I have a program that simply calculates the Ackermann function:
#include <iostream>
// Ackermann function calculations
unsigned int ackermann(unsigned int m, unsigned int n){
if(m == 0)
return n+1;
if(n == 0)
return ackermann(m-1,1);
return ackermann(m-1,ackermann(m,n-1));
}
// Check for non-integer input
bool inputCheck(){
if(!std::cin.fail())
return false;
std::cout << "Invalid input!" << std::endl;
return true;
}
// Check for negative or overflow errors
bool numCheck(int i, char name){
if(i < 0){
std::cout << "Negative error!" << std::endl;
return true;
}
if(name == 'm' && i > 3){
std::cout << "Overflow error (m > 3)!" << std::endl;
return true;
}
if(name == 'n' && i > 12){
std::cout << "Overflow error (n > 12)!" << std::endl;
return true;
}
return false;
}
// Run input and num checks
bool check(int x, char y){
bool result = inputCheck() || numCheck(x, y);
std::cin.clear();
std::cin.ignore();
return result;
}
int main(){
int m, n;
bool valM, valN;
do{
std::cout << "m = ";
std::cin >> m;
valM = check(m, 'm');
} while(valM);
do{
std::cout << "n = ";
std::cin >> n;
valN = check(n, 'n');
} while(valN);
std::cout << "\nM = " << m << "\nN = " << n
<< "\n\nCALCULATING..." << std::endl;
std::cout << "A(" << m << ',' << n << ") = " << ackermann(m,n) << std::endl;
return 0;
}
A majority of the code is checking for invalid input. For computational reasons, m
cannot be larger than 3, and n
cannot be larger than 12. It also checks if the input is negative.
Known problems:
If the user inputs something like 3z
. cin just takes the 3 and ignores the z. Obviously, 3z
is different than 3
, and I would like to detect such an invalid input.
If the user inputs something like 1.2
. cin takes 1 for m and then 2 for n. The program is ignoring the period and taking it as two inputs, and I would like to detect such an invalid input.
How can I modify or fix my code so it only takes correct input?
I figured out a way to check if the input is something like 1.2
.
Instead of initializing m
and n
as integers, I can initialize them as doubles. Then I can check if the rounded double is the same as the initial double:
double x;
if(floor(x) != x){
// not an integer
}
Using this I can check if something like 1.2
is an integer or not. Then I can convert the double to an integer and continue on in the program.
However, I am still unable to check for invalid inputs like 3z
.