compare two numbers in c using char and strcmp - c

Question

I am trying to compare two set of data using strcmp. This first set of data are var1 which is get from fgets(var1, 100, stdin). The second set of data are generate randomly by rand. When I complie it, I get two same errors. They both come from char f.
warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast printf(f);
warning:assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast if (strcmp(var1,f)==0)
i already declare the randomly generated number char f = rand() % 38; in char, why will it not work?
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <string.h>
int main()
{
char var1[100];
int result;
fgets(var1, 100, stdin);
srand(time(NULL));
char myArray[38] = { 1,5,3,4};
char f = rand() % 38;
printf(var1);
printf(f);
if (strcmp(var1,f)==0) {
result = 1;
printf("It work\n");
}
else {
printf("It didn't work!\n");
result = 0;
}
return 0;
}
EDITED CODE
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <string.h>
int main()
{
char var1[100];
int result;
scanf("%s",var1);
srand(time(NULL));
char myArray[7] = { 0,28,9,26,30,11,7 };
int randomindex= 1 + (rand() % 100);
char f = myArray[randomindex];
char str_f[2] = { f, '\0' };
printf("var1: %s\n",var1);
printf("%s",str_f);
printf("\n");
if (strcmp(var1,str_f)==0) {
result = 1;
printf("It work\n");
}
else {
printf("It didn't work!\n");
result = 0;
}
return 0;
}

Answer 1

As commented above, in C Langage, functions from Library have a strict format and using not that expected format will occur warning or error at compilation time or runtime.
Function 1 - the printf() is the common function to write C strings to the standard output stdout (declared in <stdio.h>).
See the C library function - printf()
int printf(const char *format, ...)
In the provided source code, the printf() function has been used in the following cases:
printf("It work\n"); to write a fixed string which complies with the const char * expected format of the first parameter ==> OK,
printf(var1); to write the content of the entered string var1 (declared as char var1[100];) which not exactly complies with const char * of the first parameter but will be cast during compile time. A proposed format to write the var1 string could be printf("%s",var1); (or more verbose printf("var1: %s",var1);) where the first parameter "%s" will specify that the following argument var1 will be a string.
printf(f); to write the content of the random value (declared as char f;) which doesn't comply with const char * of the first parameter and doesn't compile at all. The minimal expected format to write the f character is printf("%c",f); (or more verbose printf("f=%c",f);) where the first parameter "%c" will specify that the following argument f will be a character.
Function 2 - the strcmp() is a function to compare two C strings parameters (declared in <string.h>.
See the C library function - strcmp()
int strcmp(const char *str1, const char *str2)
In the provided source code, the strcmp() function has not been used as specified. The function expects two input parameters:
First parameter of strcmp(var1,...)==0 is var1 (declared as char var1[100];) which not exactly complies with const char * but will be cast during compile time.
Second parameter of strcmp(...,f)==0 is f (declared as char f;) which doesn't comply with const char * and doesn't compile at all.
To compare the character f with var1, it shall be necessary to
convert it to a string (In C, a string is an array of char ended by
a character).
Solution 1 - how to convert the character char f; to a string.
A C string is an array of characters: char str_f[]= { '<char>', ... , '<NUL>' };. Meaning that a minimal array of 2 characters is necessary to convert the character char f; to a string.
char f = rand() % 38;
// use a 2 characters string
char str_f[2] = { f, '\0' };
// Could be also initialised as str_f[0] = f; str_f[1] = '\0';
// compare the strings using `str_f`
if (strcmp(var1,str_f)==0) {
Warning 1 - be careful to the random value range.
When printing characters, a C string is supposed to be filled by ASCII
characters different from which is used to end the string.
In the provided source code, the assignment of f, char f = rand() % 38;, will generate values from 0 to 37 which include the character and the first 31 non-printable characters (ctrl-characters). Only characters greater than 31 will be displayed.
In will be more easy to generate: char f = ' ' + (rand() % 38);
where ' ' is the first printable ASCII character = 32.