Using cin with integer and getline only works in certain order

Question

2.50/5 (2 votes)

See more:

I'm using a very basic program to take in a name and print it out using Visual C++ 2012 - Program works fine like this:

int main()
{
	char name[15];
	int namecount;
	cout<<"Enter your name: "<<endl;
	cin.getline(name, 15);
	cout<<"How many letters in your name (including the space)?: "<<endl;
	cin>>namecount;
	cout<<"Your name is:"<<endl;
	for(int i=0; i<namecount;i++)
	{
		cout<<name[i];
	}
	return 0;
}

but when I try and take in the length of the name first (as below) it will take in a value for namecount and then just print "Your name is" with garbage and will not execute the cin.getline statement. Any ideas welcome.

int main()
{
	char name[15];
	int namecount;
	cout<<"How many letters in your name (including the space)?: "<<endl;
	cin>>namecount;
	cout<<"Enter your name: "<<endl;
	cin.getline(name, 15);
	cout<<"Your name is:"<<endl;
	for(int i=0; i<namecount;i++)
	{
		cout<<name[i];
	}
	return 0;
}

I know I can use a string etc but just don't get why the second version won't work.

Posted 2-Feb-13 5:17am

BrianHamilton

Add a Solution

2 solutions

Solution 2

Hi,

I have called cin.Ignore(), please refer the below,

C++

#include <iostream>
#include <conio.h>
 using namespace std;
int main()
{
	char name[15];
	int namecount;
	cout<<"How many letters in your name (including the space)?: "<<endl;
	cin>>namecount;
	cout<<"Enter your name: "<<endl;
	cin.ignore(); //added
	cin.getline(name, 15,'\n');
	cout<<"Your name is:"<<endl;
	for(int i=0; i<namecount;i++)>
	{
		cout<<name[i];
	}
	getch();
	return 0;
}</conio.h></iostream>

Best Regards
Muthuraja

Posted 2-Feb-13 6:14am

Muthuraja Irullandi

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

skydger · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-02T06:02:00

You should flush std::cin buffer after your integer value was read:

C++

//...
std::cin >> namecount;
std::cin.sync();
std::cout << "Enter your name: " << std::endl;
//...

or ignore end of line

C++

    //...
    std::cin >> namecount;
    std::cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
    std::cout << "Enter your name: " << std::endl;
    //...
</std::streamsize>