C Hangman Program

[mysiarobin1987]

My assignment was to convert a C++ program into a C program. This program is like the game Hangman. My problem is the code compiles and runs in Unix VI editor, but the output is not what I want it to be.

My professor's sample output was this:

Please enter a word: howdy
The word is 5 characters

What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) a
There are 0 a's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) e
There are 0 e's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) d
There are 1 d's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) o
There are 1 o's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) y
There are 1 y's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) b
There are 0 b's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) 0
You found these letters
d o y

However, I am getting this:
Please enter a word: howdy
The word is 13 characters

What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) h
There are 1 h's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) o
There are 0 o's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) w
There are 0 w's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) d
There are 0 d's.
What letter would you like to guess? (Enter zero to quit.) y
There are 0 y's.

You found these letters
h

Please tell me what I did wrong, thank you!

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <ctype.h>

// function prototypes
/* The function instruct describes the use 
   and purpose of the program. */
void instruct();

/* the function getWord reads the word
   entered */
char* getWord();

/* the function findLetter searches the word
   for a letter and returns the number of times
   the letter appears in the word */
int findLetter (char letter, int number, char* word);

/* the function getGuess prompts the user for
   the letter and returns the letter */
char getGuess();

/* the function display displays the letters
   found in the word */
void display (const int alphabet[]);

int main()
{
     // declare variables
     /* a char pointer variable Word to read in the word,
        an array of characters called word, since C doesn't use string,
        a character variable guess to enter the letter,
        an integer variable number for the length of the word,
        an integer variable occurrence for the number
        of times the letter appears in the word,
        and an int array alphabet to indicate
        if the letter has been found */

     char* word;
     char wordGuess[25];
     char guess;
     int number, occurrence;
     int alphabet[26] = {0};

     // call the function instruct
     instruct();

     // call the function getWord to read in the word
     word = getWord();
   
     // find the length of the word
     number = strlen(word);
     strcpy (wordGuess, word);
 
     // display a message showing the length of the word
     printf("The word is %d characters\n", number);

     // call the function getGuess to read the letter
     guess = getGuess();

     // loop until a 0 is entered
     while (guess)
     {
          /*call the function find letter to find the number
             occurrences of the letter in the word */
          occurrence = findLetter(guess, number, wordGuess);
          // display the number of occurrences of the letter
          printf("There are %d %c s.", occurrence, guess);
          /* set the array element corresponding with the 
             letter to true */
          if (occurrence)
             alphabet[guess-97] = 1;
          // call the function getGuess to read the letter
          guess = getGuess();
     }
     display (alphabet);

     return 0;
}

// function prototypes
/* The function instruct describes the use 
   and purpose of the program. */
void instruct()
{
     printf("This program prompts the user for "
     "a word and then a letter.\n"
     "The word is searched to find the letter.\n"
     "The user can enter more letters until a "
     "zero is entered.\nThe program displays the "
     "number of times a letter is found, and all "
     "the letters found in the word.\n\n");
}

/* the function display displays the letters
   found in the word */
void display (const int alphabet[])
{
     printf("You found these letters\n");
     /* loop through the array for the 
        letters found */
     int count;
     for (count = 0; count < 26; count++)
     {
          if (alphabet[count])
              printf("%c \t", (count+97));
     }
}

/* the function getWord reads the word
   entered */
char* getWord()
{
     int len = 0;
     char word[25];
     printf("Please enter a word: ");
     scanf("%s", &word);
     return &word[0];
}
                                                      
/* the function getGuess prompts the user for 
   the letter and returns the letter */
char getGuess()
{
     char guess = '0';
     while (guess < 97 || guess > 122)
     {
         printf("\nWhat letter would you like to guess?"
         "(Enter zero to quit.)\n");
         scanf("%c", &guess);
         if (guess == '\n')
            scanf("%c", &guess);
         guess = tolower(guess);
         if (guess == '0')
            return 0;
     }
     return guess;
}

/* the function findLetter searches the word
   for a letter and returns the number of times
   the letter appears in the word */
int findLetter (char letter, int number, char* word)
{
     // declare variables
     /* declare an integer variable foundLetter
        initialized to zero to count the number of times
        the letter appears in the word, an integer               
        variable start initalized to 0 to indicate
        the starting search location in the word,
        an integer variable stop initialized to the
        length of the word to indicate the end 
        location in the word */                       
     int foundLetter = 0, start = 0, stop = number;

     while (word[start] != '\0')
       {   
           if (toupper(word[start]) == toupper(letter))
           foundLetter++;
           start++;
       }
    // return the number of occurences in the letter
    return foundLetter;
}

[salem c]

> return &word[0];
You're returning a pointer to a local variable.
That variable disappears on function exit, so you're left pointing at junk.

The quick and dirty hack is to do
static char word[25];

[mysiarobin1987]

thank you so much!