How to print 2D Arrays in C++?

Question

I am trying to print a text file out on screen using arrays, but I'm not sure why it does not appear the way it is in the text file.

The text file:

1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8

Displayed on the screen as follows after applying discard function:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

The code:

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

const int MAX_SIZE = 20;
const int TOTAL_AID = 4;

void discard_line(ifstream &in);
void print(int print[][4] , int size);

int main()
{
    //string evnt_id[MAX_SIZE]; //stores event id
    int athlete_id[MAX_SIZE][TOTAL_AID]; //stores columns for athelete id
    int total_records;
    char c; 
    ifstream reg;
    reg.open("C:\\result.txt");

    discard_line(reg);
    total_records = 0;

    while( !reg.eof() )
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < TOTAL_AID; i++)
        {
            reg >> athlete_id[total_records][i] ;//read aid coloumns
        }
        total_records++;
        reg.get(c);
    }

    reg.close();

    print(athlete_id, total_records);

    system("pause");
    return 0;
}

void discard_line(ifstream &in)
{
    char c;

    do
        in.get(c);
    while (c!='\n');
}

void print(int print[][4] , int size)
{    
    cout << " \tID \t AID " << endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
    {
        for (int j = 0; j < TOTAL_AID; j++)
        {
            cout << print[i][j] << endl;
        }           
    }
}    

Answer 1

You are printing std::endl after each number. If you want to have 1 row per line, then you should print std::endl after each row. Example:

#include <iostream>

int main(void)
{
    int myArray[][4] = { {1,2,3,4}, {5,6,7,8} };
    int width = 4, height = 2;

    for (int i = 0; i < height; ++i)
    {
        for (int j = 0; j < width; ++j)
        {
            std::cout << myArray[i][j] << ' ';
        }
        std::cout << std::endl;
    }
}

Also note that writing using namespace std; at the beginning of your files is considered bad practice since it causes some of user-defined names (of types, functions, etc.) to become ambiguous. If you want to avoid exhausting prefixing with std::, use using namespace std; within small scopes so that other functions and other files are not affected.

Answer 2

It is not only mistake that you miss the "endl". The program will also skip the first line in the source file because of calling the function discard_line(reg), so you only can get the others data(5 6 7 8). It is not necessary to use the function at all. in addition, make sure that you init the array and check boundary of array, such as MAX_SIZE, to guarantee the input data not to overflow the array.