C - Structures

Structures

Like Array, Structure is another user define data type available in C, which hold or set of different kind of data items 

Structures are used to represent a record. Suppose you want to keep track of your books in a library. You might want to track the following attributes about each book

Title
Author
Subject
Book ID

To define a Structure,  

struct [structure tag] {
   member definition;
   member definition;
   ...
} [one or more structure variables];  


Accessing Structure Member 

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
 
struct Books {
   char  title[50];
   char  author[50];
   char  subject[100];
   int   book_id;
}; /* we can Declare the variable later*/
 
int main( ) {

   struct Books Book1;        /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
   struct Books Book2;        /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
 
   /* book 1 specification */
   strcpy( Book1.title, "C Programming");
   strcpy( Book1.author, "Nuha Ali"); 
   strcpy( Book1.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
   Book1.book_id = 6495407;

   /* book 2 specification */
   strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
   strcpy( Book2.author, "Zara Ali");
   strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom Billing Tutorial");
   Book2.book_id = 6495700;
 
   /* print Book1 info */
   printf( "Book 1 title : %s\n", Book1.title);
   printf( "Book 1 author : %s\n", Book1.author);
   printf( "Book 1 subject : %s\n", Book1.subject);
   printf( "Book 1 book_id : %d\n", Book1.book_id);

   /* print Book2 info */
   printf( "Book 2 title : %s\n", Book2.title);
   printf( "Book 2 author : %s\n", Book2.author);
   printf( "Book 2 subject : %s\n", Book2.subject);
   printf( "Book 2 book_id : %d\n", Book2.book_id);

   return 0;
}
    Output: - 
  
Book 1 title : C Programming
Book 1 author : Nuha Ali
Book 1 subject : C Programming Tutorial
Book 1 book_id : 6495407
Book 2 title : Telecom Billing
Book 2 author : Zara Ali
Book 2 subject : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book 2 book_id : 6495700


Structures as Function Arguments



#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
 
struct Books {
   char  title[50];
   char  author[50];
   char  subject[100];
   int   book_id;
};

/* function declaration */
void printBook( struct Books book ) {

   printf( "Book title : %s\n", book.title);
   printf( "Book author : %s\n", book.author);
   printf( "Book subject : %s\n", book.subject);
   printf( "Book book_id : %d\n", book.book_id);
}

int main( ) {

   struct Books Book1;        /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
   struct Books Book2;        /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
 
   /* book 1 specification */
   strcpy( Book1.title, "C Programming");
   strcpy( Book1.author, "Nuha Ali"); 
   strcpy( Book1.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
   Book1.book_id = 6495407;

   /* book 2 specification */
   strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
   strcpy( Book2.author, "Zara Ali");
   strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom Billing Tutorial");
   Book2.book_id = 6495700;
 
   /* print Book1 info */
   printBook( Book1 );

   /* Print Book2 info */
   printBook( Book2 );

   return 0;
}

         Output :- 

              Book title : C Programming
              Book author : Nuha Ali
    Book subject : C Programming Tutorial
    Book book_id : 6495407
    Book title : Telecom Billing
    Book author : Zara Ali
    Book subject : Telecom Billing Tutorial
    Book book_id : 6495700


Pointers to Structures

You can define pointers to structures in the same way as you define pointer to any other variable:-

struct Books *struct_pointer;

To find the address of structure variable

struct_pointer = &Book1;

To access the members of a structure using a pointer to that structure 

struct_pointer->title;


Let us re-write the above example using structure pointer.


#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
 
struct Books {
   char  title[50];
   char  author[50];
   char  subject[100];
   int   book_id;
};

/* function declaration */
void printBook( struct Books *book ) {

   printf( "Book title : %s\n", book->title);
   printf( "Book author : %s\n", book->author);
   printf( "Book subject : %s\n", book->subject);
   printf( "Book book_id : %d\n", book->book_id);
}

int main( ) {

   struct Books Book1;        /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
   struct Books Book2;        /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
 
   /* book 1 specification */
   strcpy( Book1.title, "C Programming");
   strcpy( Book1.author, "Nuha Ali"); 
   strcpy( Book1.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
   Book1.book_id = 6495407;

   /* book 2 specification */
   strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
   strcpy( Book2.author, "Zara Ali");
   strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom Billing Tutorial");
   Book2.book_id = 6495700;
 
   /* print Book1 info by passing address of Book1 */
   printBook( &Book1 );

   /* print Book2 info by passing address of Book2 */
   printBook( &Book2 );

   return 0;
}
    Output :-
        Book title : C Programming
        Book author : Nuha Ali
        Book subject : C Programming Tutorial
        Book book_id : 6495407
        Book title : Telecom Billing
        Book author : Zara Ali
        Book subject : Telecom Billing Tutorial
        Book book_id : 6495700










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