Why is my switch case which is inside a do while loop not working and breaks out of the loop even when it should continue?

Question

Expected behavior is to take the name as input and run the while loop again but instead it just goes to the next line and does nothing.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;   
int main()
{
    int ch,mb;
    bool y=true;
    char name;
    cout<<"Enter 1,2 or 3 : ";
    do{
             cin>>ch;
             switch(ch)
             {
                 case 1:
                     cout<<" \n\t 1.ENTER CUSTOMER NAME :";    
                     cin>>name;     
                     continue;
                 case 2:
                     cout<<" \n\t 2.ENTER MOBILE NUMBER:";
                     cin>>mb;
                     continue;
                 case 3:
                     y=false;
            }
      }while(y!=false);
}

"*but instead it just goes to the next line and does nothing.*" what does this mean? What does going to the next line mean? What does doing nothing mean? What (exactly) do you expect to see, and what (exactly) are you actually seeing? — JohnFilleau, Apr 30 '20 at 17:20
Also, `char name;` That should be a `char []` or even better, `std::string`. I am assuming `name` is more than one character. — Johnny Mopp, Apr 30 '20 at 17:22
@JohnnyMopp: In addition if OP try to type more characters, next character would go for `std::cin >> ch;` so infinite failed parsing... — Jarod42, Apr 30 '20 at 17:32
OK. I've never seen an example of continue used in a switch. I see now that it is continuing the do-while and not working on the switch at all. — Delta_G, Apr 30 '20 at 17:39
@Jarod42 Yes, there are definitely issues with the input code. `name` could have spaces. Phone numbers often have dashes `-` (in the US anyway). OP should look into `std::getline()`. — Johnny Mopp, Apr 30 '20 at 17:42

Lawrence Ward · Answer 1 · 2020-04-30T17:28:13.300

0

Use break; instead of continue; break will move execution to the end of the switch.

Edit: I think the issue is that you are just not seeing your prompt again. so move it inside your loop.

edited Apr 30 '20 at 17:28

answered Apr 30 '20 at 17:17

Lawrence Ward

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In this case `continue` should work as well as a `break`. – Johnny Mopp Apr 30 '20 at 17:21
`continue` should just check the loop conditional and re-execute it. In this case, while break is the correct, I don't think it's causing OP's error. – JohnFilleau Apr 30 '20 at 17:21
_"break will move execution to the end of the switch"_ which contains nothing, so the loop will begin anew.... just as if you'd written `continue`..... – Asteroids With Wings Apr 30 '20 at 17:35

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 30 '20 at 17:34

0

It doesn't "do nothing"; it waits for the next input. Because that's what you told it to do!

If you want to get another prompt, move the cout<<"Enter 1,2 or 3 : "; line inside the loop.

By the way, a char is one byte so that's not really appropriate for reading a whole customer name; furthermore, you should avoid using ints for telephone numbers.

answered Apr 30 '20 at 17:34

Asteroids With Wings

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yes, I have changed it to double and it's working great now. And the code is working well now. – sairahulare Apr 30 '20 at 17:48
Changing the phone number to `double` is going in the wrong direction. Please click on the link I provided and _read_ the information. – Asteroids With Wings Apr 30 '20 at 17:49
Thank you, I have changed it to string now. I mean I did encounter some issues while testing with int, double by including large numbers, I get it now that string solves the problem entirely. Sorry for my ignorance. – sairahulare Apr 30 '20 at 17:57
No problem. By the way, you accepted an incorrect & incomplete answer. – Asteroids With Wings Apr 30 '20 at 18:00
@AsteroidsWithWings Incomplete answer? – sairahulare Apr 30 '20 at 18:05
Yes the other answer is missing all the tips I gave you, as well as containing a false statement regarding `break`/`continue`. Not sure why you preferred it. :( – Asteroids With Wings Apr 30 '20 at 18:05
You can't "tick both". https://stackoverflow.com/help/someone-answers – Asteroids With Wings Apr 30 '20 at 18:11
Thank you for helping out a newbie. – sairahulare Apr 30 '20 at 18:23
You got it sairahulare! – Asteroids With Wings Apr 30 '20 at 18:30

Why is my switch case which is inside a do while loop not working and breaks out of the loop even when it should continue?

2 Answers2