Using getline in C

[VernonDozier]

I have a data file that, if I was using C++, I would use the getline function to read its data into the proper variables. However, the getline functions that C++ allows appear to not be available to me in C. I want to be able to specify a stream, specify a delimiter, and have the function be portable. I've found this getline function from GNU:

http://www.gnu.org/s/libc/manual/html_node/Line-Input.html

but it says it is non-standard (so I assume that means I cannot assume it will work on all compilers), plus it does not allow me to specify a delimiter. Basically I am dealing with a comma-separated-value file:

Bob,Tom,Fred,Sam,Billy,Alexande[B]r[/B]

I want to read from the file and parse the data into an array of strings, and throw away the comma delimiters and the white space:

Bob
Tom
Fred
Sam
Billy
Alexande[B]r[/B]

I see no way to specify a comma as a delimiter in the getline function above, nor do I see a pre-written function in C that will allow me to do this.

The strtok function looks somewhat promising for this job, but the data is in a file, not a char*, so I don't see how to use it here. Any ideas on how to do this in C? Do I need to write my own getline function that takes a delimiter and a FILE* as two of the parameters?

[codeguru_2009]

Read the file line by line into a buffer, use strtok_r on each subsequent line. Also be careful strtok function modifies the strings passed to it.

[VernonDozier]

Read the file line by line into a buffer, use strtok_r on each subsequent line. Also be careful strtok function modifies the strings passed to it.

What if the file is one huge line with a million names, no line breaks, and I only want the first, say, 10 names? Do I still have to either read a whole line or write my own getline that can accept a delimiter? And by "read the file line by line", do you mean, read it with the getline I posted in post 1 line by line?

[codeguru_2009]

line by line means use fgets() to read a line from file. With fgets you can specify buffer size to read(it stops reading when it finds a newline character). You can also use fscanf family to read from file. Read manuals for this.

[Aia]

I have a data file that, if I was using C++, I would use the getline function to read its data into the proper variables. However, the getline functions that C++ allows appear to not be available to me in C. I want to be able to specify a stream, specify a delimiter, and have the function be portable. I've found this getline function from GNU:

http://www.gnu.org/s/libc/manual/html_node/Line-Input.html

but it says it is non-standard (so I assume that means I cannot assume it will work on all compilers), plus it does not allow me to specify a delimiter. Basically I am dealing with a comma-separated-value file:

Bob,Tom,Fred,Sam,Billy,Alexande[B]r[/B]

I want to read from the file and parse the data into an array of strings, and throw away the comma delimiters and the white space:

Bob
Tom
Fred
Sam
Billy
Alexande[B]r[/B]

I see no way to specify a comma as a delimiter in the getline function above, nor do I see a pre-written function in C that will allow me to do this.

The strtok function looks somewhat promising for this job, but the data is in a file, not a char*, so I don't see how to use it here. Any ideas on how to do this in C? Do I need to write my own getline function that takes a delimiter and a FILE* as two of the parameters?

Maybe this snippet by Dave Sinkula might help you. Or perhaps these others by same author might shade more light to the matter.

[VernonDozier]

OK, thanks. Will give it another shot.