C++ || Snippet – How To Read & Write Data From A User Specified Text File

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This page will consist of a demonstration of a simple quadratic formula program, which highlights the use of the input/output mechanisms of manipulating a text file. This program is very similar to an earlier snippet which was presented on this site, but in this example, the user has the option of choosing which file they want to manipulate. This program also demonstrates how to read in data from a file (numbers), manipulate that data, and output new data into a different text file.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE FOR THIS SNIPPET

Fstream
Ifstream
Ofstream
Working With Files
C_str() - Convert A String To Char Array Equivalent
Getline - String Version

Note: The data file that is used in this example can be downloaded here.

Also, in order to read in the data .txt file, you need to save the .txt file in the same directory (or folder) as your .cpp file is saved in. If you are using Visual C++, this directory will be located in

Documents > Visual Studio 2010 > Projects > [Your project name] > [Your project name]


QUICK NOTES:
The highlighted lines are sections of interest to look out for.

The code is heavily commented, so no further insight is necessary. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

Once compiled, you should get this as your output

Please enter the name of the file: INPUT_Quadratic_programmingnotes_freeweq_com.txt

For the numbers
a = 2
b = 4
c = -16

root 1 = 2
root 2 = -4

Press ENTER to continue...

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