets() for the name reads it. To avoid this, modify the line:

scanf("%d",&id[i]);

to

scanf("%d%*c",&id[i]);

to flush the input buffer.

answered Mar 13 '22 at 22:32

tshiono

21,248
2
14
22

Note: `"*c"` in `"%d%*c"` consumes the next character after the number - it _might_ be a `'\n'`. `scanf("%d%*c",&id[i]);` consumes nothing if the first part is not numeric text. – chux - Reinstate Monica Mar 14 '22 at 00:04

How can I save a string with spaces to a file that should also be apart of a parallel array

1 Answers1