How to check if input is numeric in C++

c++

I want to create a program that takes in integer input from the user and then terminates when the user doesn't enter anything at all (ie, just presses enter). However, I'm having trouble validating the input (making sure that the user is inputting integers, not strings. atoi() won't work, since the integer inputs can be more than one digit.

What is the best way of validating this input? I tried something like the following, but I'm not sure how to complete it:

char input

while( cin>>input != '\n')
{
     //some way to check if input is a valid number
     while(!inputIsNumeric)
     {
         cin>>input;
     }
}

When cin gets input it can't use, it sets failbit:

int n;
cin >> n;
if(!cin) // or if(cin.fail())
{
    // user didn't input a number
    cin.clear(); // reset failbit
    cin.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n'); //skip bad input
    // next, request user reinput
}

When cin's failbit is set, use cin.clear() to reset the state of the stream, then cin.ignore() to expunge the remaining input, and then request that the user re-input. The stream will misbehave so long as the failure state is set and the stream contains bad input.

Check out std::isdigit() function.

The problem with the usage of

cin>>number_variable;

is that when you input 123abc value, it will pass and your variable will contain 123.

You can use regex, something like this

double inputNumber()
{
    string str;
    regex regex_pattern("-?[0-9]+.?[0-9]+");
    do
    {
        cout << "Input a positive number: ";
        cin >> str;
    }while(!regex_match(str,regex_pattern));

    return stod(str);
}

Or you can change the regex_pattern to validate anything that you would like.

I find myself using boost::lexical_cast for this sort of thing all the time these days. Example:

std::string input;
std::getline(std::cin,input);
int input_value;
try {
  input_value=boost::lexical_cast<int>(input));
} catch(boost::bad_lexical_cast &) {
  // Deal with bad input here
}

The pattern works just as well for your own classes too, provided they meet some simple requirements (streamability in the necessary direction, and default and copy constructors).

How to check if input is numeric in C++

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