Refactored the method input.c, so that it separates the words from one another and returns the wordcount

Start_Linux/input.c

@@ -1,24 +1,69 @@
+/* 
+----- input.c-------------------------------------------------------- 
+ Description: ReadWords: Takes a file and separates all the words from one another, returns the wordcount and an array with all words
+     Project: Praktikum Informatik 2
+      Author: kobma99134@th-nuernberg.de
+        Date: 05-11-2025
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+*/
+
 #include "input.h"
 #include <string.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
 
-// TODO:
-// eine Funktion implementieren, die ein einzelnes Wort aus einer Textdatei (words.txt) einliest und als C-String zurückgibt.
-
 // Read words from file and store in 'words' array
 int readWords(FILE *file, char words[][MAX_WORD_LEN], unsigned int maxWordCount)
 {
-    char word[MAX_WORD_LEN];
+    // checks, if the file acually exists
+    if (file == NULL) {
+        return 0;
+    }
 
-    // we possibly don't need fopen, since file is already a parameter 
-    // fopen(stream)
+    //return value: wordcount, as in the number of words that are being read
+    int wordcount = 0;
+    char readLine[MAX_LINE_LEN];
 
-    fgets(word, MAX_WORD_LEN,file);
-    // fgets(string, length, file *stream)
+    // collects the words line by line and adds them to the list, if its not exceeding the max word count
+    while (fgets(readLine, sizeof(readLine), file) != (NULL && wordcount < maxWordCount)) {
         
-    strcpy(words[maxWordCount-1], word);
-    maxWordCount++;
-    // we possibly also won't need to close the 
-    //    fclose( *<stream>) 
-    return 0;
+        char word[MAX_WORD_LEN];
+        int wordIndex = 0;
+        
+        //reads every character in the line from start to finish, until the Enter key ('\0')
+        for (int i = 0; readLine[i] != '\0'; i++) {
+            
+            // is the character a letter from the alphabet?
+            if(isalpha(readLine[i])) {
+                if (wordIndex < MAX_WORD_LEN) {
+                    // clean code: We want only uppercase or only lowercase letters to avoid future problems...
+                    word[wordIndex++] = toupper(readLine[i]);
+                }
+            }
+            else {
+                //if its not a letter, it has to be another character dividing two words e.g. ' ', ',', ';' etc.
+                if (wordIndex > 0) {
+                    // we want a full word, not an empty string
+                    word[wordIndex] = '\0';
+                    // add the word to the wordlist
+                    strcpy(words[wordcount], word);
+                    wordcount++;
+                    wordIndex = 0;
+
+                    if (wordcount >= maxWordCount) {
+                        return wordcount;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        //Edge case: If the last word ends on a '\0', right after the last letter
+        if (wordIndex > 0 && wordcount < maxWordCount) {
+            word[wordIndex] = '\0';
+            strcp(words[wordcount], word);
+            wordcount++;
+        }
+
+    }
+    // regular case: return the total number of words
+    return wordcount;
 }