strcmp but with '\n' as the terrminator

[Allan Bruce]

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string exists
in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is there a
similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?
Thanks
Allan

[Richard Heathfield]

Allan Bruce wrote:

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is there a
similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

Assuming that for some strange reason you haven't yet switched over to my
"stretchy string" routines (which abuse the word "string", since they work
on non-null-terminated data), the easiest way to do what you want, if the
"string" is writeable, is to find the \n, change it to \0, do the strstr,
and then change it back again. If you're doing this a lot, though, you
should beware, as it's not a very efficient solution; in which case, you'd
want to write your own, I guess (unless someone has a better idea).

--
Richard Heathfield : bi****@eton.pow ernet.co.uk
"Usenet is a strange place." - Dennis M Ritchie, 29 July 1999.
C FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
K&R answers, C books, etc: http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton

[code_wrong]

"Allan Bruce" <al*****@TAKEAW AYf2s.com> wrote in message
news:bf******** **@news.freedom 2surf.net...

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is there a
similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

If you are looking for a substring in a string you can use
strstr()

Syntax:

#include <string.h>
char *strstr(const char *s1, const char *s2);

Description:

Scans a string for the occurrence of a given substring.

strstr scans s1 for the first occurrence of the substring s2.

Return Value

strstr returns a pointer to the element in s1, where s2 begins (points to s2
in s1). If s2 does not occur in s1, strstr returns null.

HTH
cw

[Bjørn Augestad]

Richard Heathfield wrote:

Allan Bruce wrote:

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is there a
similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

Assuming that for some strange reason you haven't yet switched over to my
"stretchy string" routines (which abuse the word "string", since they work
on non-null-terminated data), the easiest way to do what you want, if the
"string" is writeable, is to find the \n, change it to \0, do the strstr,
and then change it back again. If you're doing this a lot, though, you
should beware, as it's not a very efficient solution; in which case, you'd
want to write your own, I guess (unless someone has a better idea).

Maybe he can ignore the \n and just use strstr() instead? He won't get
exact matches for the whole line, but he will "find if a string exists
in a given line". ;-)
--
boa

libclc home: http://libclc.sourceforge.net

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

In 'comp.lang.c', "Allan Bruce" <al*****@TAKEAW AYf2s.com> wrote:

I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is there
a similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

The usual trick is to remove the '\n' from the read line:

#include <string.h>

<...>

{
char *p = strchr (line, '\n'); /* search ... */

if (p)
{
*p = 0; /* ... and kill. */
}
}

--
-ed- em**********@no os.fr [remove YOURBRA before answering me]
The C-language FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
<blank line>
FAQ de f.c.l.c : http://www.isty-info.uvsq.fr/~rumeau/fclc/

[code_wrong]

"Allan Bruce" <al*****@TAKEAW AYf2s.com> wrote in message
news:bf******** **@news.freedom 2surf.net...

"code_wrong " <ta*@tac.ouch.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:bf******** **@newsg2.svr.p ol.co.uk...

"Allan Bruce" <al*****@TAKEAW AYf2s.com> wrote in message
news:bf******** **@news.freedom 2surf.net...

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string exists

in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is

there a similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?
If you are looking for a substring in a string you can use
strstr()

Syntax:

#include <string.h>
char *strstr(const char *s1, const char *s2);

Description:

Scans a string for the occurrence of a given substring.

strstr scans s1 for the first occurrence of the substring s2.

Return Value

strstr returns a pointer to the element in s1, where s2 begins (points

to s2

in s1). If s2 does not occur in s1, strstr returns null.

HTH
cw

I have used strstr mainly, not strcmp as my post indicates! (doh)
But the problem is still that strstr requires a null terminator and not
'\n'.
Any ideas?

Which function are you using to read your file?
If you read your file with fgets() then you will get null terminated strings
to play with.
Of course there is still the newline character to take into account, but
that will not matter if you use strstr() to check for substrings.

cw

[Richard Heathfield]

Bj[o]rn Augestad wrote:

Richard Heathfield wrote: <all snipped>

Allan Bruce wrote:

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^Is there a
similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

<snip>
Maybe he can ignore the \n and just use strstr() instead? He won't get
exact matches for the whole line, but he will "find if a string exists
in a given line". ;-)

Well, he did say quite clearly that there was no '\0' at the end of the
data. Or did I misunderstand him?

--
Richard Heathfield : bi****@eton.pow ernet.co.uk
"Usenet is a strange place." - Dennis M Ritchie, 29 July 1999.
C FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
K&R answers, C books, etc: http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton

[Richard Heathfield]

Emmanuel Delahaye wrote:

In 'comp.lang.c', "Allan Bruce" <al*****@TAKEAW AYf2s.com> wrote:

I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'. Is there
a similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

The usual trick is to remove the '\n' from the read line:

#include <string.h>

<...>

{
char *p = strchr (line, '\n'); /* search ... */

Undefined behaviour if line has no terminating null character, as the OP has
pointed out twice now.

<snip>

--
Richard Heathfield : bi****@eton.pow ernet.co.uk
"Usenet is a strange place." - Dennis M Ritchie, 29 July 1999.
C FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
K&R answers, C books, etc: http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton

[Bjørn Augestad]

Richard Heathfield wrote:

Bj[o]rn Augestad wrote:

Richard Heathfield wrote: <all snipped>

Allan Bruce wrote:

Hi there,
I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
exists in a given line.
I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
Is there a
similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

<snip>

Maybe he can ignore the \n and just use strstr() instead? He won't get
exact matches for the whole line, but he will "find if a string exists
in a given line". ;-)

Well, he did say quite clearly that there was no '\0' at the end of the
data. Or did I misunderstand him?

I don't know. :-)

I was just assuming(I know, I know...) that the OP was reading a file
line by line using fgets() and then tried to match some string with the
line read, but ran into problems because of the trailing \n.

Only time and some source code will tell. ;-)

--
boa

libclc home: http://libclc.sourceforge.net

[Allan Bruce]

"Bjørn Augestad" <bo*@metasystem s.no.spam.to.me > wrote in message
news:RW******** ************@ju liett.dax.net.. .

Richard Heathfield wrote:

Bj[o]rn Augestad wrote:

Richard Heathfield wrote: <all snipped>

Allan Bruce wrote:

>Hi there,
>I am reading a file into a char array, and I want to find if a string
>exists in a given line.
>I cant use strcmp since the line ends with '\n' and not '\0'.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^

>Is there a
>similar function that will do this, or will I have to write my own?

<snip>

Maybe he can ignore the \n and just use strstr() instead? He won't get
exact matches for the whole line, but he will "find if a string exists
in a given line". ;-)

Well, he did say quite clearly that there was no '\0' at the end of the
data. Or did I misunderstand him?

I don't know. :-)

I was just assuming(I know, I know...) that the OP was reading a file
line by line using fgets() and then tried to match some string with the
line read, but ran into problems because of the trailing \n.

Only time and some source code will tell. ;-)

--
boa

libclc home: http://libclc.sourceforge.net

I am using this to read the file:
// find how big the file is
fseek(fptr, 0, SEEK_END);
size = ftell(fptr);

//allocate memory for string
if ( (contents = new char[size]) == NULL)
return 0;

Basically reading it in one big chunk, since I am doing some things to the
code that take a long time so I wanted to keep the file open for as little
time as possible.
I use strstr() to find some matches and also use strcmp() to see if some are
true for example, a line may be:
# Material: Porsche_Body
Now this will be stored with a '\n' at the end but no '\0'.
In this example I wish to search for "Material:" using strstr() but if it
doesnt exist then strstr() is causing undefined behaviour. If strstr() is
successful, then I want to see if the material name matches what I already
have loaded using strcmp() but since the '\0' isnt there - problems. I
count how many chars until the '\n' and then use strncmp I suppose, but that
doesnt get around the strstr() and I want to know for future how to use
strcmp with '\n' terminator.
From the gist of it, I should program my own function, or better still
macro.
Am I correct?
Thanks
Allan