C++ Programming:

From Problem Analysis

to Program Design, Fourth Edition

Chapter 3: Input/Output
Objectives

In this chapter, you will:

• Learn what a stream is and examine input
and output streams
• Explore how to read data from the standard
input device
• Learn how to use predefined functions in a
program
• Explore how to use the input stream functions
get, ignore, putback, and peek

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 2

Objectives (continued)

• Become familiar with input failure

• Learn how to write data to the standard
output device
• Discover how to use manipulators in a
program to format output
• Learn how to perform input and output
operations with the string data type
• Become familiar with file input and output

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 3

I/O Streams and Standard I/O
Devices
• I/O: sequence of bytes (stream of bytes) from
source to destination
− Bytes are usually characters, unless program
requires other types of information
• Stream: sequence of characters from source
to destination
• Input stream: sequence of characters from an
input device to the computer
• Output stream: sequence of characters from
the computer to an output device

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 4

I/O Streams and Standard I/O
Devices (continued)
• Use iostream header file to extract
(receive) data from keyboard and send output
to the screen
− Contains definitions of two data types:
• istream - input stream
• ostream - output stream
− Has two variables:
• cin - stands for common input
• cout - stands for common output

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 5

I/O Streams and Standard I/O
Devices (continued)
• To use cin and cout, the preprocessor
directive #include <iostream> must
be used
• Variable declaration is similar to:
− istream cin;
− ostream cout;
• Input stream variables: type istream
• Output stream variables: type ostream

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 6

cin and the Extraction Operator
>>
• The syntax of an input statement using cin
and the extraction operator >> is:

• The extraction operator >> is binary

− Left-side operand is an input stream variable
• Example: cin
− Right-side operand is a variable

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 7

cin and the Extraction Operator
>> (continued)
• No difference between a single cin with
multiple variables and multiple cin
statements with one variable
• When scanning, >> skips all whitespace
− Blanks and certain nonprintable characters
• >> distinguishes between character 2 and
number 2 by the right-side operand of >>
− If type char or int (or double), the 2 is
treated as a character or as a number 2

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 8

cin and the Extraction Operator
>> (continued)

• Entering a char value into an int or double

variable causes serious errors, called input
failure

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 9

cin and the Extraction Operator
>> (continued)
• When reading data into a char variable
− >> skips leading whitespace, finds and stores
only the next character
− Reading stops after a single character
• To read data into an int or double variable
− >> skips leading whitespace, reads + or - sign
(if any), reads the digits (including decimal)
− Reading stops on whitespace non-digit
character

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 10

cin and the Extraction Operator
>> (continued)

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 11

Using Predefined Functions in a
Program
• Function (subprogram): set of instructions
− When activated, it accomplishes a task
• main executes when a program is run
• Other functions execute only when called
• C++ includes a wealth of functions
− Predefined functions are organized as a
collection of libraries called header files

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 13

Using Predefined Functions in a
Program (continued)
• Header file may contain several functions
• To use a predefined function, you need the
name of the appropriate header file
− You also need to know:
• Function name
• Number of parameters required
• Type of each parameter
• What the function is going to do

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 14

Using Predefined Functions in a
Program (continued)
• To use pow (power), include cmath

− Two numeric parameters

− Syntax: pow(x,y) = xy
• x and y are the arguments or parameters

− In pow(2,3), the parameters are 2 and 3

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 15

Using Predefined Functions in a
Program (continued)
Sample Run:
Line 1: 2 to the power of 6 = 64
Line 4: 12.5 to the power of 3 = 1953.13
Line 5: Square root of 24 = 4.89898
Line 7: u = 181.019
Line 9: Length of str = 20

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 17

cin and the get Function

• The get function

− Inputs next character (including whitespace)
− Stores in memory location indicated by its
argument
• The syntax of cin and the get function:

varChar
− Is a char variable
− Is the argument (parameter) of the function

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 18

cin and the ignore Function

• ignore: discards a portion of the input

• The syntax to use the function ignore is:

intExp is an integer expression

chExp is a char expression
• If intExp is a value m, the statement says to
ignore the next m characters or all characters
until the character specified by chExp
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 19
putback and peek Functions

• putback function
− Places previous character extracted by the
get function from an input stream back to that
stream
• peek function
− Returns next character from the input stream
− Does not remove the character from that
stream

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 20

putback and peek Functions
(continued)
• The syntax for putback:

− istreamVar: an input stream variable (cin)

− ch is a char variable
• The syntax for peek:

− istreamVar: an input stream variable (cin)

− ch is a char variable

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 21

The Dot Notation Between I/O
Stream Variables and I/O Functions
• In the statement
cin.get(ch);

cin and get are two separate identifiers

separated by a dot
• Dot separates the input stream variable name
from the member, or function, name
• In C++, dot is the member access operator

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 22

Input Failure

• Things can go wrong during execution

• If input data does not match corresponding
variables, program may run into problems
• Trying to read a letter into an int or double
variable will result in an input failure
• If an error occurs when reading data
− Input stream enters the fail state

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 23

The clear Function

• Once in a fail state, all further I/O statements

using that stream are ignored
• The program continues to execute with
whatever values are stored in variables
− This causes incorrect results
• The clear function restores input stream to
a working state

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 24

Output and Formatting Output

• Syntax of cout when used with <<

• Expression is evaluated
• Value is printed
• Manipulator is used to format the output
− Example: endl

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 25

setprecision Manipulator

• Syntax:

• Outputs decimal numbers with up to n

decimal places
• Must include the header file iomanip:
− #include <iomanip>

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 26

fixed Manipulator

• fixed outputs floating-point numbers in a

fixed decimal format
− Example: cout << fixed;
− Disable by using the stream member function
unsetf
• Example: cout.unsetf(ios::fixed);
• The manipulator scientific is used to
output floating-point numbers in scientific
format

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 27

showpoint Manipulator

• showpoint forces output to show the

decimal point and trailing zeros
• Examples:
− cout << showpoint;
− cout << fixed << showpoint;

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 28

setw

• Outputs the value of an expression in specific

columns
− cout << setw(5) << x << endl;
• If number of columns exceeds the number of
columns required by the expression
− Output of the expression is right-justified
− Unused columns to the left are filled with
spaces
• Must include the header file iomanip
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 29
Additional Output Formatting
Tools
• Additional formatting tools that give you more
control over your output:
− setfill manipulator
− left and right manipulators
− unsetf manipulator

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 30

setfill Manipulator

• Output stream variables can use setfill to

fill unused columns with a character

• Example:
− cout << setfill('#');

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 31

left and right Manipulators

• left: left-justifies the output

• Disable left by using unsetf

• right: right-justifies the output

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 32

Types of Manipulators

• Two types of manipulators:

− With parameters
− Without parameters
• Parameterized: require iomanip header
− setprecision, setw, and setfill
• Nonparameterized: require iostream
header
− endl, fixed, showpoint, left, and flush

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 33

Input/Output and the string
Type
• An input stream variable (cin) and >>
operator can read a string into a variable of
the data type string
• Extraction operator
− Skips any leading whitespace characters and
reading stops at a whitespace character
• The function getline
− Reads until end of the current line

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 34

File Input/Output

• File: area in secondary storage to hold info

• File I/O is a five-step process
1. Include fstream header
2. Declare file stream variables
3. Associate the file stream variables with the
input/output sources
4. Use the file stream variables with >>, <<, or
other input/output functions
5. Close the files

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 35

Programming Example: Movie
Ticket Sale and Donation to Charity
• A theater owner agrees to donate a portion of
gross ticket sales to a charity
• The program will prompt the user to input:
− Movie name
− Adult ticket price
− Child ticket price
− Number of adult tickets sold
− Number of child tickets sold
− Percentage of gross amount to be donated
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 36
Programming Example: I/O

• Inputs: movie name, adult and child ticket

price, # adult and child tickets sold, and
percentage of the gross to be donated
• Program output:
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Movie Name: ....................... Journey to Mars
Number of Tickets Sold: ........... 2650
Gross Amount: ..................... $ 9150.00
Percentage of Gross Amount Donated: 10.00%
Amount Donated: ................... $ 915.00
Net Sale: ......................... $ 8235.00

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 37

Programming Example: Problem
Analysis
• The program needs to:
1. Get the movie name
2. Get the price of an adult ticket price
3. Get the price of a child ticket price
4. Get the number of adult tickets sold
5. Get the number of child tickets sold

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 38

Programming Example: Problem
Analysis (continued)
6. Calculate the gross amount
grossAmount = adultTicketPrice *
noOfAdultTicketsSold + childTicketPrice *
noOfChildTicketsSold;

7. Calculate the amount donated to the charity

amountDonated = grossAmount *
percentDonation / 100;

8. Calculate the net sale amount

netSale = grossAmount – amountDonated;

9. Output the results

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 39

Programming Example: Variables
string movieName;
double adultTicketPrice;
double childTicketPrice;
int noOfAdultTicketsSold;
int noOfChildTicketsSold;
double percentDonation;
double grossAmount;
double amountDonated;
double netSaleAmount;

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 40

Programming Example:
Formatting Output
• First column is left-justified
− When printing a value in the first column, use
left
• Numbers in second column are right-justified
− Before printing a value in the second column,
use right
• Use setfill to fill the empty space between
the first and second columns with dots

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 41

Programming Example:
Formatting Output (continued)
• In the lines showing gross amount, amount
donated, and net sale amount
− Use blanks to fill space between the $ sign
and the number
• Before printing the dollar sign
− Use setfill to set the filling character to
blank

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 42

Programming Example: Main
Algorithm
1. Declare variables
2. Set the output of the floating-point to:
− Two decimal places
− Fixed
− Decimal point and trailing zeros
3. Prompt the user to enter a movie name
4. Input movie name using getline because
it might contain spaces
5. Prompt user for price of an adult ticket

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 43

Programming Example: Main
Algorithm (continued)
6. Input price of an adult ticket
7. Prompt user for price of a child ticket
8. Input price of a child ticket
9. Prompt user for the number of adult tickets
sold
10. Input number of adult tickets sold
11. Prompt user for number of child tickets sold
12. Input the number of child tickets sold

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 44

Programming Example: Main
Algorithm (continued)
13. Prompt user for percentage of the gross
amount donated
14. Input percentage of the gross amount
donated
15. Calculate the gross amount
16. Calculate the amount donated
17. Calculate the net sale amount
18. Output the results

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 45

Summary

• Stream: infinite sequence of characters from

a source to a destination
• Input stream: from a source to a computer
• Output stream: from a computer to a
destination
• cin: common input
• cout: common output
• To use cin and cout, include iostream
header
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 46
Summary (continued)

• get reads data character-by-character

• putback puts last character retrieved by get
back to the input stream
• ignore skips data in a line
• peek returns next character from input
stream, but does not remove it
• Attempting to read invalid data into a variable
causes the input stream to enter the fail state

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 47

Summary (continued)

• The manipulators setprecision, fixed,

showpoint, setw, setfill, left, and
right can be used for formatting output
• Include iomanip for the manipulators
setprecision, setw, and setfill
• File: area in secondary storage to hold info
• Header fstream contains the definitions of
ifstream and ofstream

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 48