c - How can I stop scanf-ing input after a certain character? -

i'm working on function takes filepaths , dices them smaller sections.

for example, if input parameter "cd mypath/mystuff/stack/overflow/string", want able return "cd" "mypath", "mystuff", "stack", "overflow", , "string" in succession.

while continually use "getchar", appending results ever-increasing string, stopping when getchar returns '/', feel there must more elegant way achieve same functionality.

any ideas?

you can use char * strtok ( char * str, const char * delimiters ); using / separator.

an example here: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstring/strtok/

#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h>  int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {   if (argc != 2) {     fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s path\n", argv[0]);     exit(exit_failure);   }    char* saveptr = null;   (char* str = argv[1]; ; str = null) {     char *token = strtok_r(str, "/", &saveptr);     if (token == null)        break;     printf("%s\n", token);   }     return 0; } 

example

clang -wall *.c && ./a.out mypath/mystuff/stack/overflow/string mypath mystuff stack overflow string