CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cnotepad++mingw-w64
user8249477
user8249477

Reputation:

Notepad++ and NppExe not showing me an output

I want to learn C. I would like to get my notepad++ to compile and run my .c files. I have done what is needed to be done. I am using MinGW and have added the plugin. I added this prompt:

npp_save
cd "$(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)"

gcc -Wall -Werror "$(FILE_NAME)" -o $(NAME_PART) -march=native -O3

NPP_RUN $(NAME_PART)

but whenever I go to compile and run, a command prompt appears and takes all the input. But when the time comes to show me an output command prompt closes out. Also there is no output on the console embedded in the notepad++ either. I then have to use Windows cmd to execute. Can someone please help me. I am a beginner.

for instance, take a look at this:

#include <stdio.h>

/* Note: Program assumes years are in the same century. */

int main(void)

 {

 int month1, day1, year1, month2, day2, year2;
 int first_earlier = 0;

 printf("Enter first date (mm/dd/yy): ");
 scanf("%d/%d/%d", &month1, &day1, &year1);

 printf("Enter second date (mm/dd/yy): ");
 scanf("%d/%d/%d", &month2, &day2, &year2);

  if (year1 != year2)
      first_earlier = year1 < year2;

  else if (month1 != month2)
      first_earlier = month1 < month2;
  else
     first_earlier = day1 < day2;

   if (first_earlier)
  printf("%d/%d/%d is earlier than %d/%d/%d\n", month1, day1, year1, month2, day2, year2);

   else
   printf("%d/%d/%d is earlier than %d/%d/%d\n",month2, day2, year2, month1, day1, year1);

   getchar();
  return 0;

  }

when pressing F6, the command prompt appears, it asks dates and when pressing enter after entering the second date prompt closes without showing me an output anywhere.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1926

Answers (1)

Pablo
Pablo

Reputation: 13580

First of all, g++ is the C++ compiler. If you have C code, then you have to use gcc to compile C code.

I don't really understand what you mean by a command prompt appears and takes all the input, but judging from the behaviour that the console closes immediately, then this is because the console closes right after the program exits.

When making a double-click on an (console) executable, a terminal is spawned and it executes your program (not the command line). Normal behaviour of terminals is that when the executed program exists, the terminal closes. This also would happen when launching the program through your IDE.

As you can see, if you open a terminal and execute it from there, the terminal stays open, because the command line is still active1.

If you want to launch a program via double-click or IDE, then you have to make sure that your program doesn't exit right away. An easy way to do this is by making the user wait for an input.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    printf("hello world\n");

    puts("Press Enter to continue...");
    getchar();
    return 0;
}

Here the getchar would wait for user input and it would exit after the user hits ENTER. This is a workaround for launching console programs via double-click and IDEs. However I think this is bad practice, the correct way would be to start a terminal yourself and execute your program yourself.

Many terminals have the option that they don't close immediately when the running program ends. For that you should be able to check the settings of the terminal. Sometimes IDEs have also a checkbox in the settings that you have to check so that the terminal doesn't close right away.

edit

The reason why getchar at the end does not wait is because of the previous scanf.

When you enter something in the command line, a newline ('\n') is also added to the input stream.

scanf("%d/%d/%d", &month2, &day2, &year2);

If the format is correct, scanf will consume all input but leave behind the newline in the input buffer. The last getchar() will consume the newline that is already in the buffer, and because of that it doesn't wait for further user input.

You have to clear your input buffer. Add this function before the main:

void clear_stdin(void)
{
    int c;
    while((c = getchar()) != '\n' && c != EOF);
}

The call it after the scanf calls:

printf("Enter first date (mm/dd/yy): ");
scanf("%d/%d/%d", &month1, &day1, &year1);
clear_stdin();

printf("Enter second date (mm/dd/yy): ");
scanf("%d/%d/%d", &month2, &day2, &year2);
clear_stdin();

Now that the input buffer is cleared, the last getchar will wait for more user input and you program will block until you press ENTER.

Fotenotes

1Note that a terminal (console) is not the same as the command line. The terminal is the program that displays the text and allow users to type with the keyboard. A command line is just a program that allows you to enter commands and start programs. In Windows the command line is cmd.exe called command line, it is mostly found in C:\Windows\System32.

The default settings are that when you open a terminal without telling which command to execute, it will automatically open a command line, in Windows would be cmd.exe by default.

Upvotes: 2

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