Troubleshooting Matrix File Uploads: Why Am I Getting Zeros?

  • Thread starter Thread starter BRN
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    File Matrix
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a template function designed to read a matrix from a file, which initially outputs unexpected zeros in the matrix. The user encountered issues when the input consisted of multi-digit numbers without clear delimiters. Key points include the importance of using delimiters like spaces or commas to ensure proper parsing of matrix entries. The problem was traced to the way the input stream was read, where the code interpreted the input as a single column, leading to additional zero-filled columns. The user resolved the issue by inserting spaces between matrix elements in the input file, allowing the function to load the data correctly. The code itself was confirmed to be functioning properly when tested with a correctly formatted input file.
BRN
Messages
107
Reaction score
10
Hello everybody,
I created this tamplet to upload a file matrix:

[CODE lang="cpp" title="Load Matrix"]
#include <sstream>
#include "fstream"
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

template<class T >std::istream& readMatrix(std::vector<std::vector<T>>& outputMatrix, std::istream& inStream)
{
if (inStream) {
std::string line;

while (std::getline(inStream, line)) {
outputMatrix.emplace_back();

// Break down the row into column values
std::stringstream split(line);
int value;

while (split >> value)
outputMatrix.back().push_back(value);
}
}
return inStream;
}
[/CODE]

Unfortunately it does not provide me with the correct output. I get this:[CODE lang="cpp" title="Output"]
input:
1234
5678
9123
4567

output:
1234 0 0 0
5678 0 0 0
9123 0 0 0
4567 0 0 0
[/CODE]

I can't understand why I get those zeros. Any idea?
 
Technology news on Phys.org
Did you mean to write split > value or split >> value?

I don't understand where the split values are assigned.

It seems you've called a split(line) function which I assume returns an array of values.
 
  • Like
Likes BRN
Your matrix file format is ambiguous unless you can absolutely guarantee that every entry will only ever be a single digit number. If one line is 12345 should that be 12,3,4,5 or 1,23,4,5 or 1,2,34,t or 1,2,3,45? You should put in delimiters such as spaces or commas.

I think what's happening is that you have told your stream to read values from each line in your input until it runs out of input. It reads the first value 1234, which is a valid four digit number, and finds nothing else on the line so goes on to the next line. You need to look at how std::stringstream's operator>> works with delimiters if you want to potentially use more than one digit, or consider using get() instead if you genuinely only want single digit numbers and no delimiters.
 
  • Like
Likes BRN
The code looks fine to me. And when I run it, it works as expected: I created a file data.dat with the entries
1234
5678
9012
3456

and ran it with your code, extended by a main
Code:
int main() {
    using namespace std;
    ifstream file("data.dat");
    vector<vector<int>> matrix;
    readMatrix(matrix, file);
    for(const auto& row: matrix) {
        for (const auto& entry: row) {
            cout<<entry<<" ";
        }
        cout<<endl;
    }
}
When I run the program, I get exactly the expected 1x4 matrix that is in data.dat - no zeroes added. I suspect the problem is in your input stream, not in the code you use to parse it.
 
  • Like
Likes BRN
Timo said:
The code looks fine to me.
The splitting looks fine to me too. And a similar example runs as it should.
 
  • Like
Likes BRN
On 2nd though, here is another suspicion what goes wrong: Check the code where you output your matrix: Maybe your code assumes a 4x4 matrix and fills the missing entries with 0 or access to uninitialized memory locations like matrix[0][1]?
 
  • Like
Likes BRN
Ibix said:
Your matrix file format is ambiguous unless you can absolutely guarantee that every entry will only ever be a single digit number. If one line is 12345 should that be 12,3,4,5 or 1,23,4,5 or 1,2,34,t or 1,2,3,45? You should put in delimiters such as spaces or commas.
Exactly, this was the problem. I inserted a space between each matrix element in the file and is now loaded correctly.

Timo said:
Maybe your code assumes a 4x4 matrix and fills the missing entries with 0 or access to uninitialized memory locations like matrix[0][1]?
Yes, this happened. My code interpreted my file as a single column of 4 values and consequently added three other columns of zeros.

Thank you all for your answers!
 
  • Like
Likes jtbell, Filip Larsen and berkeman

Similar threads

Back
Top