How do I assign a char pointer with cin?

Question

So basically when I try to do this

char* inputFileName;
cout<<  "Filename: "; cin>>*inputFileName;

it lets me input the filename but when I press enter I get an unhandled exception error. Any ideas?

edit also if I try

char* inputFileName;
cout<<  "Filename: "; cin>>inputFileName;

I get a debug assertion failed when I try to run it.

Answer 1

You need to pass in the pointer, not the dereferenced pointer, and have allocated memory for the char *

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

int main(){
    const size_t BUFFER_SIZE = 1024;
    char inputFileName[BUFFER_SIZE];
    cout << "Filename: ";
    cin >> setw(BUFFER_SIZE) >> inputFileName;
    cout << inputFileName << endl;
}

Another option besides char inputFileName[BUFFER_SIZE]; is

char *inputFileName = new char[BUFFER_SIZE];

and later

delete [] inputFileName;