function charnum = char_counter(fname,character)

fid = fopen(fname,'rt');
if fid < 0 || ~ischar(character) || ~ischar(fname) || length(fname)==0 || length(character)==0 || isempty(fname)
|| isempty(character)
charnum= -1;
else
l=[];
oneline = fgets(fid);
while ischar(oneline)
l=oneline;
oneline = fgets(fid);
end

z=count(l,character);
if z>0
charnum = z;

else
charnum =- 1;
end
end
end