c++freopen

Using freopen() to print to file and screen


I am trying to use freopen() to print to a text file and the screen, but I am only achieving the printing to a file.

I was wondering if there was an easy to save the programs output to a file and print it to the screen? Because I had this working another way, but I ended up having to print out every statement twice. One being for the file the other just for the output.

Note: I am new to C++ and I am trying to learn it for a class next semester so direct answer are needed as I have already look online and couldn't find any simple answers to this solution besides.

Here is what I have so far:

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

using namespace std; 

void menu(){
    cout << "\t********************************************************\n"
         << "\t* Welcome to slot machine.                             *\n"
         << "\t* Would you like to play? (1 to play, 2 not to play)   *\n"
         << "\t********************************************************\n\n";
    return;
}

void update(int arr[], int &token) {
    if (arr[0]==arr[1] && arr[1]==arr[2]) {
        token+=4;
        cout << "You win\n\n";
    } else if (arr[0]==arr[1] || arr[1]==arr[2] || arr[0]==arr[2]) {
        token+=1;
        cout << "You got two out of three\n\n";
    } else {
        token-=1;
        cout << "You lose\n\n";
    }
}

int main() {
    freopen("file.txt", "w", stdout);
    int x, arr[3], token=4;
    srand(time(0));
    menu();
    cin >> x;
    while(token!=0) {
        cout << "You have " << token << " tokens\n\n"
             << "Pull? (1 to pull, 2 not to pull)\n\n";
        cin>>x;
        if(x==1) {
            for(int i=0; i<3; i++) {
                arr[i]=1+rand()%10;
            }
            cout << "\t\t";
            for(int j=0; j<3; j++) {
                cout << arr[j] << " ";
            }
            cout << "\n\n";
            update(arr,token);
        }
        else{  
            cout << "OK\n";
        }
    }
    cin.get();
    return 0;
}

Solution

  • I don't know a simple way to achieve that, but I've managed to solve this somehow.

    Using fstreams you can output to file the same way you can write to console.

    #include <fstream>
    
    int main()
    {
         std::ofstream f("file.txt");
         f << "something";
    }
    

    Now there's a point we can start: is there a way we can output to the console and file simultaneously?

    I've recently written stream demultiplexer to address that problem:

    #include <vector>
    #include <ostream>
    class stream_demultiplexer
    {
    private:
        typedef std::vector<std::ostream*> str_cont;
        str_cont d;
    public:
        stream_demultiplexer& put(std::ostream::char_type ch)
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (*it)->put(ch);
            return *this;
        }
    
        stream_demultiplexer& write(const std::ostream::char_type* s, std::streamsize count)
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (*it)->write(s, count);
            return *this;
        }
    
        stream_demultiplexer& flush()
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (*it)->flush();
            return *this;
        }
    
    
        template<typename T>
        stream_demultiplexer& operator<<( const T& obj )
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (**it) << obj;
            return *this;
        }
    
        stream_demultiplexer& operator<<(std::ios_base& (*func)(std::ios_base&))
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (**it) << func;
            return *this;
        }
    
        template<typename CharT, typename Traits>
        stream_demultiplexer& operator<<(std::basic_ios<CharT,Traits>& (*func)(std::basic_ios<CharT,Traits>&) )
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (**it) << func;
            return *this;
        }
    
        stream_demultiplexer& operator<<(std::ostream& (*func)(std::ostream&) )
        {
            for(str_cont::iterator it = d.begin(); it != d.end(); ++it)
                (**it) << func;
            return *this;
        }
    
        void add_stream(std::ostream& ss)
        {
            d.push_back(&ss);
        }
    };
    

    You can use it like this:

    stream_demultiplexer spl;
    std::ofstream f("file.txt");
    spl.add_stream(f);
    spl.add_stream(std::cout);
    spl << 55 << " HELLO WORLD";
    

    My approach has advantage that manipulators and unformatted output works correctly:

    spl << 76 << " " << std::hex << 76 << std::endl;
    spl.put('a');
    spl.write("ABCDE", 5);