how to access a file in C:\

[Francesco Zavatarelli]

I downloaded a free c-compiler and I'm trying to access a file in a windows
directory c:\program files\... but I get an error when I run the code.
Probably my declaration char* NAME is wrong. Anybody can give a suggestion?
Thanks very much.
Fzavat
char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

file_sms = fopen(NAME_SMS, "r");
if (file_sms == NULL) {
fprintf(stdout, "Error opening file.\n");
}

fclose(file_sms );

When I run the code I get the "Error opening file." message. If I try with
char* NAME_SMS = "c:\Program Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB"; I get a
compiler error: lexical: unknown escape sequence `\P'

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

In 'comp.lang.c', "Francesco Zavatarelli" <fz****@tiscali .it> wrote:

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

Because of the presence of ' ' (SPACE) in the path name, your system probably
requires to wrap the string by double quotes. Also, it probably knows that
'/' is an alternative to '\\'

char* NAME_SMS = "\"c:/Program Files/Palm/Tungst/Backup/SmsDB.PDB\"";

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[Darksun4]

"Francesco Zavatarelli" <fz****@tiscali .it> wrote in message
news:cc******** **@ctb-nnrp2.saix.net. ..

I downloaded a free c-compiler and I'm trying to access a file in a windows directory c:\program files\... but I get an error when I run the code.
Probably my declaration char* NAME is wrong. Anybody can give a suggestion? Thanks very much.
Fzavat
char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";
try char *NAME_SMS="c:\P rogram Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB";


file_sms = fopen(NAME_SMS, "r");
if (file_sms == NULL) {
fprintf(stdout, "Error opening file.\n");
}

fclose(file_sms );
Be sure that file_sms is a FILE * .

When I run the code I get the "Error opening file." message. If I try with char* NAME_SMS = "c:\Program Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB"; I get a
compiler error: lexical: unknown escape sequence `\P'

If that don't work, what is the name of the compiler you are using?

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

In 'comp.lang.c', "Darksun4" <da*******@yaho o.gr> wrote:

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

try char *NAME_SMS="c:\P rogram Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB";

No. It's fully wrong.

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\Program Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB"; I get a
compiler error: lexical: unknown escape sequence `\P'

If that don't work, what is the name of the compiler you are using?

Any decent C compiler will refuse to compile such a code.

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[Martin Ambuhl]

Darksun4 wrote:

"Francesco Zavatarelli" <fz****@tiscali .it> wrote in message
news:cc******** **@ctb-nnrp2.saix.net. ..

When I run the code I get the "Error opening file." message. If I try

with

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\Program Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB"; I get a
compiler error: lexical: unknown escape sequence `\P'

If that don't work, what is the name of the compiler you are using?

If it *does* work, what is the name of the compiler *you* are using?
What meaning does it give to the escape sequences '\P', '\T', '\B', and
'\S'?

[Chiron Paixos]

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 11:06:36 +0200, Francesco Zavatarelli wrote:
[...]

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

[...]

Blanks in pathnames sometimes cause strange effects.
You might try encapsulating the pathname in " " like:

char* NAME_SMS = "\"c:\\Prog ram
Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB\"";

(It's been quite a while since my last C programming activities, so
it's just an educated guess)

[Darrell Grainger]

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004, Francesco Zavatarelli wrote:

I downloaded a free c-compiler and I'm trying to access a file in a windows
directory c:\program files\... but I get an error when I run the code.
Probably my declaration char* NAME is wrong. Anybody can give a suggestion?
Thanks very much.
Fzavat

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";
As a few people have mentioned, the space in the path could be causing the
problem. It could also be a limitation of the compiler. Older MSDOS
compilers expect the name to be 8.3. When you have a path like "Program
Files" the compiler actually wants "PROGRA~1". This is a quirk of
MSDOS/Windows. You might want to check a newsgroup that is more familar
with your compiler (you didn't mention which one) or with your operating
system (Windows or MSDOS).
file_sms = fopen(NAME_SMS, "r");
if (file_sms == NULL) {
fprintf(stdout, "Error opening file.\n");
}

fclose(file_sms );

When I run the code I get the "Error opening file." message. If I try with
char* NAME_SMS = "c:\Program Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB"; I get a
compiler error: lexical: unknown escape sequence `\P'

The \P is definitely wrong. If you need a '\' in the path you need to put
'\\'.

--
Send e-mail to: darrell at cs dot toronto dot edu
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[Christopher Benson-Manica]

Francesco Zavatarelli <fz****@tiscali .it> spoke thus:

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

const char *NAME_SMS;

String literals are not modifiable in the absence of certain compiler
extensions, so your declaration should reflect that.

--
Christopher Benson-Manica | I *should* know what I'm talking about - if I
ataru(at)cybers pace.org | don't, I need to know. Flames welcome.

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

In 'comp.lang.c', Christopher Benson-Manica <at***@nospam.c yberspace.org>
wrote:

char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

const char *NAME_SMS;

String literals are not modifiable in the absence of certain compiler
extensions, so your declaration should reflect that.

Good point.

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[Bernhard Holzmayer]

Francesco Zavatarelli wrote:

I downloaded a free c-compiler and I'm trying to access a file in
a windows directory c:\program files\... but I get an error when I
run the code. Probably my declaration char* NAME is wrong. Anybody
can give a suggestion? Thanks very much.
Fzavat
char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\Progra m
Files\\Palm\\Tu ngst\\Backup\\S msDB.PDB";

file_sms = fopen(NAME_SMS, "r");
if (file_sms == NULL) {
fprintf(stdout, "Error opening file.\n");
}

fclose(file_sms );

When I run the code I get the "Error opening file." message. If I
try with char* NAME_SMS = "c:\Program
Files\Palm\Tung st\Backup\SmsDB .PDB"; I get a compiler error:
lexical: unknown escape sequence `\P'

The reason why it fails, is obviously bc. of how escape sequences
are handled.
\\ evaluates to \ in the first stage of the lexical parsing,
then the sequence is searched for things like %s in a printf ...
This time it assumes that the backslash indicates that the following
token is meant as some special character / escape sequence.

If the resulting string should really contain backslashes as folder
separators, it might help to do an additional masking like
char* NAME_SMS = "c:\\\\Program. ..
That's not a joke.
In a certain chain of cascaded parsing stages in a real project,
I had to insert 8 backslashes in every place where you'd expect one
in the final output. So, don't wonder - take it easy - if it works.

Another possibility:
Some compilers understand forward slashes and will interpret them
correctly, so you'd try
char* NAME_SMS = "c:/Program.../SmsDB.PDB";

Then, to indicate the drive letter, try this one (used @ cygnus gcc)
char* NAME_SMS = "//c/Program...

// indicates the top level or root directory (like in UNIX) here.

The blank will certainly add additional problems as the other
posters indicated.
One chance is to merely escape it by one or two backslashes,
char* NAME_SMS = "//c/Program\ Files/... or
char* NAME_SMS = "//c/Program\\ Files/...

Another possibility is to add it using its character code (0x20).

Last not least, you could check if the compiler provides special
functions for this. Because it obviously doesn't feel comfortable
with the Windows-like path names, it will probably provide
translation methods for conversion between Windows-like path names
and maybe unix- or mac-like.

If you would like to check this, scan the include directory for
sub-directories with names like win, win32, sys, dos, local.

If nothing helps, reveal which compiler (and version) it is. Maybe
some of us know it.

Bernhard