Problem with character array input and output in C

Question

I wrote the following code to read a character array and print it.

#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<conio.h>
void read_array(char a[],int n);
void print_array(char a[],int n);
int main(void)
{
    char a[100];
    int n;
    printf("\nEnter n:");
    scanf("%d",&n);
    printf("\nEnter the characters:");
    read_array(a,n);
    printf("\nThe array now is: ");
    print_array(a,n);
    getch();
    return 0;
}

void read_array(char a[],int n)
{
     int i;
     for(i=0;i<n;i++)
         scanf("%c",&a[i]);

}
void print_array(char a[],int n)
{
     int i;
     for(i=0;i<n;i++)                
        printf("a[%d]=%c\n",i,a[i]);
}

Input:

Enter n:15  
Enter the characters:xxxxx     xxxxx

Output:

The array now is:  
a[0]=    
a[1]=x    
a[2]=x    
a[3]=x    
a[4]=x    
a[5]=x    
a[6]=    
a[7]=    
a[8]=    
a[10]=    
a[11]=x    
a[12]=x   
a[13]=x    
a[14]=x

Where in my input a[5] through a[9] are blank characters. So how come in the output a[0]=(a blank)?

Are you sure it's blank? Or does your output have a blank line between a[0]= and a[1]= — Brian Roach
– Brian Roach, Commented Apr 5, 2011 at 18:31
Rolled back. Input and output belong in quote blocks, not code blocks. — GEOCHET
– GEOCHET, Commented Apr 5, 2011 at 18:32
@GEOCHET, says who? What if the I/O doesn't make sense without fixed-width formatting? Not to mention some highlighting comes for free with code blocks. Meta also seems to disagree with you: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/52502 — Carl Norum
– Carl Norum, Commented Apr 5, 2011 at 22:45
@carl: Syntax highlighting is useless on non code blocks and <pre> works just fine for fixed width. — GEOCHET
– GEOCHET, Commented Apr 6, 2011 at 15:18
I have to go with @GEOCHET here, syntax highlighting is usually annoying for non-code blocks. However, pre tag was required here since the spacing is important in all those x's (so I added it). — paxdiablo
– paxdiablo, Commented Jun 10, 2011 at 0:22

Carl Norum · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-05 18:31:33Z

2

The first character you're reading in is the newline you typed to enter the 15. Use fgets() and sscanf() - you'll be much happier.

answered Apr 5, 2011 at 18:31

Carl Norum

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3 Comments

station Over a year ago

doesn't scanf skip over all the whitespaces.

Carl Norum Over a year ago

@user567797, that depends on how you use it, I guess. That's the normal use case, though. You can just use getch() for your second set of input if that makes it easier.

paxdiablo Over a year ago

Actually, you don't need *scanf here (for the string anyway, you still need it for the number) since fgets will give you a string. And, if you're looking for a robust input method, see stackoverflow.com/questions/5130723/…

Pruthvid · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-05 23:07:55Z

1

In the scanf function for getting the values of character use getche or getchar function. This will allow you to capture all the characters including new line. you can skip the first character and copy the rest.

answered Apr 5, 2011 at 23:07

Pruthvid

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Comments

Piyush Agarwal · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-15 18:02:25Z

0

While taking input in case of char array using scanf, it also captures the enter key that you presses while entering the input on a new line, so this problem is happening.

You may use getchar if you want each character to be present as input.

answered Aug 15, 2018 at 18:02

Piyush Agarwal

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