string input = "2 columns 2 rows all * go"; // Read it from some input
istringstream iss(input);

vector<string> tokens;
copy(istream_iterator<string>(iss),
     istream_iterator<string>(),
     back_inserter<vector<string> >(tokens));

int columns = atoi(tokens[0].c_str());
int rows = atoi(tokens[2].c_str());