Compare struct char elements (not sure how to say it) - c

I need to compare the contents of an element of a struct to another.
struct total_owners
{
int ADT2; //id number
char arkyk[7]; //license plate number
};
typedef struct total_owners owners;
struct total_offenses
{
char arkyk2[7];
int serious; //seriousness of offense (0 or 1)
};
typedef struct total_offenses offenses;
struct total_drivers
{
int ADT;
int ADO; //license number
};
typedef struct total_drivers drivers;
what I want to compare is arkyk2 in total_offenses with arkyk in total_owners. they are both of the format XXX1234 ( three letters and 4 numbers)
this is the function I am working on
void sumpoints(offenses* b,owners* a, drivers* c, int amountowners , int amountoffenses ,int amountdrivers)
{
int totals[amountdrivers][3],i,j,h;
for (i=0;i<amountdrivers;i++)
{
totals[i][0] = c[i].ADT;
totals[i][1] = c[i].ADO;
totals[i][2] = 0;
}
for (h=0;h<amountdrivers;h++)
{
for (i=0;i<amountowners;i++)
{
for(j=0;j<amountoffenses;j++)
{
if (a[i].arkyk == b[j].arkyk2) // this is wrong (definitely)
{
if (c[h].ADT == a[i].ADT2)
{
totals[h][2] = totals[h][2]+1;
}
}
}
}
}
for (i=0;i<amountdrivers;i++)
{
printf("Total offenses per driver:\n");
printf(" ADT %d \t ADO %d \t total %d\n", totals[i][0] , totals[i][1] , totals[i][2]);
}
}
the end result should be a totals array with the id number in the first column , the license number in the second and the amount of offenses in the last.

To do string comparison, you would change
if ( a[i].arkyk == b[j].arkyk2 )
to
if( strncmp( a[i].arkyk, b[j].arkyk2, 7 ) == 0)
As was pointed out by #notlikethat, using plain strcmp may run into trouble since you have a 7 element array to store 7 characters, so there is no space for a terminating '\0'. By specifying that the comparison should stop after 7 characters, you avoid this issue.

In C: Create a function called compare that takes the two different structures as parameters and returns a bool. Inside the function just do a string comparison with strcmp or strncmp
In C++:
Go nuts with operator overloading, it might look better, and will give you the same performance.

Related

String in structure gets deleted

I'm working on the last exercise of the "Think like a computer scientist, C version" book and I have some trouble with one particular point.
The exercise consists of making a small game, where the computer picks a random value between 0 and 20 and then asks me to guess the number.
After that, the computer counts the number of tries I made and, if I get a better score than the previous party, I need to store my name and the number of tries in a structure.
My problem is the following: When I restart the game, the string value, player_name, in the structure gets somehow deleted but player_score is still there.
First, I made a "call by value" function to create the structure and then a tried with a "call by reference" but getting the same results.
I think I tried everything I could with my actual knowledge for now; so, if someone could check my code and give me some tips about what's wrong I would much appreciate it!
//HEADERS
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
#define FALSE 0
#define TRUE 1
//TYPEDEF STRUCTS
typedef struct
{
int player_score;
char *player_name;
} HS_Player;
//FUNCTION PROTOTYPES
int Random_Value(void);
int Get_User_Choice(void);
int Check_Result(int computer, int my_choice);
int Try_Again(int game_result, int computer);
void Player_Infos(HS_Player *player_p, int score);
int Game_Restart(void);
//MAIN
int main(void)
{
int end_game;
int high_score_value = 100;
HS_Player player;
while (end_game != TRUE)
{
int computer_number = Random_Value();
printf("Guess the number between 0 et 20 chosen by the computer.\n");
int your_number = Get_User_Choice();
int result_game = Check_Result(computer_number, your_number);
int tries_to_win = Try_Again(result_game, computer_number);
printf("Number of tries: %i\n", tries_to_win);
if (tries_to_win < high_score_value)
{
Player_Infos(&player, tries_to_win );
high_score_value = player.player_score;
}
printf("Highest score: %i By: %s\n", player.player_score, player.player_name);
printf("\n");
end_game = Game_Restart();
}
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
//Random_Value FUNCTION
int Random_Value(void)
{
srand(time(NULL));
int x = rand();
int y = x % 20;
return y;
}
//Get_User_Choice FUNCTION
int Get_User_Choice(void)
{
int success, x;
char ch;
printf("Your Guess:\t");
success = scanf("%i", &x);
while (success != 1)
{
printf("Your input is not a number. Please try again:\t");
while ((ch = getchar()) != '\n' && ch != EOF);
success = scanf("%i", &x);
}
if (x < 0 || x > 20)
{
printf("Your input must be between 0 and 20. Please try again.\n");
Get_User_Choice();
}
return x;
}
//Check_Result FUNCTION
int Check_Result(int computer, int my_choice)
{
int check_result;
if (my_choice < computer)
{
printf("Computer number is larger!\n");
check_result = FALSE;
}
else if (my_choice > computer)
{
printf("Computer number is smaller!\n");
check_result = FALSE;
}
else if (my_choice == computer)
{
printf("It's a Match! You chose the same number than the computer.\n");
printf("\n");
check_result = TRUE;
}
return check_result;
}
//Try_Again FUNCTION
int Try_Again(int game_result, int computer)
{
int tries_befor_success = 1;
while (game_result != TRUE)
{
int your_number = Get_User_Choice();
game_result = Check_Result(computer, your_number);
tries_befor_success++;
}
return tries_befor_success;
}
//Player_Infos FUNCTION
void Player_Infos(HS_Player *player_p, int score)
{
char new_name[80];
printf("Congrats! Your made a new high score.\n");
printf("What's your name ?\t");
scanf("%s", new_name);
printf("\n");
player_p->player_score = score;
player_p->player_name = new_name;
}
//Game_Restart FUNCTION
int Game_Restart(void)
{
int quit_value;
printf("Quit Game ?\n");
printf("Press 'y' to quit or any other keys to continue.\n");
fflush(stdin);
char quit_game = getchar();
printf("\n");
if (quit_game == 'y')
{
quit_value = TRUE;
}
else
{
quit_value = FALSE;
}
return quit_value;
}
The problem is that, in your Player_Infos function, you are assigning the address of a local array to the char* player_name pointer member of the passed structure. When that function ends, the local array it used will be deleted and the pointer in the structure will be invalid. (In the case of the player_score, you don't have that problem, because the given value is copied to the structure member.)
There are several ways around this; one would be to use the strdup() function to make a copy of the local char new_name[80]; array – but that is really overkill, and you would need to manage (i.e. free()) that allocated string whenever you make a modification.
A simpler way is to make the player_name member an actual array of char and then use strcpy() to copy the local array into that member.
Better, still, with the player_name member defined as char [80], you can read directly into that (in the function), and avoid the local array completely:
typedef struct
{
int player_score;
char player_name[80];
} HS_Player;
//...
void Player_Infos(HS_Player *player_p, int score)
{
printf("Congrats! Your made a new high score.\n");
printf("What's your name ?\t");
// Read directly. Limit input to 79 chars (allowing room for null terminator).
scanf("%79s", player_p->player_name);
printf("\n");
player_p->player_score = score;
}
Also, just as a "style" tip, you may want to change the member names to just score and name, as the "player" part is implied by the structure type-name itself.
This issue you are having is that you are associating the player name pointer to a variable that goes out of scope when you leave the "player_Infos" function. What you probably would want to do is define the name as a character array in your structure and then use the "strcpy" call in your function instead. Following is a couple of code snippets illustrating that point.
//TYPEDEF STRUCTS
typedef struct
{
int player_score;
char player_name[80];
} HS_Player;
Then, in your function, use the "strcpy" call.
//Player_Infos FUNCTION
void Player_Infos(HS_Player *player_p, int score)
{
char new_name[80];
printf("Congrats! Your made a new high score.\n");
printf("What's your name ?\t");
scanf("%s", new_name);
printf("\n");
player_p->player_score = score;
strcpy(player_p->player_name, new_name);
//player_p->player_name = new_name;
}
When I tested that out, I got a name to appear in the terminal output.
Computer number is smaller!
Your Guess: 4
It's a Match! You chose the same number than the computer.
Number of tries: 8
Highest score: 4 By: Craig
FYI, you will need to include the "string.h" file.
Give that a try.
Name Update
The reason your player.player_name is not getting updated is because you can't assign a string this way in C. When doing player_p->player_name = new_name; you're actually saving in player_p->player_name the memory address of new_name.
Instead, what you want to achieve, is to copy each character of new_name to player_p->player_name and in order to achieve this, you have to change the type of prlayer_name field from char* player_name to char player_name[80], then assign it using, for example, strcpy():
#include <string.h>
// [...]
//TYPEDEF STRUCTS
typedef struct
{
unsigned int player_score;
char player_name[80];
} HS_Player;
// [...]
//Player_Infos FUNCTION
void Player_Infos(HS_Player *player_p, int score)
{
char new_name[80];
printf("Congrats! Your made a new high score.\n");
printf("What's your name ?\t");
scanf("%s", new_name);
printf("\n");
player_p->player_score = score;
strcpy(player_p->player_name, new_name);
}
Data Persistence
To make data (players info) persistent over multiple runs, you have to save the content of the struct to a file.
Example
int Save_Score(char* filename, HS_Player* player)
{
FILE* file = fopen(filename, "w");
if (file == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "\nAn error occurred while opening the file\n");
return -1;
}
if (fprintf(file, "%d %s", player->player_score, player->player_name) < 0)
return -1;
fclose(file);
return 0;
}
int Load_Score(char* filename, HS_Player* player)
{
FILE* file = fopen(filename, "r");
if (file == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "\nAn error occurred while opening the file\n");
return -1;
}
if (fscanf(file, "%d %79s", &player->player_score, player->player_name) < 0)
return -1;
fclose(file);
return 0;
}

Array of function pointer

Is it possible to replace all of these "if, else if ..." with an array of function pointers in this example of code ?
if (strncmp(buff, "ls\n", 3) == 0)
my_ls();
else if (strncmp(buff, "cd\n", 3) == 0)
my_cd();
else if (strncmp(buff, "user\n", 5) == 0)
my_user();
else if (strncmp(buff, "pwd\n", 4) == 0)
my_pwd();
else if (strncmp(buff, "quit\n", 5) == 0)
my_quit();
I'm trying to get something like this :
void (*tab[5]) (void);
tab[0] = &my_ls;
tab[1] = &my_cd;
tab[2] = &my_user;
tab[3] = &my_pwd;
tab[4] = &my_quit;
I created a code to illustrate what you wanted to do, because I it's pretty entertaining.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
// your functions
void my_ls() { puts("fun:my_ls") ;}
void my_cd() { puts("fun:my_cd") ;}
void my_user(){ puts("fun:my_user");}
void my_pwd() { puts("fun:my_pwd") ;}
void my_quit(){ puts("fun:my_quit");}
int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{
char* buff="ls\n"; // the string you have to compare
void (*tab[5]) (void)={my_ls,my_cd,my_user,my_pwd,my_quit};
char *names[5]={"ls\n","cd\n","user\n","pwd\n","quit\n"};
int i;
for (i=0; i<5; i++)
{
if(strncmp(buff,names[i],strlen(names[i]) )==0){
tab[i]();
return 0;
}
}
return 0;
}
There are other ways to write it. Actually my_function is the same as &my_function since a function name alone is converted to the adress of the function.
Also tab[i]() is equivalent to (*tab[i])()... Those are weird behaviours but I think it's specified by C standard
There's no problem with an array of function pointers, but you'd need to convert the sequence of boolean strncmp() results to a single index.
If the list is long, the hash table idea might be a winner. For compact, simple code and easy maintenance, I've used an array of structs:
typedef struct cmdtable_t
{
void (*fptr)();
unsigned char length
char name[11];
} cmdtable_t, *pcmdtable_t;
cmd_table_t commands = {
{ my_ls, 2, "ls"},
{ my_cd, 2, "cd" },
{ my_user, 4, "user" },
...etc.
};
That could also be what a hash table entry looks like, could be sorted in advance to allow a binary search, or simply sequentially searched for a KISS version until you find out whether this needs optimizing at all.
I think you want a dictionary or hashtable:
Use buff as string key
Use function pointer as values

Making a Tuple in C

I have a problem right now where I'm trying to essentially bind a string to a value. What would be the easiest way to associate these values in C? I essentially want a Python like tuple that I can add to a list.
That's what C structures are for. For example, the following structure is a tuple which binds a string (up to twenty characters long) to an integer value:
typedef struct {
char strVal[21];
int intVal;
} tTuple;
Variables of type tTuple (or pointers to them if they're dynamically allocated) can be passed around, added to lists, and manipulated in any way that makes sense to your situation.
Using a structure similar to the one above, the following complete program shows this in action. It could probably do with some more sanity checks(a) but should be fine for just showing how to do a tuple (which is what the question was asking about):
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
static struct { char strVal[21]; int intVal; } tuple[10];
static int tupleCount = 0;
static void listTuples(void) {
printf("==========\nTuple count is %d\n", tupleCount);
for (int i = 0; i < tupleCount; ++i)
printf(" [%s] -> %d\n", tuple[i].strVal, tuple[i].intVal);
puts("==========");
}
static void addTuple(char *str, int val) {
printf("Adding '%s', mapped to %d\n", str, val);
strcpy(tuple[tupleCount].strVal, str);
tuple[tupleCount++].intVal = val;
}
static void deleteTuple(char *str) {
int index = 0;
while (index < tupleCount) {
if (strcmp(str, tuple[index].strVal) == 0) break;
++index;
}
if (index == tupleCount) return;
printf("Deleting '%s', mapped to %d\n", str, tuple[index].intVal);
if (index != tupleCount - 1) {
strcpy(tuple[index].strVal, tuple[tupleCount - 1].strVal);
tuple[index].intVal = tuple[tupleCount - 1].intVal;
}
--tupleCount;
}
int main(void) {
listTuples();
addTuple("aardvark", 31);
addTuple("buffalo", 41);
addTuple("camel", 59);
addTuple("dingo", 27);
listTuples();
deleteTuple("buffalo");
listTuples();
return 0;
}
The output of that program is:
==========
Tuple count is 0
==========
Adding 'aardvark', mapped to 31
Adding 'buffalo', mapped to 41
Adding 'camel', mapped to 59
Adding 'dingo', mapped to 27
==========
Tuple count is 4
[aardvark] -> 31
[buffalo] -> 41
[camel] -> 59
[dingo] -> 27
==========
Deleting 'buffalo', mapped to 41
==========
Tuple count is 3
[aardvark] -> 31
[dingo] -> 27
[camel] -> 59
==========
(a) Such as checking the string length and array count for overflow, or disallowing duplicate keys (if desired).
An alternate way to associate values of different types is to create parallel arrays. One array for each typed element, associated by having the same index.
char *strVal[5];
int intVal[5];
So strVal[0] is associated with intVal[0], and so on.
This way of representing a tuple can be applied even in a language without a struct or record type.

Switch statement using string on an array

#include<stdio.h>
int main(){
char name[20];
printf("enter a name ");
scanf("%s",name);
switch(name[20]){
case "kevin" :
printf("hello");
break;
}
printf("%s",name);
getch();
}
It seems it will not work. Is this possible? I mean is there any way we can make a switch statement of a string. How to solve the problem, actually?
Switch statements in C aren't smart like one's found in other languages (such as Java 7 or Go) you cannot switch on a string (Nor can you compare strings with ==). Switch can only operate on integral types (int, char, etc).
In your code you call switch with: switch(name[20]). That means switch(*(name + 20)). In other words switch on the 21st char in name (because name[0] is the first). As name only has 20 chars you are accessing whatever memory is after name. (which could do unpredictable things)
Also the string "kevin" is compiled to a char[N] (where N is strlen("kevin") + 1) which contains the string. When you do case "kevin". It will only work if name is in the exact same piece of memory storing the string. So even if I copied kevin into name. It still would not match as it is stored in a different piece of memory.
To do what you seem to be trying you would do this:
#include <string.h>
...
if (strcmp(name, "kevin") == 0) {
...
}
String compare (strcmp) returns different values based on the difference in the strings. Eg:
int ord = strcmp(str1, str2);
if (ord < 0)
printf("str1 is before str2 alphabetically\n");
else if (ord == 0)
printf("str1 is the same as str2\n");
else if (ord > 0)
printf("str1 is after str2 alphabetically\n");
Side note: Dont use scanf("%s", name) in that form. It creates a common security problem use fgets like this: (there is a safe way to use scanf too)
#define MAX_LEN 20
int main() {
char name[MAX_LEN];
fgets(name, MAX_LEN, stdin);
...
Switch statements work on int values (or enum), but not on char arrays.
You could do
if (strcmp(name, "kevin")==0) {
printf("hello");
}
else if (strcmp(name, "Laura")==0) {
printf("Allo");
}
else if (strcmp(name, "Mike")==0) {
printf("Good day");
}
else {
printf("Help!");
}
There are plenty of ways to go about this! For example, use a...
3-letter hash
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
char name[20];
printf("enter a name ");
scanf("%s",name);
switch((int)*name * (int)*(name+1) * (int)*(name+2)){
case (1275226) : // "kevin"
printf("hello %s.\n", name);
break;
case (1293980) : // "astro"
printf("welcome %s.\n", name);
break;
}
printf("%d",(int)*name * (int)*(name+1) * (int)*(name+2));
}
No, you cannot use the switch statement in C with the value of a string or character array. The closest alternative is to use some sort of data structure mapping strings to function pointers. The function pointer could be called after a string is used to look it up.
since the name is declared as a char type ,it would be better if you use "%c" instead of using "%s" inside the scanf() method.
You can use "hash-string.h" library that converts strings into hash code integer.
Create a header file and paste this code:
http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/gcc/gcc-5484/intl/hash-string.h
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "hash-string.h"
int main(){
char name[20];
printf("Enter a name: ");
scanf("%s",name);
unsigned long nameInt = hash_string(name);
switch(nameInt){
case 7458046 /* "kevin" */: { printf("Hello %s", name); break; }
default: { printf("You are not kevin"); }
}
printf("\n");
return 0;
}
Remember the rules while using switch statements.
Switch constraints
1. The controlling expression of a switch statement must have "integer type".
2. The expression of each case label shall be an integer constant expression and no two of
the case constant expressions in the same switch statement shall have the same value
after conversion. There may be at most one default label in a switch statement.
3. Any enclosed switch statement may have a default label or case constant expressions with values that duplicate case constant expressions in the enclosing switch statement.
If you are after performing specific actions for specific strings this implies you know the strings in advance. This in turn implies their number is limited, is countable, like for example a set of N commands:
const char * commands[] = {
"command-1",
"command-2",
...
"command-N"
}
To address those commands inside the array above from your code using a swtich you need to know their index, which is error prone. So number them, give them an ID:
enum Command_id {
NO_COMMAND,
COMMAND_1,
COMMAND_2,
//...
COMMAND_N,
};
Now put the two above together using a struct:
struct Command_info {
const char * command;
enum Command_id id;
} command_infos[] = {
{"", NO_COMMAND},
{"command-1", COMMAND_1},
{"command-2", COMMAND_2},
// ...
{"command-N", COMMAND_N},
};
Now you have nice mapping of strings and their related IDs. To be able to map from string to ID during runtime the mapping above needs to be searched. To do this in a efficient manner you want to us binary search. The C library proveids bsearch() for this. The only prerequsite is that the array to be searched need to sorted.
To sort use qsort() also proveid by the C library. For qsort() to work we you need a comparsion function:
int cmp_command_infos(const void * pvCI1, const void* pvCI2)
{
const struct Command_info * pCI1 = pvCI1;
const struct Command_info * pCI2 = pvCI2;
return strcmp(pCI1->command, pCI2->command);
}
Call qsort() like this
qsort(command_infos, sizeof command_infos / sizeof *command_infos, sizeof *command_infos, cmp_command_infos);
Now as the array is sorted one can look it up using bsearch(). For "COMMAND-2" this would look like this:
... = bsearch(&(struct Command_info){"COMMAND-2", NO_COMMAND}, command_infos, sizeof command_infos / sizeof *command_infos, sizeof *command_infos, cmp_command_infos);
Putting all this together could result in:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
enum Command_id {
NO_COMMAND,
COMMAND_1,
COMMAND_2,
//...
COMMAND_N,
};
struct Command_info {
const char * command;
enum Command_id id;
} command_infos[] = {
{"", NO_COMMAND},
{"command-1", COMMAND_1},
{"command-2", COMMAND_2},
// ...
{"command-N", COMMAND_N},
};
int cmp_command_infos(const void * pvCI1, const void* pvCI2)
{
const struct Command_info * pCI1 = pvCI1;
const struct Command_info * pCI2 = pvCI2;
return strcmp(pCI1->command, pCI2->command);
}
int main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
qsort(command_infos, sizeof command_infos / sizeof *command_infos, sizeof *command_infos, cmp_command_infos);
{
enum Command_id command_id = NO_COMMAND;
struct Command_info * pCI = bsearch(&(struct Command_info){argv[1], NO_COMMAND}, command_infos, sizeof command_infos / sizeof *command_infos, sizeof *command_infos, cmp_command_infos);
if (NULL == pCI)
{
printf("Command = '%s' is unknown\n", argv[1]);
}
else
{
printf("Command = '%s' --> ID = %d\n", pCI->command, pCI->id);
switch(command_id)
{
case COMMAND_1:
/* perform action on COMMAND 1 here */
break;
case COMMAND_2:
/* perform action on COMMAND 1 here */
break;
default:
/* unknow command, do nothing */
break;
}
}
}
}
Call it like:
./a.out command-1
giving:
Command = 'command-1' --> ID = 1
or:
./a.out command-bla
giving:
Command = 'command-bla' is unknown
or even
./a.out ""
giving:
Command = '' --> ID = 0

How to approach and optimize code in C

I am new to C and very much interested in knowing how to approach any problem which has more than 3 or 4 functions, I always look at the output required and manipulate my code calling functions inside other functions and getting the required output.
Below is my logic for finding a students record through his Id first & then Username.
This code according to my professor has an excessive logic and is lacking in many ways, if someone could assist me in how should I approach any problem in C or in any other language it would be of great help for me as a beginner and yes I do write pseudo code first.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
typedef struct{
int id; //Assuming student id to be unique
int age;
char *userName; //Assuming student userName to be unique
char *dept;
}student; // Alias "student" created for struct
student* createstruct(); // All function prototype declared
student* createArray();
void addstruct(student* s2);
void searchChar(student* s2,int num);
void searchInt(student* s2,int num);
student* createstruct() // function createStruct() to malloc data of struct student.
{
student *s;
s = (student*)malloc(sizeof(student));
s->userName = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*32);
s->dept = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*32);
printf("please enter id ");
scanf("%d",&s->id);
printf("please enter age ");
scanf("%d",&s->age);
printf("please enter userName ");
scanf("%31s",s->userName);
printf("please enter department ");
scanf("%31s",s->dept);
printf("\n");
return s;
}
student* createArray()
{
student *arr; //declaration of arr poiter, type struct student
arr = (student*)malloc(sizeof(student)*10); // memory allocated for a size of 10
return arr;
}
void addstruct(student *s2) // function for adding data to the structures in array
{
int i,num;
student* s1;
printf("please enter the number of records to add:");
scanf("%d",&num);
printf("\n");
if(num>0 && num<11)
{
for(i=0;i<num;i++) // if user want to enter 5 records loop will only run 5 times
{
s1 = createstruct();
s2[i].id = s1->id; // traversing each element of array and filling in struct data
s2[i].age = s1->age;
s2[i].userName = s1->userName;
s2[i].dept= s1->dept;
}
}
else if(num>10) // if user enters more than 10
{
for(i=0;i<10;i++) // loop will still run only 10 times
{
s1 = createstruct();
s2[i].id = s1->id;
s2[i].age = s1->age;
s2[i].userName = s1->userName;
s2[i].dept = s1->dept;
}
printf("Array is full"); // Array is full after taking 10 records
printf("\n");
}
searchInt(s2,num); // Calling searchInt() function to search for an integer in records
searchChar(s2,num); // Calling searchChar() function to search for a string in records
free(s1);
free(s2);
}
void searchChar(student* s2,int num) // function for searching a string in records of structure
{
char *c;
int i;
c = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char)*32);
printf("please enter userName to search ");
scanf("%31s",c);
printf("\n");
for (i=0;i<num;i++) //num is the number of struct records entered by user
{
if ((strcmp(s2[i].userName,c)==0)) //using strcmp for comparing strings
{
printf("struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n", s2[i].id,s2[i].age,s2[i].userName,s2[i].dept);
break;
}
else if(i == num-1)
{
printf("nothing in userName matches: <%s>\n",c);
break;
}
}
}
void searchInt(student* s2,int num) //searchs for an integer and prints the entire structure
{
int i,z;
printf("please enter id to search ");
scanf("%d",&z);
printf("\n");
for (i=0;i<num;i++)
{
if (s2[i].id == z)
{
printf("struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n\n", s2[i].id,s2[i].age,s2[i].userName,s2[i].dept);
break;
}
else if(i == num-1)
{
printf("nothing in id matches: <%d>\n\n",z);
break;
}
}
}
int main(void)
{
student *s2;
s2 = createArray();
addstruct(s2);
return 0;
}
I'm not going to go into optimizing, because if you wanted better theoretical performance you would probably go with different data structures, such as ordered arrays/lists, trees, hash tables or some kind of indexing... None of that is relevant in this case, because you have a simple program dealing with a small amount of data.
But I am going to tell you about the "excessive logic" your professor mentioned, taking your searchInt function as an example:
for (i=0;i<num;i++)
{
if (s2[i].id == z)
{
printf("struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n\n", s2[i].id,s2[i].age,s2[i].userName,s2[i].dept);
break;
}
else if(i == num-1)
{
printf("nothing in id matches: <%d>\n\n",z);
break;
}
}
The thing here is that every time around the loop you're testing to see if you're at the last element in the loop. But the loop already does that. So you're doing it twice, and to make it worse, you're doing a subtraction (which may or may not be optimized into a register by the compiler).
What you would normally do is something like this:
int i;
student *s = NULL;
for( i = 0; i < num; i++ )
{
if( s2[i].id == z ) {
s = &s2[i];
break;
}
}
if( s != NULL ) {
printf( "struct variables are %d, %d, %s, %s\n\n",
s->id, s->age, s->userName, s->dept );
} else {
printf("nothing in id matches: <%d>\n\n",z);
}
See that you only need to have some way of knowing that the loop found something. You wait for the loop to finish before you test whether it found something.
In this case I used a pointer to indicate success, because I could then use the pointer to access the relevant record without having to index back into the array and clutter the code. You won't always use pointers.
Sometimes you set a flag, sometimes you store the array index, sometimes you just return from the function (and if the loop falls through you know it didn't find anything).
Programming is about making sensible choices for the problem you are solving. Only optimize when you need to, don't over-complicate a problem, and always try to write code that is easy to read/understand.

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