How do I count the number of words in a text file using C?

Question

I need some help with a program that I am writing for my Systems Programming class. It is in C and I have very, very little experience with C. I need to merge three text file with the format:

word1
word2
word3
...
wordX

I am also to bring each of the words from all three files and put them into a 2D array (an array of string-arrays), then use some sort of sorting method on them.

I shouldn't need help with the sorting, but I don't know how to get the word count from each of the text files or put them into an array.

---

This is the function I have for counting the words in the file. It doesn't compile on gcc (probably for obvious reasons, but I don't know them). Do I even have the right idea?

int countWords(FILE f){
   int count = 0;
   char ch;
   while ((ch = fgetc(f)) != EOF){
       if (ch == '\n')
           count++;
       //return count; originally here, but shouldn't be.
   }
       return count;
}

---

EDIT: I supposed I could just find a way to count the lines in the program, but I'm not sure if the approach would be any different from what I am trying to do here. (I have never really been that good at working with text files.

---

I got it to count all of the lines in the program. I guess I'm a little rusty.

---

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int countWords(FILE *f){
   int count = 0;
   char ch;
   while ((ch = fgetc(f)) != EOF){
       if (ch == '\n')
           count++;
   }
   return count;
}
int main(void){

   int wordCount = 0;
   FILE *rFile = fopen("american0.txt", "r");
   wordCount += countWords(rFile);
   printf("%d", wordCount);
   return 0;
}

---

I kind of forgot about that the pointer thing with FILE *fileName

Answer 1

It should be int countWords(FILE *f){ , with * . And the return statement should go before the last } only, outside the loop.

Answer 2

The type you use for a file in c is FILE* . That star is important, indicating that the type is a "pointer to FILE". It is unlikely that countWords(FILE f) is what you meant to write.

Each time you call your function, it will have a fresh count = 0 , so it will always return 0 or 1. Try using static int count; , making count a global variable, or passing in the current count to the function. Your other option is to move the return count; line outside of the while loop.

You will also probably need to divide the count by two to get the number of words, using the format you posted.

Answer 3

Here is the code. Just read the number of spaces, that it.

#include<stdio.h>
#define FILE_READ "file.txt"

    int main()

{
    FILE * filp;
    int count = 1;
    char c;
    filp = fopen(FILE_READ, "r");
    if(filp == NULL)
        printf("file not found\n");
    while((c = fgetc(filp)) != EOF) {
        if(c == ' ')
            count++;
    }
    printf("worrds = %d\n", count);
    return 0;
}

text file

I am megharaj, from india.

output,

worrds = 5

Answer 4

here's a code from my uni book

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void){

  FILE *f = fopen("file.txt", "r");
  int count = 0, word=0;
  char ch;

  while ((ch = fgetc(f)) != EOF){
    if (ch == ' ' || ch == '\n') {
      word = 0;
      } else {
        if(!word){
          count++;
          word = 1;
        }
      }
   }

  printf("%d", count);
  return 0;
}