Input validation

i have written many programs in c++ (some for school, and some just for fun). The problem that i have always had is that if i input a value that i did not account for my screen will get flooded with text. im looking for a way to check input for the wrong type of data.

ex: look at this problem

void main()
{
int Choice;

cin >> Choice;

switch(Choice)
{
case 1: // code here for if they pick 1
break;
case 2: // code here for if they pick 2
break;
default: // code here for if they dont pick 1 or 2
break;
}
}

this code works great if you enter any int value, but if you enter a character you get unexpected results. im looking for a simple code that will check what kind of data type was entered to see if its the kind of data i was looking for. if it is what im looking for i want it to continue, if not i want to enter the data again and again until its of the correct data type. please dont say something like look at this built in function as a reply. please tell me your ideas and some code that i may be able to use.

Thank You,

Andrew

input the value as a string, then convert it to an integer using atoi().... this will simply ignore any character values it comes across...