Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Vlearns
Vlearns

asked on

atoi question

Hi
I am using atoi function in the the code and want to handle tis particular error case.
any garbage input to atoi will result in 0 getting returned which is a success code.

Is there a function i can use that returns an error code for garbage in case, or throw an exception.
I can use STL probably not use boost, but still would like to know what the options are with
either.

thanks
Avatar of jkr
jkr
Flag of Germany image

A 'plain' C-style alternative would be 'strtol()', which will not only point you to conversion errors, but also to where they occurred, e.g.

int read_int() {

  string s;
  int n = 0;
  char* pCnvEnd;

  while(1) {
    cin >> s;
    n = strtol(s.c_str(),&pCnvEnd,10);
    if (*pCnvEnd != NULL) { // invalid chars in string, not an integer
      cout << "Not a valid number, please re-enter the value" << " ";
    } else {
      break; //valid, stop loop
    }
  }

  return n;
}

Open in new window


Or you could use a std::stringstream like

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <sstream>
using namespace std;

int read_int() {

  string s;
  int n = 0;

  while(1) {
    cin >> s;
    stringstream ss(s);

    ss >> n;

    if (ss.fail()) { // invalid chars in string, not an integer
      cout << "Not a valid number, please re-enter the value" << " ";
    } else {
      break; //valid, stop loop
    }
  }

  return n;
}

Open in new window

Avatar of Vlearns
Vlearns

ASKER

Thanks for the responses.
here is the exact problem i am trying to solve

here is the string

response = (int)atoi(responsestring.c_str());

The responsestring is suppossed to be numerical codes like
1111
1222
3333
except in one case

where it is 4444\r\nurl=<redirect URL>.

this is what my code does

response = (int)atoi(responsestring.c_str());
idx = responsestring.find("url=");
                 if (response == User::ERR && idx != string::npos)
                 {
                     custom_error = "Please verify  " + responsestring.substr(idx + strlen("url="));
                 }
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of jkr
jkr
Flag of Germany image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of Vlearns

ASKER

what happens if we get garbage?
Avatar of Vlearns

ASKER

more specifically

what is the difference between 4444\r\nurl=<redirect URL>.

and 2222hellogarbage

garbage22222
0garbage8888
You mean *only* garbage as input? That condition could be detected like

response = (int)strtol(responsestring.c_str(),&pCnvEnd,10);
if (responsestring.c_str() == pCnvEnd) {

  // nothing numeric at all
}

Open in new window

2222hellogarbage - results in 2222 being returned and pCnvEnd pointing to hellogarbage  (offset 4 to string start)

garbage22222 - results in 0 being returned and pCnvEnd pointing to garbage  (offset 0 to string start)

0garbage8888 - results in 0 being returned and pCnvEnd pointing to garbage (offset 1 to string start)
if the string always (and trustable) begins with a number, atoi is sufficient. it would stop converting digits at the fist non-digit (periods and minus excluded). the strtol is necessary if you want refuse bad user-input.

Sara
what do you want to do with
4444\r\nurl=<redirect URL>.
?
what do you want to do with
2222hellogarbage
or
garbage22222
or
0garbage8888
or whatever else you consider to be garbage?