Simple C scanf does not work? [duplicate]

Answer 1

When reading input using scanf, the input is read after the return key is pressed but the newline generated by the return key is not consumed by scanf, which means the next time you read a char from standard input there will be a newline ready to be read.

One way to avoid is to use fgets to read the input as a string and then extract what you want using sscanf as:

char line[MAX];

printf("\nEnter any integer:");
if( fgets(line,MAX,stdin) && sscanf(line,"%d", &anint)!=1 ) 
   anint=0;

printf("\nEnter any character:");
if( fgets(line,MAX,stdin) && sscanf(line,"%c", &achar)!=1 ) 
   achar=0;

Another way to consume the newline would be to scanf("%c%*c",&anint);. The %*c will read the newline from the buffer and discard it.

You might want to read this:

C FAQ : Why does everyone say not to use scanf?