Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1993 16:42:48 +22311259 ()
From: Ron Grunwald <rgrunwal AT bluering DOT cowan DOT edu DOT au>
Subject: Problem programming C++ streams with 32-bit GCC compiler
To: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu

Dear G++ for MSDOS programmers,

I have recently acquired the GNU G++ 32-bit compiler for MSDOS systems.
The package is called DJGPP which I downloaded from an anonymous FTP
site. This compiler is apparently also capable of compiling C++ source
code.

However, this weekend I came across a problem involving C++ streams. 
The aim was to read string fields from an ASCII text file. This can be
accomplished using the GET or GETLINE member functions of the class
istream. When I compiled the code with GCC it gave no error or warning
messages and generated the executable. However, when I ran the program
and displayed the string which was meant to contain the string field 
from the input file, nothing came up!

The same C++ code compiled under Borland C++ Version 3.1, works fine 
however.

My question is: Is there anyone who can give me advice on how to get
around this problem? Is this a bug in the GCC compiler package? 
I really do want to use GCC for my future program developments rather
than the Borland compiler and tools.

Below is the sample code that exposes this problem with the DJGPP G++
compiler.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
#define  GCC_32BIT_COMPILE

#include <iostream.h>
#include <fstream.h>

#ifdef   GCC_32BIT_COMPILE
#include <std.h>
#else
#include <stdlib.h>
#endif

#define  MAX_STRING_LENG  100
#define  SPACE_CH         ' '


main(int argc, char **argv) {

   char         string_field[MAX_STRING_LENG];
   ifstream     Read_operator;
   
   
   if(argc != 2) {
      cout << "Program Usage:  CC_FREAD <Text_filename>\n";
      exit(-1);
   }


   Read_operator.open(*(argv + 1), ios::nocreate);
   
   
   if(! Read_operator) {
      cout << "Error: Unable to locate file " << *(argv + 1) << endl;
      exit(-1);
   }
   

   // Read the first character string, terminated by a space, from an input
   // file and display it.
   //
   Read_operator.getline(string_field, MAX_STRING_LENG, SPACE_CH);
   
   cout << "First string field contains: " << string_field << endl;
   
   
   
   Read_operator.close();
}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks for any comments or suggestions made that may help me.

Regards,
         Ronald.



 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
 | Author             : Ronald Grunwald                                |
 | Internet           : rgrunwal AT bluering DOT cowan DOT edu DOT au                 |
 | Department         : Information Technology                         |
 | Division/Faculty   : Operations and Systems Management              |
 | Institution        : Edith Cowan University, Churchlands Campus     |
 | Location           : Perth, Western Australia                       |
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+