How do I add a contact to a phonebook program in C? - c

Question

For my intro to programming class, we have to code a phonebook in C that lets users add contacts, as well as delete and display them. It also has to allocate and free memory as necessary (I tried to do this, but I honestly don't really know what I'm doing).
Anyway, I cannot figure out how to add a contact to the phonebook. I've pasted the relevant part of the program so far. It compiles, but it crashes every time I try to add a contact. Once I get this figured out, I think I can get the rest of the functions without too much trouble. If anyone could help me out, I'd really appreciate it.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
typedef struct entry {
char fname[20];
char lname[20];
char pnumber[20];
} entry;
// function prototypes
void addentry(int, entry*, char addfname[20], char addlname[20], char addpnumber[20]);
main() {
int selection = 0;
int inputtest = 1;
int pnum = 0; // keeps track of number of contacts
char addfname[20] = { '\0' };
char addlname[20] = { '\0' };
char addpnumber[20] = { '\0' };
entry *pcontacts;
pcontacts = (entry*)calloc(1, (sizeof(entry)));
if (pcontacts == NULL) {
printf("No memory is available.");
free(pcontacts);
return 0;
}
while (1) {
do {
printf("\nPhonebook Menu\n\n");
printf("1:\tAdd contact\n");
printf("2:\tDelete contact\n");
printf("3:\tDisplay contacts\n");
printf("4:\tExit\n");
printf("\nChoose an action (1-4): ");
scanf("%d", &selection);
if (selection < 1 || selection > 4) {
printf("Invalid input. Please enter an integer between 1 and 4.\n");
inputtest = 0;
}
if (selection == 4) {
free(pcontacts);
printf("\nThank you for using this phonebook.");
return 0;
}
switch (selection) {
case 1:
pnum++;
printf("\nEnter first name: ");
scanf("%s", addfname);
printf("Enter last name: ");
scanf("%s", addlname);
printf("Enter phone number (no spaces): ");
scanf("%s", addpnumber);
addentry(pnum, pcontacts, addfname[20], addlname[20], addpnumber[20]);
break;
}
} while (inputtest == 1);
}
}
void addentry(int pnum, entry *pcontacts, char addfname[20], char addlname[20], char pnumber[20]) {
pcontacts = (entry*)malloc(pnum * (sizeof(entry)));
if (pcontacts != NULL) {
strcpy(*pcontacts[pnum - 1].fname, addfname);
printf("\nContact has been added.");
} else {
printf ("No memory is available.\n");
}
}

Answer 1

You get strings from standard input with scanf, but you should tell scanf the maximum number of bytes to store to the destination arrays to avoid buffer overruns:
scanf("%19s", addfname);
...
scanf("%19s", addlname);
...
scanf("%19s", addpnumber);
The way you call addentry is incorrect:
addentry(pnum, pcontacts, addfname[20], addlname[20], addpnumber[20]);
You actually try to read the byte just after the end of addfname, addlname and addpnumber. You should instead pass the arrays themselves, that will be passed to the function addentry as pointers to their first bytes:
addentry(pnum, pcontacts, addfname, addlname, addpnumber);
addentry should reallocate the array with realloc. It should be passed a pointer to the array pointer to it can update the pointer in main.
addentry does not copy the strings correctly: it only copies one, but with a syntax error.
Here is a corrected version:
void addentry(int, entry**, char addfname[20], char addlname[20], char addpnumber[20]);
int main(void) {
int selection = 0;
int inputtest = 1;
int pnum = 0; // keeps track of number of contacts
char addfname[20];
char addlname[20];
char addpnumber[20];
entry *pcontacts = NULL;
for (;;) {
do {
printf("\nPhonebook Menu\n\n");
printf("1:\tAdd contact\n");
printf("2:\tDelete contact\n");
printf("3:\tDisplay contacts\n");
printf("4:\tExit\n");
printf("\nChoose an action (1-4): ");
scanf("%d", &selection);
if (selection < 1 || selection > 4) {
printf("Invalid input. Please enter an integer between 1 and 4.\n");
inputtest = 0;
}
if (selection == 4) {
free(pcontacts); /* OK for NULL */
printf("\nThank you for using this phonebook.");
return 0;
}
switch (selection) {
case 1:
printf("\nEnter first name: ");
scanf("%19s", addfname);
printf("Enter last name: ");
scanf("%19s", addlname);
printf("Enter phone number (no spaces): ");
scanf("%19s", addpnumber);
addentry(pnum, &pcontacts, addfname, addlname, addpnumber);
pnum++;
break;
}
} while (inputtest == 1);
}
}
/* add an entry at position pnum */
void addentry(int pnum, entry **pp, char addfname[20], char addlname[20], char pnumber[20]) {
entry *pcontact = *pp;
pcontacts = realloc(pcontacts, (pnum + 1) * sizeof(entry));
if (pcontacts != NULL) {
*pp = pcontacts; /* update pointer in main */
strcpy(pcontacts[pnum].fname, addfname);
strcpy(pcontacts[pnum].lname, addlname);
strcpy(pcontacts[pnum].pnumber, addpnumber);
printf("\nContact has been added.");
} else {
printf ("No memory is available.\n");
}
}