Difficulty Reading and couting numeric data from a file

[TheEurekaMan]

So i've copied a program from my textbook that reads numbers from a file and then displays them. However for some reason I keep getting large random numbers for my output on the consol. Please helpe me fix this. The text file "TonyNumbers.txt" has the numbers 1 through 5, each with their own line.

  
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    ifstream inFile;
    int val1, val2, val3, sum;

    inFile.open("TonyNumbers.txt");

    //read three numbers from the file
    inFile >> val1;
    inFile >> val2;
    inFile >> val3;

    inFile.close();

    cout << val1 << val2 << val3;


    return 0;
}

[SakurasouBusters]

1.
cout << val1 << val2 << val3;

Should be :
cout << val1 << ' ' << val2 << ' ' << val3 << endl;

2.
inFile.open("TonyNumbers.txt");

Should be :

string fileName("TonyNumbers.txt");
inFile.open(fileName.c_str());

while(!inFile.is_open())
{
    cout << "The file " << fileName << " cannot be found.\n Enter another file : ";
    getline(cin, fileName);
    inFile.open(fileName.c_str());
}
cout << "The file " << fileName << " has been opened successfully." << endl;

Also include <string>.
+ What is the program output you are getting?
+ What are the contents of "TonyNumbers.txt"?

[TheEurekaMan]

The text file contents are as follows:
1
2
3
4
5

It's only supposed to be numeric data so I don't need strings. Yet. I'm just building a simple driver to figure out why my other program wasn't functioning properly.

[SakurasouBusters]

Try my suggestions and pinpoint the problem. Then tell me the problem you are having.

[SakurasouBusters]

int val1, val2, val3, sum;

Should be :
int val1 = 0, val2 = 0, val3 = 0, sum = 0;

[TheEurekaMan]

Okay so here's a link to a screenshot of my output I posted to imgur. It's the output of my original program.

https://imgur.com/hPrzXrl

[SakurasouBusters]

Ok, try this :

inFile >> val1;
inFile >> val2;
inFile >> val3;

You change it to :

while(inFile >> val1) 
cout << "Reading " << val1 << " from the file..." << endl;

And let me know the output.

[TheEurekaMan]

Nope, I still get a strange error. I made the screen shot larger so you can see my code too.

https://imgur.com/gallery/hw42J

[SakurasouBusters]

Try this test driver.

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
	ifstream inFile;
	int val1 = 0, val2 = 0, val3 = 0, sum = 0;

	string fileName("TonyNumbers.txt");
	inFile.open(fileName.c_str());

	while(!inFile.is_open())
	{
		cout << "The file " << fileName << " cannot be found.\n Enter another file : ";
		getline(cin, fileName);
		inFile.open(fileName.c_str());
	}
	cout << "The file " << fileName << " has been opened successfully." << endl;

	// Read three numbers from the file
	inFile >> val1;
	inFile >> val2;
	inFile >> val3;

	inFile.close();

	cout << "The three values : " << val1 << ' ' << val2 << ' ' << val3 << endl;
	cout << "The sum of three values : " << val1 + val2 + val3 << endl;

	return 0;
}

[SakurasouBusters]

If your program has successfully opened the data file, this message below should be displayed :

The file TonyNumbers.txt has been opened successfully.

[TheEurekaMan]

You're program worked, sorta. It pops up saying it can't find my file (saved it on the desktop) and then asks me to enter the file name. I type in the same file name it says it couldn't find and then it suddenly finds it :/??


https://imgur.com/gallery/KWMUY

EDIT: Do you have any idea what those random numbers were and how I can avoid them in the future? I'm a lowly comp sci 1 student and don't know these things (if you couldn't tell already lol). My best guess is that it's somehow reading something from the buffer.

[SakurasouBusters]

To avoid garbage numbers, you should initialize the numbers with 0.
int val1 = 0, val2 = 0, val3 = 0, sum = 0;

[TheEurekaMan]

This is it working. I didn't get your successful message.

https://imgur.com/gallery/f9tdMoV

[SakurasouBusters]

You're program worked, sorta. It pops up saying it can't find my file (saved it on the desktop) and then asks me to enter the file name. I type in the same file name it says it couldn't find and then it suddenly finds it :/??

I have updated my test driver, hopefully it works this time. I use a while loop.