I have my comparison function to use in qsort() like this:
int compar(const void *p, const void *q){
interval a,b;
*p = (interval)a
*q = (interval)b;
if(a.extrem[1] < b.extrem[0])
return -1;
if(b.extrem[1] < a.extrem[0] )
return 1;
return 0;
}
My structure is as follows:
typedef struct interval{
double extrem[2];
} interval;
I've tried many variations of "casting" in function compar, which all failed. My question, as it is apparent, how can I cast a const void* to my struct element? I know it seems to be a very basic question but I could not find a clear answer anywhere, also I'm new to this. Any help is gladly appreciated.
You were close...
typedef struct interval {
double extrem[2];
} interval;
int compar(const void *p, const void *q) {
const interval *a = p, *b = q;
if(a->extrem[1] < b->extrem[0])
return -1;
if(b->extrem[1] < a->extrem[0])
return 1;
return 0;
}
BTW, without a single cast, this will be perfectly clean under gcc -Wall.
Update... Tavian makes a good point, this is not a transitive ordering, so your set technically has no partial order. But depending on your data and your objective, qsort may return a useful result even so.
The qsort() function is going to call your callback with pointers to the elements.
Assuming the array is an actual array of interval, not one of interval pointers, you'd do:
static int interval_compare(const void *a, const void *b)
{
const interval *ia = a, *ib = b;
if(ia->extrem[1] < ib->extrem[0]) return -1;
return ib->extrem[1] > ia->extrem[0];
}
I don't understand the extrem indexes, but that's what you used. No casts are necessary when converting void * to a more specific type. See this answer.
Related
It is very common to declare and pass a basic data-type variable during a function invocation, can we achieve something similar with the structures ? Below code explains my question better.
struct s
{
int i;
char c;
};
void f(int i)
{
return;
}
void g(struct s s1)
{
return;
}
int main()
{
int i = 5; // possible
struct s s1 = {1, 'c'}; // possible
f(i); // possible
g(s1); // possible
f(5); // possible
g({1, 'c'}); // not possible, is there any alternative way ?
return 0;
}
First of all, as a rule of thumb you should avoid passing structs by value, because that's slow and takes up lots of memory. A better interface would be:
void g (struct s* s1)
...
g(&s1);
To answer the question, you may use a compound literal:
g( (struct s){1, 'c'} );
I have many similar function calls dealing with one structure, but each call is using different field of structure.
Example:
typedef struct {
int i1;
int i2;
int i3;
} S;
functions to get structure fields (it would be better to avoid them):
int getFieldI1 (S *s){ return s->i1; }
int getFieldI2 (S *s){ return s->i2; }
int getFieldI3 (S *s){ return s->i3; }
function i have to call many times:
void doJob (int (*get_field_func)(S *)){
//some code
S s;
int v = get_field_func(&s);
//some code
}
i call doJob() this way:
doJob(&getFieldI1);
doJob(&getFieldI2);
doJob(&getFieldI3);
i would like to do like this:
doJob(i1);
doJob(i2);
doJob(i3);
is it possible in C?
option 1 - offsets
You can use memory offsets.
void doJob (int offset){
//some code
S s;
int v = *(&s+offset*sizeof(int));
//some code
}
You can call it like this:
doJob(0);//i1
doJob(1);//i2
doJob(2);//i3
As pointed out in the comments, the offsets are unsafe. You can create a check for this:
if(offset>2||offset<0){
//some kind of error
}
Also, this can only be used if the structure only contains integers(or elements of the same type, you would need to adjust it)(see comments).
If there are elements before s1, s2 and s3, you'll need to add the size of the elements(as padding, just add it);
option 2 - constants
Another option (that hasn't the mentioned problems) is to define constants/macros:
You'll just define them like this:
#define I1 &getFieldI1
#define I2 &getFieldI2
#define I3 &getFieldI3
and just call it using:
doJob(I1);
doJob(I2);
doJob(I3);
Just pass in a pointer to the field:
void doJob( int* fieldPointer )
{
assert( fieldPointer != NULL );
// Get the field value:
int v = *fieldPointer;
// Do something with the field value:
v += 10;
// Save the updated value back to the field:
*fieldPointer = v;
}
Usage:
S structInstance = ...
doJob( &structInstance.i1 );
doJob( &structInstance.i2 );
doJob( &structInstance.i3 );
How to pass structure field name to function?
In general, you cannot. A typical library coded in C does not show fields of internal struct to outside. In other words, a field name is only known to the compiler, and relevant to the current translation unit, and makes no sense at runtime.
Consider the following metaprogramming approach: write a metaprogram (in C or in some scripting language like Guile, awk, Python, etc...) generating your C code, and set up your build accordingly. That might mean to edit your Makefile, or configure your build automation tool.
This is usual practice since the previous century. Look into SWIG or RPCGEN as a famous example.
You might perhaps use preprocessor tricks, e.g. X-macros.
Unfortunately, C doesn't allow exactly what you need. But you can achieve a partial win with some code changes.
I have one and half solutions. For the first I propose a (simplified!) implementation, for the second I provide just an hint. Please, check if they can be acceptable for you.
Your example structure:
typedef struct {
int i1;
int i2;
int i3;
} S;
I would define an enum representing the specific field:
typedef enum
{
FIELD_ID_I1,
FIELD_ID_I2,
FIELD_ID_I3,
FIELD_ID_MAX
} FieldId_e;
Then I would add a field parameter in your general function, managing internally the correct field to be returned. Some smart error managing in case of wrong ID has to be done here. I just return -1 for brevity.
int getField (S *s, FieldId id)
{
int ret = -1;
switch(id)
{
case FIELD_ID_I1:
ret = s->i1;
break;
case FIELD_ID_I2:
ret = s->i2;
break;
case FIELD_ID_I3:
ret = s->i3;
break;
}
return ret;
}
Your doJob will become
void doJob (int (*get_field_func)(S *, FieldId), FieldId id){
//some code
S s;
int v = get_field_func(&s, id);
//some code
}
And final call will become this one. But probably (and it depends on your scenario) having a single general function will make possible to omit the function pointer, simplifying much the interface.
doJob(&getField, FIELD_ID_I1);
doJob(&getField, FIELD_ID_I2);
doJob(&getField, FIELD_ID_I3);
Just a short reference to another tricky solution that would require to play with pointers.
Do you know offsetof macro? (Wikipedia EN)
It evaluates to the offset (in bytes) of a given member within a
struct or union type, an expression of type size_t. The offsetof()
macro takes two parameters, the first being a structure name, and the
second being the name of a member within the structure.
In this case you could have something like
int getField (S *s, size_t offset);
doJob(&getField, offsetof(S, i1));
I failed to guess right types for i1/i2/i3, sorry. So I use auto keyword from c++:
#include <stdio.h>
typedef struct {
int i1;
int i2;
int i3;
} S;
int getFieldI1 (S *s){ return s->i1; }
int getFieldI2 (S *s){ return s->i2; }
int getFieldI3 (S *s){ return s->i3; }
void doJob (int (*get_field_func)(S *)){
//some code
S s = {1,2,3};
//S s;
int v = get_field_func(&s);
//some code
printf("got: %d\n", v);
}
int main() {
S s = {1,2,3};
auto i1 = getFieldI1;
auto i2 = getFieldI2;
auto i3 = getFieldI3;
doJob(i1);
doJob(i2);
doJob(i3);
}
Then
g++ 59503102.cxx -o 59503102 && ./59503102
as expected produces
got: 1
got: 2
got: 3
plain c version
#include <stdio.h>
typedef struct {
int i1;
int i2;
int i3;
} S;
int getFieldI1 (S *s){ return s->i1; }
int getFieldI2 (S *s){ return s->i2; }
int getFieldI3 (S *s){ return s->i3; }
void doJob (int (*get_field_func)(S *)){
//some code
S s = {1,2,3};
//S s;
int v = get_field_func(&s);
//some code
printf("got: %d\n", v);
}
int main() {
S s = {1,2,3};
int (*i1)(S *) = getFieldI1;
int (*i2)(S *) = getFieldI2;
int (*i3)(S *) = getFieldI3;
doJob(i1);
doJob(i2);
doJob(i3);
}
Having trouble getting my head around implementing the qsort() built into C to sort an array of structs by a stored int value (hitCount).
My struct:
typedef struct words {
const char *word;
int hitCount;
} words;
I'm trying to use the example given by Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/73853).
So I've got at the top:
typedef int (*compfn)(const void*, const void*);
and the comparision method:
int compare (words *a, words *b) {
if (a->hitCount > b->hitCount) {
return -1;
} else if (a->hitCount < b->hitCount) {
return 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
}
then within another method I call qsort with my array name and other details replacing the Microsoft example:
qsort((void *) &output, outputLength, sizeof(words), (compfn)compare);
This gives a segmentation fault.
I don't fully understand how to use qsort so I assume where I've adapted it from Microsoft's example I've done it incorrectly.
I hope I've included the mistake and can get some enlightenment as to what I should be doing in order for this to work correctly.
Many Thanks!
You have to pass the array not the address of the array to qsort.
qsort( output, ... );
Also your compare function must return an int and accept two const void* arguments.
Casting your function int compare (words *a, words *b) to a different( yet correct ) type which is then called by qsort() will cause undefined behaviour.
The compare function must be:
int compare (const void *a, const void *b)...
Then you cast a and b to correct types:
((words*)a)->hitCount < ((words*)b)->hitCount
I suspect that outputLength is computed incorrectly. A complete working example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
typedef struct words {
const char *word;
int hitCount;
} words;
int compare(const void * left, const void * right) {
const words * a = (const words *) left;
const words * b = (const words *) right;
if (a->hitCount > b->hitCount) {
return -1;
} else if (a->hitCount < b->hitCount) {
return 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
}
int main() {
struct words output[] = {
{ "hello", 314 },
{ "world", 42 },
{ "answer", 42 }
};
int outputLength = sizeof(output) / sizeof(output[0]);
int i;
output[0].word = "hello";
output[0].hitCount = 314;
output[1].word = "world";
output[1].hitCount = 42;
qsort(output, outputLength, sizeof(words), compare);
for (i = 0; i < outputLength; ++i) {
printf("%d %s\n", output[i].hitCount, output[i].word);
}
return 0;
}
The prototype of the standard library function qsort is
void qsort(void *base, size_t nmemb, size_t size,
int (*compar)(const void *, const void *));
Note the signature of the compare function. You cannot typecast a pointer to a function of different signature and make it work correctly. Therefore, typecasting your compare function will not work. It must have the same signature as declared in the prototype of qsort. Change your compare function to -
int compare(const void *a, const void *b) {
int c = ((words *) a)->hitCount;
int d = ((words *) b)->hitCount;
if(c > d) return -1;
if(c < d) return 1;
return 0;
}
The first argument base of qsort is the base address of the buffer which contains the elements to be sorted. Also, any pointer type is assignment compatible to a void * variable and as such you don't need to cast the base address. Therefore, you should call the qsort function as -
qsort(output, outputLength, sizeof output[0], compare);
Got it working with:
int compare (const void *a, const void *b) {
if (((words *)a)->hitCount > ((words *)b)->hitCount) {
return -1;
} else if (((words *)a)->hitCount < ((words *)b)->hitCount) {
return 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
}
and call to sort:
qsort(output, outputLength, sizeof(words), compare);
Thanks to everyone's help but majority credit to "self".
I have builded a binary tree using an AVL and then data is packed in an array
typedef struct {
void **data;
int count;
} t_table;
The comparison function looks like:
int cmp(const void *pa, const void *pb)
{
int a = *(int *)pa;
int b = *(int *)pb;
if (a > b)
return +1;
else
if (b > a)
return -1;
else
return 0;
}
I am inserting in avl-tree and sorting the array of pointers using K&R qsort without problems.
Now I want to use the sandard function qsort of <stdlib.h> but I am forced to use a new function for t_table (due to pointer conversion required by qsort), it looks like:
int cmp(const void *pa, const void *pb)
{
int a = *(int*)(*(void**)pa);
int b = *(int*)(*(void**)pb);
if (a > b)
return +1;
else
if (b > a)
return -1;
else
return 0;
}
I understand why the function must be changed (quoting C-FAQ):
To understand why the curious pointer conversions in a qsort
comparison function are necessary (and why a cast of the function
pointer when calling qsort can't help), it's useful to think about how
qsort works. qsort doesn't know anything about the type or
representation of the data being sorted: it just shuffles around
little chunks of memory. (All it knows about the chunks is their size,
which you specify in qsort's third argument.) To determine whether two
chunks need swapping, qsort calls your comparison function. (To swap
them, it uses the equivalent of memcpy.)
But I wonder if there is any alternative (using stdlib qsort) to avoid having to maintain two comparison functions (one for avl and another for void **)
I'm not sure if you can really avoid to maintain these 2 functions, but you can do something like this:
int cmp_int(const void *pa, const void *pb)
{
int a = *(int *)pa;
int b = *(int *)pb;
return cmp(a, b);
}
int cmp_voidp(const void *pa, const void *pb)
{
int a = *(int*)(*(void**)pa);
int b = *(int*)(*(void**)pb);
return cmp(a, b);
}
static int cmp(const int a, const int b)
{
if (a > b)
return +1;
else
if (b > a)
return -1;
else
return 0;
}
You have 3 functions, but you don't repeat yourself and it's more easy to maintain.
EDIT: Like Sergey L. said, if you're using C99, cmp could be a static inline function.
You can't use exactly the same function, but you can define the second in terms of the first:
int cmp2(const void *pa, const void *pb)
{
return cmp(*(void **)pa, *(void **)pb);
}
Looking to see if anyone knows if its possible to swap C functions...?
void swap2(int(*a)(int), int(*b)(int)) {
int(*temp)(int) = a;
*a = *b;
*b = temp;
// Gives 'Non-object type 'int (int)' is not assignable
}
swap2(&funcA, &funcB);
EDIT
More data here as to intention -- Some answers have been provided below which do work such as creating the function ptr using typedef, pointing them to the functions and switching those, which lets you invoke the new swapped ptrs successfully.
BUT calling the functions by their original names after swapping shows no change. Essentially I'm looking for a c equivalent of the objc "swizzle".
I'm beginning to think this isn't possible, due to c's complete lack of reflection, and would require actually modifying the binary itself (obviously not feasible). D:
Comments welcome.
If you use the function pointers like below, it is yes
typedef int (*func_pt)(int);
func_pt a, b;
void swap(func_pt * a, func_pt * b)
{
func_pt tmp = *b;
*b = *a;
*a = tmp;
}
swap(&a, &b);
Or you use it as this, I think it is no:
int test1(int a)
{
return a;
}
int test2(int b)
{
return b;
}
swap(&test1, &test2);
Complete compiling working program
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
typedef int (* func_pt)(int);
func_pt a, b;
int test1(int a)
{
printf("test1\n");
return 1;
}
int test2(int a)
{
printf("test2\n");
return 2;
}
void swap(func_pt * a, func_pt * b)
{
func_pt tmp = *b;
*b = *a;
*a = tmp;
}
int main(void)
{
a = &test1;
b = &test2;
printf("before\n");
a(1);
b(1);
swap(&a, &b);
printf("after\n");
a(1);
b(2);
return 0;
}
Output:
before
test1
test2
after
test2
test1
Some people do not try it by themselves, just say it absurd.So I give you a example.
I'm pretty sure you need pointers to function pointers to swap pointers, no? This type of swapping function swaps values; you really want to deal in addresses. The example function call wouldn't really work because C doesn't treat functions as first-class variables so you can't actually swap functions directly; you need to use pointers to function addresses, since addresses CAN be swapped:
void swap2(int(**a)(int), int(**b)(int)) {
int(*temp)(int) = *a;
*a = *b;
*b = *temp;
}
int(*func1)(int) = &foo;
int(*func2)(int) = &bar;
swap2(&func1, &func2);
Your code will give error like "invalid lvalue" at the time of assignment. As I can see in your code you are trying to swap pointers without changing its values so have a look on below solution.
void swap2(int(**a)(int), int(**b)(int)) {
int(*temp)(int) = *a;
*a = *b;
*b = temp;
}
int main(){
int(*temp1)(int) = &funcA;
int(*temp2)(int) = &funcB;
swap2(&temp1,&temp2);
}
Yes,you can. Think that a function-pointer is just a memory-address,the single requeriment is: where you will keep such address needs to be mutable. Say,int (*foo)() not really to where foo points to. May be to printf() or fopen().
Although the subject asks about swapping functions, you actually want to emulate what swizzle does. This just means you want to be able to call the same function name but have it do something different.
A pointer only solution will not give you that behavior. If that is not important to you, then you should adopt one of the function pointer only solutions provided. If it is important to you, then, you will need to introduce a layer of abstraction. The abstraction could use function pointers under the hood (although there are other solutions).
The API to users of this interface would be:
/* API to initialize */
void abstract_func_init ();
/* API to manipulate abstract functions */
typedef int abstract_func_type ();
abstract_func_type * abstract_func_get (abstract_func_type *key);
int abstract_func_set (abstract_func_type *key, abstract_func_type *behavior);
/* the abstract functions */
extern int foo ();
extern int bar ();
The implementation of such an interface could look like:
static void insert (abstract_func_type *key, abstract_func_type **behavior)
{ /* associate key to behavior */ }
static abstract_func_type ** lookup (abstract_func_type *key)
{ /* return behavior from key */ }
abstract_func_type * abstract_func_get (abstract_func_type *k) {
abstract_func_type **f = lookup(k);
if (f) return *f;
return 0;
}
int abstract_func_set (abstract_func_type *k, abstract_func_type *p) {
abstract_func_type **f = lookup(k);
if (f) {
*f = p;
return 0;
}
return -ENOENT;
}
#define DEFINE_ABSTRACT_FUNC(func) \
static int static_##func (); \
static abstract_func_type *func##_ptr = static_##func; \
int func () { return func##_ptr(); } \
static int static_##func ()
DEFINE_ABSTRACT_FUNC(foo) { return puts("foo"); }
DEFINE_ABSTRACT_FUNC(bar) { return puts("bar"); }
void abstract_func_init () {
insert(foo, &foo_ptr);
insert(bar, &bar_ptr);
}
Then, the swap() you initially presented in your post could be implemented like this:
void swap (abstract_func_type *a, abstract_func_type *b) {
abstract_func_type *ap = abstract_func_get(a);
abstract_func_type *bp = abstract_func_get(b);
abstract_func_set(a, bp);
abstract_func_set(b, ap);
}
Here is a program that calls swap():
puts("before swap");
foo();
bar();
swap(foo, bar);
puts("after swap");
foo();
bar();
And its output would be:
before swap
foo
bar
after swap
bar
foo
To automate the adding of abstract functions into the lookup table, you could introduce into the build system an extra step that called a script that would grep out the DEFINE_ABSTRACT_FUNC lines, and generate a new source file that had a function with the calls to insert() for each such line.
A complete version of the mock-up can be found here.