Assignment 1: Simple Text Editor using C programming in Linux
Environment
The goal of this assignment is to help you practice c programming. A tutorial on Linux
commands and c programming is given at the end of this assignment.
Resources/examples of c programming is given in Moodle and further help will be given in
the labs.
Deliverables: you are required to upload your c code in the assignment dropbox set in
Moodle. You are supposed to work with Linux gcc compiler and pico editor for compiling
via the command line in the Linux terminal. In the beginning, you can use Dev C++ or
Eclipse IDE - CodeBlocks since your Linux server is being setup. Note that c programming
has a filename.c extension (not .cpp). You should make a directory called “Assignment_1”
in your 'home' directory of you Linux server account. In this directory, you can have your
c code and accompanying files. Note that the code in your Linux server will be graded in
your lab from your presentation.
Description
In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to write a simple text processing
program with all essential functions (open and save text documents, insert and delete
text, search for words). A MENU will be used that will help users perform these
operations. We assume that text read from a file is stored in an array until the file is
saved.
You are required to use the c programming language (not C++) and use the std library
functions or write the function yourself that implements operations/features of a simple
text editor.
Note that all these functions will be implemented in one c program file.
Programming Requirements
a. Write a C program to open and close a file given its name. Your program must
check whether or not the file exists. (10 points)
b. Add a function for reading an opened file into an array of characters. You may
assume the array is large enough to hold an entire file (e.g. 100,000 characters).
(10 points)
c. Add a function for saving the text stored in an array to a file. Your program must
check whether or not the output file already exists, and if it does, your program
must ask the user whether he/she wishes to overwrite the file. (10 points)
d. Extend your program to count the number of words and characters in the text file.
An algorithm for counting words is given in the textbook. (15 points)
e. Add a function for inserting a string into the array. Insertion is done by providing a
start position and a string (15 points)
f. Add a function for deleting strings from the array. Deletion is done by providing a
start position and the length of the string to be deleted. (15 points)
g. Add a function that searches the text for a pattern. Show all occurrences of a
string. (10 points)
h. Add a function to replace all occurrences of a string with a new string. Note that
this operation is a combination of search, delete, and insert operations. (15
points)
Once all the functions have been implemented, you should design a menu that is used for
informing users about selection. “Pico” text editor in Linux is a good example.
Extra Credit Problem (20 points):
i. Extend your program to allow all operations performed since the last save to be
undone in the reverse order in which they were executed. For instance, a
command ‘d 3 4’ which deleted the string “abcd” from position 3 is undone by a
command ‘i 3 abcd’ which will insert the string “abcd” at position 3. You will need
a stack to save the undo operations that may be performed.
