how to make this program ( very simple ) ? [<< newbie ]]

[quecoder]

Hello ,
Please I want some help in making this small program :

the program looks for 3 or more repeated similar letters and replaces them with two characters , the first is the letter itself ( value ) , and the second character is the number of times it repeated ( count ).

Example :
AAACCMMZZZZ

Converted to :
A3\CC\MM\Z4

( less than three repeats , will be ignored, because when converted , it will contain 2 characters for the count and value , so , no difference in size for the two letter repeats )

it's a means for compressing text files ( r.l.e )
I want to know how to make a windows application that asks the user to browse for the file , and then convert it using the technique i mentioned .
OR
asks him for a compressed file and then restores it back to the original version...

ANY help is appreciated ...

[Jx_Man]

post your code...

[corwing]

Quecoder may just need direction and not actual code help yet. Sometimes we just need guidance, not the exact answer.

Ya know like
Get the user's input put it to a string and then parse the string for the first character and then while you do that do a read ahead, if the next character is the same do a read ahead again, repeat until you reach a different character. At that point into the output string you'll want to put in the character you just checked and the count (if count <3 then put in two of the character), then from the position you left off at +1 you will check that character in the string then repeat the read ahead loop again. It is rather simple really. If you need help getting started with coding I suggest you take classes or do some reading and then when you think you're getting there but are stuck, post code and ask for help.

[quecoder]

thank you corwing , it helped a lot ...
I need to read some and post code as you said ..