Parse a simple inventory record in the form id,name,quantity into a struct. Reject missing fields, extra commas, an empty name, and a quantity outside 0..100000.
7,keyboard,12successWrite down the input contract and the failure cases before coding.
Use your C runtime locally, then compare with solution.c.
Parsing into a local candidate preserves the output record when validation fails. The bounded conversion prevents a long name from overflowing the destination, and the field-count check makes malformed records fail before they reach the collection layer. In production, use a checked tokenizer when quoted commas must be supported.
your-solution.c.solution.c only after a real attempt.This advanced C exercise focuses on Mutable parsing buffers, Struct invariants, Layered validation. Its requirements define the exact behavior to implement before you write code.
Start with the displayed example input and expected output, then test a boundary case suggested by the requirements. Write and compile the starter in your local C environment, exercise the example and edge cases, then compare your approach with solution.c.
Attempt Parse one CSV inventory record first. Then open the read-only solution file to compare the contract, edge-case handling, and implementation choices—not simply to copy the final code.