Question

I want to use a string array in an if statement to test whether the input string matches any of the strings in the array.

So far this is what I’ve tried:

void checkForError(char input[50])
{

    const char *input2[]={"print","loadStarter","terminate()"};

    if(input != input2)
    {
        printf("Error:Incorrect method '%s'.\n",input);
    }
    else
    {
        abort();
    }
}

And if I were to enter something in the array like “print” it would end up showing me:

Error:Incorrect method ‘print’.

but when I try something not listed in the array like “g” it repeats the error message nonstop.

I was thinking perhaps something like this could work:

void checkForError(char input)
{
  if(strcmp(input,"print"))!=0 || strcmp(input,"loadStarter"))!=0 || strcmp(input,"terminate()")
  {
    printf("Error:Incorrect method '%s'.\n");
  }
  else
  {
    abort();
  }
}

But it turns out that actually doesn’t work so what do I do?

Answer 1

I think a good solution to your question would be to loop around your array, aborting on the first match.

void checkForError(char* input)
{
   const char *input2[]={"print","loadStarter","terminate()"};
   const int len = sizeof(input2)/sizeof(input2[0]);

   for (int i = 0; i < len ;i ++)
   {
       if (strcmp(input,input2[i]) == 0)
       {
          //I have matched the string input2[i]
          abort();
       }
    }

     // Nothing matched
     printf("Not found\n");
 }

This would also be easier to extend than any handcoded method.

Also, if you plan on doing a lot with these strings, and you have a limited number of strings, you should probably turn them into some sort of enum. This way you do not have to have strcmp scattered everywhere, and you can use a standard switch statement.