Question

Assignment

Extend the Game of Life assignment to load its configuration from a file.

Functional Requirements

1. MUST load the initial state from text file
2. MUST load the number of rounds to play from text file
3. COULD load the grid size from the file

CODE I HAVE:

#include <stdio.h>

#include <stdlib.h>

#include <unistd.h>

#include "life.h"

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {

int board[XSIZE][YSIZE];

int rounds = DEFAULTROUNDS;

initBoard(board);

board[5][5] = ALIVE;

board[5][6] = ALIVE;

board[5][7] = ALIVE;

board[6][6] = ALIVE;

printf("Playing %d rounds.\n\n", rounds);

for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++) {

printf("Round: %d\n", i + 1);

printBoard(board);

playRound(board);

sleep(1);

}

return 0;

}

void initBoard(int vBoard[][YSIZE]) {

/* write this functions */

for (int i = 0; i < XSIZE; i++)

for (int j = 0; j < YSIZE; j++)

//Sets it to dead values on the board

vBoard[i][j] = DEAD;

}

void playRound(int vBoard[][YSIZE]) {

int tmpBoard[XSIZE][YSIZE];

initBoard(tmpBoard);

// perform the algorithm on vBoard, but update tmpBoard

// with the new state

for (int x = 0; x < XSIZE; x++) {

for (int y = 0; y < YSIZE; y++) {

int numNeighbors = neighbors(vBoard, x, y);

// If a cell is alive

if (vBoard[x][y] == ALIVE) {

//If it has less than two living neighbors, it dies.

if (numNeighbors < 2)

//SETS TO DEAD

tmpBoard[x][y] = DEAD;

//Else if it has two or three living neighbors, it lives and continues to the next generation

else if (numNeighbors <= 3)

//SETS TO ALIVE

tmpBoard[x][y] = ALIVE;

//Else if it has more than three living neighbors, it dies becuase of overpopulation

else

//SETS TO DEAD

tmpBoard[x][y] = DEAD;

}

//Else if a cell is dead

else {

// if it has exactly three living neighbors, it becomes alive due to reproduction.

if (numNeighbors == 3)

//Sets to ALIVE

tmpBoard[x][y] = ALIVE;

}

}

}

// copy tmpBoard over vBoard

for (int x = 0; x < XSIZE; x++) {

for (int y = 0; y < YSIZE; y++) {

vBoard[x][y] = tmpBoard[x][y];

}

}

}

int onBoard(int x, int y) {

if (x < 0 || x >= XSIZE)

return 0;

else if (y < 0 || y >= YSIZE)

return 0;

else

return 1;

}

int neighbors(int vBoard[][YSIZE], int x, int y) {

int n = 0;

int xp1 = x + 1;

int xm1 = x - 1;

int yp1 = y + 1;

int ym1 = y - 1;

if (onBoard(xm1, y) && vBoard[xm1][y] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(xm1, yp1) && vBoard[xm1][yp1] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(x, yp1) && vBoard[x][yp1] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(xp1, yp1) && vBoard[xp1][yp1] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(xp1, y) && vBoard[xp1][y] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(xp1, ym1) && vBoard[xp1][ym1] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(x, ym1) && vBoard[x][ym1] == ALIVE)

n++;

if (onBoard(xm1, ym1) && vBoard[xm1][ym1] == ALIVE)

n++;

return n;

}

void printBoard(int vBoard[XSIZE][YSIZE]) {

for (int i = 0; i < XSIZE; i++) {

for (int j = 0; j < YSIZE; j++) {

//prints dead characters as - and alive chracters as O

printf("%c ", vBoard[i][j] ? 'O' : '-');

}

//prints space to keep rounds seperate

printf("\n");

}

}

Answer 1

task is to write codes to read data from a file for initial state, number of rounds and grid size

So to make it more maintainable i will use three separate file

1. for loading initial state

2. for number of rounds

3. for grid size

first, lets write a function to read data from text file

string getDataFromFile(string filePath, int size){
/* open file for reading and writing */
char result[size];
/* open file for reading and writing */
fp = fopen(filePath, "w+");
   /* go to the beginning of the file */
fseek(fp, 0, SEEK_SET);
/*reads the data and stores it to result array*/
fread(result, size, 1, fp);
return result;

}

now as you get the data from text and you need to put it in integer variables
in stdlib.h there is a function called atoi which converts valid string characters to integers

so for DEFAULTROUNDS XISZE YSIZE and number of rounds

what you should do I give you one examle in the below
int xSize = atoi(getDataFromFile("xSize.txt",3));

int ySize=atoi(getDataFromFile("ySize.txt",3));

int defaultRounds = atoi(getDataFromFile("ySize.txt",5));

int numberOfRounds = atoi(getDataFromFile("ySize.txt",5));

I am not doing the entire refactoring of the code as this would be not good for the student. so leaving him /her with the task to call the method in appropriate position to run the entire code block.