Help with while loop

[Ch1156]

do i need a header for numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max()? because its giving me errors

[giblit]

#include <climits> If you want you can put a number there like 1024 or 80 or w.e that is just how many characters you will ignore. http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/climits/

you can also use #include <limits>
http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/limits/numeric_limits/?kw=numeric_limits
http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/limits/

[naraku9333]

@Ch1156
I don't believe there is anything wrong with the loop in the OP. Can you provide the rest of the code (posted to pastebin or similar if it is large)?

[Ch1156]

Well here is what i have right now:

/*
//Crypto Guess is based off of Crypto Logic for the Oddessy 2
//Created Tuesday, June 4th 2013 by Chay Hawk
*/

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
#include <ctime>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <fstream>
#include <vector>
#include <time.h>

using std::cout;
using std::cin;
using std::endl;
using std::string;
using std::ifstream;
using std::ofstream;
using std::vector;
using std::fstream;

string word_list(string GL)
{
    string store_word;
    vector<string> words;
    srand(time(0));

    ifstream fileIn;
    fileIn.open(GL.c_str());

    if(fileIn.fail())
    {
        cout << "File failed to open." << endl;
    }

    while(!fileIn.eof())
    {
        /*not needed as vectors resize themselves
        if(words.size() == words.capacity())
        {
            words.reserve(words.size() * 3);
        }
        */
        fileIn >> store_word;
        words.push_back(store_word);
    }

    fileIn.close();

    return words[rand() % words.size()];
}

void save_game(int save_rightGuesses,
               int save_wrongGuesses,
               string save_list_type,
               time_t save_hours_playtime,
               time_t save_minutes_playtime,
               time_t save_seconds_playtime
              )
{
    time_t current = time(0);
    ofstream fileOut;
    fileOut.open("Scores.txt", fstream::app);

    fileOut << "CRYPTO GUESS SCORES FOR " << ctime(&current) << endl;

    fileOut << "From list: " << save_list_type << endl;
    fileOut << "Right Guesses: " << save_rightGuesses << endl;
    fileOut << "Wrong Guesses: " << save_wrongGuesses << "\n" << endl;

    fileOut << "Your Play Time is " << save_hours_playtime << " Hours " << save_minutes_playtime << " Minutes " << save_seconds_playtime << " Seconds\n" << endl;

    fileOut.close();
}

int main()
{
    srand(time(0));

    string original_word,
           shuffled_word,
           random_word,
           choose_list,
           guess,
           custom_word,
           copy_custom_word,
           guess_custom_word;

    int guess_number = 1,
        right_guesses = 0,
        wrong_guesses = 0,
        select = 0;

    bool game1_loop = true,
         game2_loop = true,
         choice_loop = true;

    cout << "CRYPTO GUESS" << endl;
    cout << "Version 2.3\n" << endl;

    cout << "Do you want to enter words yourself or have the computer give you words?" << endl;
    cout << "1) Enter words myself" << endl;
    cout << "2) Have the computer give me words" << endl;

    while(cout << "Please make a selection -> " &&
          cin >> select && (select<1 || select>2))
    {
        cin.clear();
        cin.ignore(50, '\n');
        cout << "That is not a valid selection." << endl;
    }

/*
    while(choice_loop)
    {
        cin >> select;

        switch(select)
        {
            case 1:
                break;
            case 2:
                break;
            default:
                cout << "Not a valid input" << endl;
        }
    }
*/
    cin.ignore(50, '\n');

    cout << '\n';

    if(select == 1)
    {
        while(game1_loop)
        {
            cout << "Enter your word" << endl;
            getline(cin, custom_word);

            copy_custom_word = custom_word;
            random_shuffle(custom_word.begin(), custom_word.end());

            cout << string(55, '\n');

            cout << "The word is " << custom_word << endl;
            cout << "Your guess is: ";
            cin >> guess_custom_word;

            if(guess_custom_word == copy_custom_word)
            {
                cout << "Thats correct!" << endl;
                guess_custom_word = " ";
                break;
            }
        }
    }

    if(select == 2)
    {
        time_t startTime = time(0);
        cout << "Select list" << endl;
        getline(cin, choose_list);

        while(game2_loop)
        {
            string HWLF = word_list(choose_list);
            shuffled_word = HWLF;
            random_shuffle(shuffled_word.begin(), shuffled_word.end());//#1

            cout << "----------------------------------------------------" << endl;
            cout << "|| Guess # " << guess_number << " || Right Guesses: " <<
                    right_guesses << " || Wrong Guesses: " << wrong_guesses << endl;
            cout << "----------------------------------------------------\n" << endl;

            cout << "Word: " << shuffled_word << endl;

            cout << '\n';

            while(guess != HWLF)
            {
                cout << "Your guess: ";
                cin >> guess;

                if(guess == HWLF)
                {
                    cout << "Is correct!\n" << endl;
                    guess = " ";
                    guess_number++;
                    right_guesses++;
                    break;
                }
                else if(guess == "Quit" || guess == "quit")
                {
                    cout << "Goodbye thanks for playing." << endl;

                    time_t endTime = time(0),
                           playTime = endTime - startTime,
                           hoursTime = playTime / 3600,
                           minutesTime = (playTime / 60) % 60,
                           secondsTime = playTime % 60;

                    save_game(right_guesses,
                              wrong_guesses,
                              choose_list,
                              hoursTime,
                              minutesTime,
                              secondsTime);

                    game2_loop = false;
                    return 0;
                }
                if(guess == "Skip" || guess == "skip")
                {
                    cout << "You skipped the word." << endl;
                    cout << "The correct word was " << HWLF << endl;
                    cout << '\n';
                    wrong_guesses++;
                    break;
                }
                else
                {
                    wrong_guesses++;
                    cout << "Is wrong! Try again\n" << endl;
                }
            }
        }//End of game while loop
    }//End of if statement
}

[Ch1156]

Im ripping out my hair trying to figure this out, what other people suggested isnt working, and everything i tried isnt working. I was so desperate i even resorted to using goto, which is something i NEVER EVER EVER use or want to use but i did, and even that didnt work. I was thinking about putting my whole code in a switch statement, i mean the game parts, i think that might solve the problem but idk. what do you all thingk.

[TheIdeasMan]

Hi Chay,

It seems to me that you haven't actually tried what I suggested. I am starting to get the impression that no one has read the code in the link that I posted.

Try this snippet (Not tested):

// put this before main()
void ShowMenu;

// put all this in main()
bool Quit = false;
int MenuSelection = 0;

while (!Quit) {
     ShowMenu();

     cin >> MenuSelection;

     switch(MenuSelection) {
          case 1 :

               //call function to do this menu item
               break;
     
          case 2 :
               //call function to do this menu item
               break;
     
          case 3 :
               Quit = true;
               std::cout << "Quitting program\n";
               return 0; // omit this line if you execution to continue after while loop
               break;
     
          default :
                std::cout << "Bad Input - options are 1 or 2 or 3\n";
     }

}

// put this after main()
void ShowMenu() {
    std::cout << "CRYPTO GUESS" << std::endl;
    std::cout << "Version 2.3\n" << std::endl;

    std::cout << "Do you want to enter words yourself or have the computer give you words?" << std::endl;
    std::cout << "1) Enter words myself" << std::endl;
    std::cout << "2) Have the computer give me words" << std::endl;
    std::cout << "3) Quit" << std::endl;
}

I hope this is clear now. 8+)

[JLBorges]

> Im ripping out my hair trying to figure this out, what other people suggested isnt working,
> and everything i tried isnt working.

Get out of the habit of writing a monstrous main; factor the code into small functions, and you would find it a lot easier.

To get you started on that path:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
#include <ctime>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <fstream>

// read a random string from the file
std::string random_word( const std::string& path_to_file )
{
    std::ifstream file( path_to_file.c_str() ) ;
    std::string selected ;

    int num_words = 0 ;
    std::string word ;
    while( file >> word )
    {
        ++num_words ;
        if( std::rand() % num_words == 0 ) selected = word ;
    }

    return selected ;
}

inline std::string time_stamp( std::time_t t = std::time(0) )
{ return std::asctime( std::localtime(&t) ) ; }

void save_game( int right_guesses, int wrong_guesses,
                const std::string& list_file_name,
                std::time_t start_time, std::time_t end_time = std::time(0) )
{
    std::ofstream fout( "Scores.txt", std::ios::app ) ;
    fout << "CRYPTO GUESS SCORES FOR " << time_stamp() << '\n'
         << "From list: " << list_file_name << '\n'
         << "Right Guesses: " << right_guesses << '\n'
         << "Wrong Guesses: " << wrong_guesses << "\n\n" ;

    int seconds = ( std::difftime( end_time, start_time ) ) ;
    fout << "Your Play Time is " << seconds/3600 << " Hours "
         << (seconds/60)%60 << " Minutes " << seconds%60 << " Seconds\n\n" ;

}

void menu()
{
    std::cout << "CRYPTO GUESS" << "Version 2.3\n\n"
           << "Do you want to enter words yourself or have the computer give you words?\n\n"
           << "1) Enter words myself\n"
           << "2) Have the computer give me words\n"
           << "3) Quit\n" ;
}

int get_selection( const std::string& prompt, int minv, int maxv )
{
    std::cout << prompt << ": " ;
    int selection ;
    if( std::cin >> selection && selection >= minv && selection <= maxv )
        return selection ;
    std::cin.clear() ;
    std::cin.ignore( 1024, '\n' ) ;
    std::cerr << "inavalid selection. please enter an integer in ["
               << minv << '-' << maxv << "]\n" ;
    return get_selection( prompt, minv, maxv ) ;
}

// the main game loop; return true to continue playing
bool play_game( int& right_guesses, int& wrong_guesses, std::string list_file_name )
{
    const std::string word = random_word(list_file_name) ;
    if( word.empty() )
    {
        std::cerr << "error reading word list file\n" ;
        return false ;
    }

    std::string shuffled_word = word ;
    std::random_shuffle( shuffled_word.begin(), shuffled_word.end() ) ;
    std::cout << shuffled_word << '\n' ;
    std::cin.ignore( 1024, '\n' ) ;

    std::string guess ;
    std::getline( std::cin, guess ) ;

    while( guess != "quit" )
    {
        // if( guess == word )
        // etc...

        // else if( guess == "skip" )
        // ...

        // else // wrong guess
        // ...

        return true ; // not quit, continue playing
    }

    return false ; // quit

    // TODO: **** if you find that this function is getting too big,
    // break it up further
}

int main()
{
    std::srand( std::time(0) ) ;
    menu() ;
    int select = get_selection( "Please make a selection", 1, 3 ) ;

    if( select == 1 )
    {
        // ...
    }

    else if( select == 2 )
    {
        std::time_t start_time = std::time(0) ;
        int right_guesses = 0 ;
        int wrong_guesses = 0 ;
        std::string list_file_name = "words.txt" ;
        std::cout << "file containing words? " ;
        std::cin >> list_file_name ;

        // call a function to execute the game loop to play the game
        // till play_game returns false
        while( play_game( right_guesses, wrong_guesses, list_file_name ) ) ;

        save_game( right_guesses, wrong_guesses, list_file_name, start_time ) ;
    }
}

[Ch1156]

Its not that my code is too big thats the problem, i can manage it just fine. My main is only 146 lines, ive written a main that was around 1500 lines and i managed it just fine so thats not an issue. what i was refering to was that i could not get my program to loop my select variable so if the player entered a wrong item it wouldnt quit. I already figured it out. There is nt anything wrong with the code i wrote.

[TheIdeasMan]

Ch1156 wrote:

My main is only 146 lines, ive written a main that was around 1500 lines and i managed it just fine so thats not an issue.

It's a bad idea to have functions that are too long - there is a bit of an idea that functions shouldn't be longer than 80 lines, others go for even less 20 or 30 say.

It is all about good organisation, ease of reading & can help prevent errors. If you write psuedo code as comments before doing your actual code - it could help you decide what should go into a function.

JLBorges really knows his stuff, he didn't give you that advice just for laughs, so could take his advice on-board?

You wouldn't write a 1500 page book without chapters, nor would you write a 15 page chapter without paragraphs.

HTH

[Ch1156]

How do you guys learn stuff like that? like programming etiquette basically? is there a site where i can learn stuff like that? not actual code just rules and ideas on how you should program.

[TheIdeasMan]

Well I for one didn't learn things like that from a webpage. Some other ways:

Get your code looked at by some one who who knows what they are doing. Like at University with assignments, or by the knowledgeable people on a forum. (Btw I am not claiming that I have a lot of knowledge - much, much more for me to learn)

If you go through the experience of writing code, having it constructively criticised, and taking that on board - then you have added to your knowledge base.

There are some really good books, - I have a Scott Meyers Effective C++, and Design Patterns Book by Gamma et al. But those are a bit more advanced. Some other obvious Authors might be Bjarne Stroustrop and Herb Sutter as 2 examples to start with.

Some of it is actual theory - like Object Oriented Design Principles for example.

The other thing might be coding standards. This is the Google one - there are others.

http://google-styleguide.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/cppguide.xml#Inline_Functions

I guess the goal is to write organised, clear, elegant, efficient & simple code (as far as that goes).

Hope all goes well.

[JLBorges]

> is there a site where i can learn stuff like that?
> not actual code just rules and ideas on how you should program.

The best resource that I know of is a slim book: 'The Practice of Programming' by Kernighan and Pike.
http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Programming-Addison-Wesley-Professional-Computing/dp/020161586X