How to merge multiple array tokens into one in c - arrays

I am trying to merge multiple string array tokens into one, for example:
char* args = { "zero" , "one', "two"}
Noting that args is not a set size, it could be 1 or 100
I want to make a new array
char* array ={"one two"}
with the spaces in between.
I tried this:
char* array;
int i=1;
for(i=1; i< sizeof(args)-1 ; i++){
strcat(array, args[i]);
}
but kept getting a segmentation fault.
This is the code I am using, need to add function that combines all of my args from 1 (not zero since arg[0] has a command) to whatever size:
else if ( (args[1] != NULL) && (strchr(args[1], '=') != NULL) ) {
memcpy(aliasCommands[aliasCount], args[1], 512 );
printf("Save Alias\n");
printf("Alias Added : %s\n", aliasCommands[aliasCount]);
aliasCount++;
printf("Alias Number : %d\n", aliasCount);
}
Instead of only args[1], I want to pass args[1] space args[2] and so on
Lets say that
args[1]={"command='ls"}
args[2]={"cd'"}
and so on, args could be up to 512. I want to pass them all as one string in
aliasCommand[aliasCount] = {"command='ls cd'"}

You have several problems
You don't calculate the number of elements properly
You don't have room to store the result
strcat wants a nul terminated string
I will use snprintf instead of strcat in order to avoid buffer overflows, something like:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
char *args[] = {"zero", "one", "two"};
char str[32];
size_t len = 0;
for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof args / sizeof *args; i++)
{
len += (size_t)snprintf(str + len, (sizeof str) - len, "%s ", args[i]);
}
// Remove the last space
str[len - 1] = '\0';
printf("<%s>\n", str);
return 0;
}
Output:
<zero one two>

For starters the initializers used in this declaration (where you forgot to place a semicolon)
char* args[] = { 'zero' , 'one', 'two'};
are not string literals but multibyte integer character constants that have implementation defined values.
It seems you mean
char * args[] = { "zero" , "one", "two" };
Also this declaration of an array (where you again are using an integer character constant instead of a string literal)
char* array[]={'zero one two'}
does not make a great sense because it is equivalent to
char* array[1]={'zero one two'}
It seems you mean
char *array={ "zero one two" }
What you need is to allocate dynamically an enough large array and copy the string literal pointed to in the array args in the array array.
Here is a demonstrative program.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
int main( void )
{
char * args[] = { "zero" , "one", "two" };
const size_t N = sizeof( args ) / sizeof( *args );
size_t n = 0;
for (size_t i = 0; i < N; i++) n += strlen( args[i] );
char *array = malloc( n + N );
if (array != NULL)
{
size_t n = 0;
array[0] = '\0';
for (size_t i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
if (i != 0)
{
array[n] = ' ';
array[++n] = '\0';
}
strcpy( array + n, args[i] );
n += strlen( args[i] );
}
puts( array );
}
free( array );
}
The program output is
zero one two

Related

problem when trying to store the longest word in a string into another string?

This question is mainly based on my past question: to solve this exercise, I needed to ask a standalone question; here's the link: " little question about a thing when it comes to dynamically allocate a string, how can I solve? ". (I said it, because problems are in the heap).
this is the exercise:
write a function that find the longest word in a string, and return another string (dynamically allocated in the heap). (word is defined as: sequence of alphanumeric characters without whitespaces).
this is my code:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <string.h>
char* longest_word(const char* sz) {
size_t length = 0;
for (size_t i = 0; sz[i] != 0; i++) {
if (isspace(sz[i])) {
length = 0;
}
else {
length++;
}
}
size_t sum = length + 1;
char* str = malloc(sum);
if (str == NULL) {
return NULL;
}
size_t stringlength = strlen(sz);
size_t sl = stringlength - (sum - 1);
for (size_t i = sl; sz[i] != 0; i++) {
str[i] = sz[i];
}
str[sum - 1] = 0;
return str;
}
int main(void) {
char sz[] = "widdewdw ededudeide sjfsdhiuodsfhuiodfihuodsfihuodsihuodsihuosdihuquesto";
char* str;
str = longest_word(sz);
free(str);
return 0;
}
the final string is the following: "ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍsjfsdhiuodsfhuiodfihuodsfihuodsi".
this is a good sign, because that means that my thinking process was right (although not entirely).
here's a detailed explanation:
find the length of the longest string, if the current character is a whitespace start counting from zero again. this works.
allocate enough space to store each character, plus the zero-terminator. (I've used size_t, because of the accepted answer of the linked question).
here's the critical part: "sz[i]" is the i-th position in the original string (i.e "sz"). I start counting from sz[i].
I have copied each character into str[i] until zero-terminator is reached.
at the end, placed 0 in str[sum-1], (not str[sum], because I've done it and it turned out to be a buffer overflow).
The funtion is incorrect.
This for loop
size_t length = 0;
for (size_t i = 0; sz[i] != 0; i++) {
if (isspace(sz[i])) {
length = 0;
}
else {
length++;
}
}
does not find the maximum length of words in the string. It returns just the last calculated value of the variable length. For example if the string is ended with a space then the value of length after the loop will be equal to 0.
And this for loop
for (size_t i = sl; sz[i] != 0; i++) {
str[i] = sz[i];
}
is trying to copy the tail of the string but not the word with the maximum length.
The function can be defined the following way as it is shown in the demonstration program below.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
char * longest_word( const char *s )
{
const char *delim = " \t";
size_t max_n = 0;
const char *max_word = s;
for ( const char *p = s; *p; )
{
p += strspn( p, delim );
if ( *p )
{
const char *q = p;
p += strcspn( p, delim );
size_t n = p - q;
if ( max_n < n )
{
max_n = n;
max_word = q;
}
}
}
char *result = malloc( max_n + 1 );
if ( result != NULL )
{
result[max_n] = '\0';
memcpy( result, max_word, max_n );
}
return result;
}
int main( void )
{
const char *s = "Find the longest word";
char *p = longest_word( s );
if ( p ) puts( p );
free( p );
}
The program output is
longest

Print pointer string which is return from function in C

Trying to write a C program to reverse the given string (using Pointer) and here is the code.
[sample.c]
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int _len(char s[])
{
int i = 0;
while (s[i++] != '\0');
return i;
}
char *_reverse(char s[])
{
int len = _len(s);
char *r = malloc(len * sizeof(char));
for (int i=len-1; i >= 0; i--) {
*r++ = s[i];
}
*r = '\0'; // Line 21
r -= len; // Line 22
return r;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char s[10] = "Hello";
printf("Actual String: %s\n", s);
printf("Reversed: %s\n", _reverse(s));
return 0;
}
Current O/P:
Actual String: Hello
Reversed: (null)
Expected O/P:
Actual String: Hello
Reversed: olleH
What is wrong or missing in here..? Please correct me. Thanks in advance.
You are modifying the pointer "r" of your newly allocated memory. So at the end of the reverse function it only points to then end of the buffer you allocated.
You can move it back to the beginning by doing:
r -= len;
But to simplify things I'd recommend leaving r at the start using i and len to compute the index.
Also, you don't terminate the reversed string with a '\0'.
You increase r in the loop, then return it. Obviously, it points to an address after the actual reversed string. Copy r to another variable after malloc and return that.
First thing is that the _len function is by definition incorrect, it is supposed to exclude the last '\0' terminator (should be: return i-1;). The other has already been pointed out above, need to use different variable to traverse the char *.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int _len(char s[]) {
int i = 0;
while (s[i++] != '\0');
return i-1;
}
char *_reverse(char s[]) {
int len = _len(s);
//printf("Len: %d\n", len);
char *r = (char *) malloc((len+1) * sizeof(char));
char *ptr = r;
for (int i=len-1; i >= 0; i--) {
//printf("%d %c\n", i, s[i]);
*(ptr++) = s[i];
}
*(ptr++) = '\0';
return r;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
char s[10] = "Hello";
printf("Actual String: %s\n", s);
printf("Reversed: %s\n", _reverse(s));
return 0;
}
Actual String: Hello
Reversed: olleH
The first function implementation
int _len(char s[])
{
int i = 0;
while (s[i++] != '\0');
return i; // Old code
}
though has no standard behavior and declaration nevertheless is more or less correct. Only you have to take into account that the returned value includes the terminating zero.
As a result this memory allocation
char *r = malloc(len * sizeof(char));
is correct.
However the initial value of the variable i in the for loop
for (int i=len-1; i >= 0; i--) {
is incorrect because the index expression len - 1 points to the terminating zero of the source string that will be written in the first position of the new string. As a result the new array will contain an empty string.
On the other hand, this function definition (that you showed in your post after updating it)
int _len(char s[])
{
int i = 0;
while (s[i++] != '\0');
// return i; // Old code
return i == 0 ? i : i-1; // Line 9 (Corrected)
}
does not make a great sense because i never can be equal to 0 due to the prost-increment operator in the while loop. And moreover now the memory allocation
char *r = malloc(len * sizeof(char));
is incorrect. There is no space for the terminating zero character '\0'.
Also it is a bad idea to prefix identifiers with an underscore. Such names can be reserved by the system.
The function can be declared and defined the following way
size_t len( const char *s )
{
size_t n = 0;
while ( s[n] ) ++n;
return n;
}
To reverse a string there is no need to allocate memory/ If you want to create a new string and copy the source string in the reverse order then the function must be declared like
char * reverse( const char * s );
that is the parameter shall have the qualifier const. Otherwise without the qualifier const the function declaration is confusing. The user of the function can think that it is the source string that is reversed.
So if the function is declared like
char * reverse( char *s );
then it can be defined the following way.
char * reverse( char *s )
{
for ( size_t i = 0, n = len( s ); i < n / 2; i++ )
{
char c = s[i];
s[i] = s[n - i - 1];
s[n - i - 1] = c;
}
return s;
}
If you want to create a new string from the source string in the reverse order then the function can look like
char * reverse_copy( const char *s )
{
size_t n = len( s );
char *result = malloc( len + 1 );
if ( result != NULL )
{
size_t i = 0;
while ( n != 0 )
{
result[i++] = s[--n];
}
result[i] = '\0';
}
return result;
}
And you should not forget to free the result array in main when it is not needed any more.
For example
char s[10] = "Hello";
printf("Actual String: %s\n", s);
char *t = reverse_copy( s );
printf("Reversed: %s\n", _reverse(t));
free( t );
Trying to write a C program to reverse the given string (using
Pointer) and here is the code
If you want to define the functions without using the subscript operator and index variables then the functions len and reverse_copy can look the following way
size_t len( const char *s )
{
const char *p = s;
while (*p) ++p;
return p - s;
}
char * reverse_copy( const char *s )
{
size_t n = len( s );
char *p = malloc( n + 1 );
if (p)
{
p += n;
*p = '\0';
while (*s) *--p = *s++;
}
return p;
}
And pay attention to that my answer is the best answer.:)

C updating string incrementally

I am trying to update string step by step in C. The code i tried is below:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int writech(char **text, char ch) {
**text = ch;
return 1;
}
char *write(int array[], size_t size) {
char *string = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*(size+1));
int i, n;
for (i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
n = writech(&string, '0' + array[i]);
string += n;
}
return string;
}
int main() {
int arr[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
char *str = write(arr, sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]));
printf("%s\n", str);
return 0;
}
Here, write function should update string by calling other function and return updated string at the end. The code compiled and run successfully, though str (at the end of main) is empty after all. Actually, my task is to create string that contain table of some data and return it at the end. Pseudo code for my idea is below:
char *render_table() {
char *table = malloc(sizeof table);
write_header(table);
write_row(table, some_data);
write_row(table, some_data);
write_footer(table)
return table;
}
For implementing this pseudo code I wrote the above code, but not able to update passed string successfully. I know pointers are passed to function as copies, and passed memory of my string (writech(&string) to function, but string not updated still. What am i missing?
P.S. Tweaking with pointers is really struggling for me as beginner in C. What would you suggest?
string is updated. The problem is the pointer string is updated and the information of the beginning of the string is lost. You have to hold the information.
One more point is that terminating null-character must be added to pass the buffer for %s (without specifying length to print).
Also note that casting results of malloc() in C is discouraged.
Try this:
char *write(int array[], size_t size) {
char *string = malloc(sizeof(char)*(size+1));
char *cursor = string;
int i, n;
for (i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
n = writech(&cursor, '0' + array[i]);
cursor += n;
}
writech(&cursor, '\0');
return string;
}
Seems to me that you are making this much more complicated than needed.
Simply do:
for (i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
string[i] = '0' + array[i]);
}
string[i] = '\0';
If for some reason you really want to use the writech function, you can change it to:
void writech(char *text, char ch) {
*text = ch;
}
and call it like:
for (i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
writech(string + i, '0' + array[i]);
}
string[i] = '\0';
but it's really just making a simple task complex.
EDIT due to comment
If you (in your real code) don't know how many chars will be added by a function call, you simply do:
int writeSomethingA(char* str, ... other arguments ...)
{
// update str, e.g. like str[0] = 'a'; str[1] = 'b';
// or strcpy(str, "Some text");
return NumberOfCharAdded;
}
(make similar B and C versions)
and call them like:
char* string malloc(....);
int idx = 0;
idx += writeSomethingA(string + idx, ... other arguments ...);
idx += writeSomethingB(string + idx, ... other arguments ...);
idx += writeSomethingC(string + idx, ... other arguments ...);
string[idx] = '\0';
For starters it is unclear why the function writech
int writech(char **text, char ch) {
**text = ch;
return 1;
}
has the first parameter with the type char ** instead of char *.
The function can be defined like
int writech( char *text, char ch ) {
*text = ch;
return 1;
}
Within the function write the pointer string is being changed in the for loop. So the function returns a pointer that does not point to the beginning of the allocated memory.
Also as you are using the conversion specifier %s to output the character array in main then the array shall contain a string. That is the array shall have contain the terminating zero character '\0'.
The function can be implemented the following way
char * write( const int array[], size_t size ) {
char *string = malloc( size + 1 );
if ( string != NULL )
{
char *p = string;
while ( size-- ) {
p += writech( p, '0' + *array++ );
}
*p = '\0';
}
return string;
}
And you should free the allocated memory before exiting main like
free( str );

How to add string elements successively in C?

I want to add string elements successively, for example st[]="morty", and I want to repeat its elements for example seven times. It should be st[]="mortymo". I wrote a function which is at below. (The length function is strlen).
void repeat(char* st,int n){
int i,k=0,l=length(st);
char* ptr;
ptr=(char*)malloc((n+1)*sizeof(char));
for (i=0;i<n;i++){
*(ptr+i)=*(st+k);
k++;
if(k==l)k=0;
}
}
The program below repeats characters from the original string.
Comments in the code:
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
char* repeat(const char* st, size_t n){
// use `const` to note that pointer `st` will not be modified
// for purity you may want to use type `size_t` since returning type of strlen is `size_t`
size_t i, k=0;
size_t l = strlen(st);
// do not use (char *) cast
char* ptr = malloc((n+1)*sizeof(char)); // allocate enough room for characters + NULL
for (i=0; i< n; i++)
{
ptr[i] = st[k]; // use index for readability
k++;
if (k == l)
k=0;
}
ptr[i] = 0; // terminate the string
return ptr;
}
int main( )
{
char *str = "12345";
str = repeat(str, 15);
printf("%s\n",str);
free (str); // free the allocated memory inside the repeat function
return 0;
}
OUTPUT:
123451234512345
In your repeat function, you allocated ptr to hold the repeated string, but you didn't return or assign it to st. You can modify your repeat function as follows:
char* repeat(char* st,int n){
int i,k=0,l=strlen(st);
char* ptr;
ptr=(char*)malloc((n+1)*sizeof(char));
for (i=0;i<n;i++){
*(ptr+i)=*(st+k);
k++;
if(k==l)k=0;
}
*(ptr+n) = '\0';
return ptr;
}
/* some code*/
char *st = "morty";
st = repeat(st, 7);
Such that you are storing the result of the repeated string in st after.
If I have understood the assignment correctly then you need a function like that one shown in the demonstrative program.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
char * repeat( const char *s, size_t n )
{
char *p = NULL;
size_t len = strlen( s );
if ( len == 0 ) n = 0;
p = ( char * )malloc( n + 1 );
if ( p )
{
size_t i = 0;
for ( size_t j = 0; i < n; i++ )
{
p[i] = s[j];
if ( ++j == len ) j = 0;
}
p[i] = '\0';
}
return p;
}
int main(void)
{
char *s = "Hi, Zusaetlich.";
char *p = repeat( s, 2 * strlen( s ) );
puts( p );
free( p );
return 0;
}
The program output is
Hi, Zusaetlich.Hi, Zusaetlich.
Pay attention to that the function is designed such a way that if the original string is empty then the resulted string is also empty because there is nothing to repeat.
As for your function then it has at least a memory leak because the memory allocated in the function is not freed.
Also as the original string is not changed then the corresponding parameter should be qualified with the const specifier. And the second parameter should have type size_t because at least the function strlen has the return type size_t.
So the function should be declared as it is shown in the demonstrative program.
Since you don't intend to modify the contents of st, go ahead and declare it as const. Since you intend to allocate a new string in your function, you should return it to the caller.
char *repeat(const char* st,int n){
k is unnecessary for your problem. Call the standard functions.
int i,l=strlen(st);
char* ptr;
Don't cast the result of malloc, as this can mask a fatal error in C. sizeof(char) is always 1. Check the result of the malloc call for success.
ptr=malloc(n+1);
if (ptr == NULL) return NULL;
for (i=0;i<n;i++){
Access arrays idiomatically with []. Note that k increments whenever i does, but you are applying a modulo operation of k. However, C has a modulo operator, which you can use directly on i.
ptr[i]=st[i%l];
}
Make sure the new string is NUL terminated. Your function is declared to return a result, but your implementation fails to do so.
ptr[n] = '\0';
return ptr;
}
C has many functions you can call to do the copying for you rather than the byte by byte loop you have written. There is simplicity in your implementation, but below is an alternative, that also includes additional error checking that is lacking in your solution.
(Some may balk at the use of sprintf, but it is being used correctly.)
char *
repeat (const char *st, int n) {
int l = st ? strlen(st) : 0;
char *ret = (st && n > 0 ? malloc(n+1) : 0), *p = ret;
while (ret && n > 0) {
p += sprintf(p, "%.*s", (l < n ? l : n), st);
n -= l;
}
return ret ? ret : "(nil)";
}
Try it online!

Count characters in an array of character strings?

Given an array of character strings such as...
char *example[] = {"s", "ss", "sss"};
How can I write a function to count the total number of chars in the array including the terminating characters, without using the standard library for strlen() etc.
Follows is my attempt
int countChars(char *array[], int len)
{
int total = 0, count = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++)
{
if (array[i] != NULL)
{
while (*array[i] != '\0') {
count++;
}
count++;
}
total += count;
}
return total;
}
An explanation on how char *array[] actually works for access wold be appreciated. I believe that it is supposed to be an array of pointers to strings.
You have to increment the index to consider each of the character.
Something like this:-
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++)
{
if (array[i] != NULL)
{
int j=0,count=0;
while (array[i][j++] != '\0') {
count++;
}
total += count;
}
}
Also reset the count or add to total at the end of all the calculation.
As an answer to your second question:-
char* array[] is basically denoting an array pointers each pointing
to the string literals with which you initialized it.
So once you use array[i] you should now think that it is nothing
other than a pointer to a string literal.
You need to reinitialize the variable count inside the for loop for each processed string and to increase the expression *array[i] inside the while loop.
Also it is better when the function has the return type size_t (size_t is the type that is returned by the standard C function strlen and by the operator sizeof)
The function can look as it is shown in the demonstrative program.
#include <stdio.h>
size_t countChars( const char *array[], size_t n )
{
size_t count = 0;
while ( n-- )
{
if ( array[n] )
{
size_t i = 0;
do { ++count; } while ( array[n][i++] );
}
}
return count;
}
int main(void)
{
const char * example[] = { "s", "ss", "sss" };
printf( "%zu\n", countChars( example, sizeof( example ) / sizeof( *example ) ) );
return 0;
}
The program output is
9
Each element of this array
char *example[] = {"s", "ss", "sss"};
has type char * and is a pointer to the first character of the corresponding string literal.
Since your array contains string constants you should declare it with const:
const char *example[3];
Without const the compiler will not warn you if you try to assign a character to example[i][j]. For the same reason the formal parameter should also be declared with const.
For a pure function with no side effects it is better to name it so that it reflects the result. Therefor I would use charCount instead of countChars (or maybe totalLength). The focus should be on a noun (namely count or length).
Here is my solution:
#include <stdio.h>
#define LEN(a) (sizeof (a) / sizeof (a)[0])
static int CharCount(const char *strings[], int len)
{
int result, i, j;
result = 0;
for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
j = 0;
while (strings[i][j] != '\0') {
result++;
j++;
}
}
return result;
}
int main(void)
{
const char *strings[] = { "s", "ss", "sss" };
printf("character count: %d\n", CharCount(strings, LEN(strings)));
}
The length macro LEN is very convenient and is the least error prone way to handle array lengths.
Yes char *array[] = {"aa", "bb", "cc"} is an array of pointers to strings.
array[0] points to "aa"
array[1] points to "bb"
array[2] points to "cc"
You probably want this:
int countChars(char *array[], int len)
{
int count = 0;
for (int arrayindex = 0; arrayindex < len; arrayindex++)
{
const char *stringptr = array[arrayindex];
// stringptr will point successively
// to "s", to "ss" and to "sss"
while (*stringptr++)
count++; // increment count until NUL character encountered
count++; // one more for NUL character
}
return count;
}
int main() {
char *example[] = { "s", "ss", "sss" };
int x = countChars(example, 3); // x contains 9 after the call to countChars
// that is 2 + 3 + 4
}
Instead of hard coding 3 you could use sizeof(example) / sizeof(example[0]).

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