Using scanf with NSStrings

The scanf function reads into a C string (actually an array of char), like this:

char word[40];

int nChars = scanf("%39s", word);   // read up to 39 chars (leave room for NUL)

You can convert a char array into NSString like this:

NSString* word2 = [NSString stringWithBytes:word 
                                     length:nChars
                                   encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

However scanf only works with console (command line) programs. If you’re trying to get input on a Mac or iOS device then scanf is not what you want to use to get user input.