EEEB114: Principle of Programming

Topic 10: User Defined Data Types

Objectives
In this chapter you will learn about,
Introduction
Declaring Structure Type & Structure Variables
Referring and initializing structure elements
Passing structures to a function
Using typedef
Example using structure
Enumeration constants

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Introduction
So far we have only used data types which have been
defined by C such as int, double and char.
It is also possible to create our own data types.
A user defined data type is called a structure.
A structure can contain both built-in data types and
another structure.
The concept of structure is pretty much the same as
arrays except that in an array, all the data is of the
same types but in a structure, the data can be of
different types.

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Definition
A structure is a derived data type that represents a
collection of a related data items called components (or
members) that are not necessarily of the same data type.

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Declaring Structure Type
General syntax: Also called as structure tag
struct structure_name {
data_type element1;
data_type element2; Components / members
...
};
Example:
struct student {
char name[20];
int studentID;
char major[50];
};

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Declaring Structure Variables
After declaring a structure type, we may declare
variables that are of that type. A structure variable
declaration requires:
The keyword struct
The structure type name
A list of members (variable names) separated by commas
A concluding semicolon
Then, assume that variable of structure type student
is my_student. So the declaration should be written
as;
struct student my_student;
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Based on example: struct student
By including this declaration in our program, we are informing
the compiler about a new data type which is a user defined
data type.
The declaration just makes the compiler aware the existent of
new data type but does not take an action yet.
Based on the declaration of
struct student my_student;
causes the compiler to reserve memory space for variable
my_student and the components of its structure.

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Based on example: struct student

Structure variable Components Values

name Simon
my_student studentID 0078
major CS

Conceptual memory structure variable my_student of type

student (assuming that the components of variable
my_student have already been assigned values)

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Based on example: struct student
It is possible to combine the declarations of a structure
type and a structure variable by including the name of the
variable at the end of the structure type declaration.

struct student { struct student {

char name[20]; char name[20];
int studentID; = int studentID;
char major[50]; char major[50];
}; } my_student;
struct student my_student;

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Declaring Nested Structure
Members of a structure declaration can be of any type,
including another structure variable.
Suppose we have the following structure declaration,
which is a member of struct type student:
struct address {
int no;
char street[20];
int zipcode;
};

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Declaring Nested Structure
We can rewrite the structure student declaration as
follow:
struct student {
char name[20];
int studentID;
char major[50];
struct address addr;
};
This structure type student can be written as;

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Declaring Nested Structure
struct student {
char name[20];
int studentID;
char major[50];
struct address{
int no;
char street[20];
int zipcode;
}myAddress;
};

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Referring and Initializing Structure
Elements
A structure contains many elements. Each elements of a structure can be
referred to / accessed by using the component selection operator .
(dot).
Let us use the structure student which we have seen before as an example:
struct student {
char name[20];
int studentID;
char major[50];
};
struct student my_student;
Therefore to refer to the element of a structure, we may write as follow;
my_student.name;
my_student.studentID;
my_student.major;

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Referring and Initializing Structure
Elements
Therefore, we can initialize each elements of a structure
individually such as:
struct student my_student;
my_student.studentID = 10179;
Or we can initialize the structure while we are creating an
instance of the structure:
struct student my_student = {Ahmad, 10179, IT}
Notice that it is possible to use the = operator on a struct
variable. When the = sign is used, each elements of the
structure at the right hand side is copied into the structure at
the left hand side.

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Example: Structure Initialization
struct birthdate {
int month;
int day;
int year;
};
struct birthdate Picasso = {10, 25, 1881};
printf(Picasso was born : %d/%d/%d\n, Picasso.day,
Picasso.month, Picasso.year);
Output :
Picasso was born : 25/10/1881

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Passing Structures to a Function
Call by Value:
We can pass the student structure that we have created
before to a function called display( ) as follows:
void display (struct student); /* function prototype */
display (student1); /* function call */
void display (struct student s1); /* function header */
where student1 is a variable of type struct student.
In the above function, a copy of the student structure will be
created locally for the use of the function. Any changes to the
structure inside the function will not affect the actual structure.

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Example Using Structure: Call by value
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

struct student{
char name[20];
int id;
};
void display(struct student); /* function prototype */
int main(void)
{
struct student student1;
strcpy(student1.name, "Ahmad"); /*initialising variable */
student1.id = 12345; /*initialising variable */
display(student1);
return 0;
}

void display(struct student s1) /* make a local copy of the structure */

{
printf("Name: %s\n", s1.name);
printf("ID: %d\n", s1.id);
}
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Example Using Structure: A Function that
return a structure
#include <stdio.h> struct student read(void)
#include <string.h> {
struct student{ struct student s1;
char name[20]; printf("Enter name:");
int id; scanf("%s",s1.name); /*
}; alternative: gets(s1.name); */
struct student read(void); /* function printf("Enter ID:");
prototype */ scanf("%d",&s1.id);
void main(void) return s1;
{ }
struct student student1;
student1 = read(); /*function call
*/
printf("Name: %s",
student1.name);
printf("\nID: %d\n", student1.id);
}

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Call by reference
It is also possible to use pointers and pass the
reference of the structure to the function. This way,
any changes inside the function will change the actual
structure as well.
To pass a structure variable as a reference, the
Read( ) function can be written this way:
void Read(struct student *); /* function prototype */
Read(&student1); /* function call */
void Read(struct student *s1); /* function header */
where student1 is a variable of type struct student.

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Call by reference
Take note that when a structure is declared as a pointer, the
elements in the structure cannot be referred to using the .
operator anymore. Instead, they need to be accessed using the
-> operator (indirect component selection operator).

For example:
void Read(struct student *s1)
{
s1->studentID = 10179;
scanf(%s, s1->name);
}

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Example Using Structure: Call by reference
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
struct student{
char name[20];
int id;
};
void Read (struct student *); /* function prototype*/
void main(void)
{
struct student student1;

Read(&student1); /* function call: passing reference */

printf("Name: %s", student1.name);

printf("\nID: %d\n", student1.id);
}
void Read (struct student *s1) /* function header, receive structure as a pointer variable */
{
printf("Enter name:");
scanf("%s",s1->name); /* you can also use: gets(s1->name) */
printf("Enter ID:");
scanf("%d",&s1->id);
}
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Using typedef in Structure Declarations
The keyword typedef provides a mechanism for creating
synonyms (aliases) for previously defined data types.
Here is an example on how to use typedef when
declaring a structure:
struct student {
char name[20];
int studentID;
char major[50];
struct address addr;
};

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Using typedef in Structure Declarations
By using typedef:
typedef struct student StudentData;
we are now aliasing the structure with a name to be used
throughout the program. So instead of writing the word
struct before declaring a struct variable like the following
struct student my_student;
we can now write:
StudentData my_student;
We could use the alias name when passing the structure to a
function:
void display(StudentData s1);

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Example : using typedef
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
struct student{
char name[20];
int id;
}; void display(StudentData s1)
{
typedef struct student StudentData; printf("Name: %s\n", s1.name);
printf("ID: %d\n", s1.id);
void display(StudentData); /* function prototype */
}
int main(void)
{
StudentData student1;
strcpy(student1.name, "Ahmad");
student1.id = 12345;
display(student1);
return 0;
}

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Example: Array of structure
#include <stdio.h>
#define NUM_STUDENTS 10
struct student {
int studentID;
char name[20];
int score;
char grade;
};
typedef struct student StudentData;
void Read (StudentData student[]);
void CountGrade (StudentData student[]);
void main ( )
{
StudentData student[NUM_STUDENTS];
Read(student);
CountGrade(student);
}

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Example: Array of structure
void Read (StudentData student[])
{
int i;
for (i = 0; i < NUM_STUDENTS; i++) {
printf("Enter the studentID: ");
scanf("%d", &student[i].studentID);
printf("Enter the name: ");
scanf("%s", student[i].name);
printf("Enter the score: ");
scanf("%d", &student[i].score);
printf("\n");

}
}

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Example: Array of structure
void CountGrade (StudentData student[])
{
int i;
for (i = 0; i < NUM_STUDENTS; i++) {
if (student[i].score > 90)
student[i].grade = 'A';
else if (student[i].score > 80)
student[i].grade = 'B';
else if (student[i].score > 65)
student[i].grade = 'C';
else if (student[i].score > 50)
student[i].grade = 'D';
else
student[i].grade = 'F';
printf("The grade for %s is %c\n", student[i].name, student[i].grade);
printf("\n");
}
}

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Sample Output
/* Sample Output
Enter the studentID: 789654
Enter the name: Salman
Enter the score: 96

Enter the studentID: 741258

Enter the name: Jack
Enter the score: 79
:
:
:
The grade for Salman is A

The grade for Jack is C

:
:
Press any key to continue
*/

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Example
#include <stdio.h>
struct car{
char maker[20];
char model[20];
int year;
};
void input(struct car*);
void output(char*, char*, int*);
void main()
{
struct car firstcar;
input (&firstcar);
output(firstcar.maker, firstcar.model, &firstcar.year);
printf("End of my act!\n");
}

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Example
void input(struct car *sp)
{
printf("What is the maker of your car? ");
gets(sp->maker);
printf("What is the model of your car? ");
gets(sp->model);
printf("What year is your car? ");
scanf("%d", &sp->year);
}

void output(char *sp1, char*sp2, int*sp3)

{
printf("Your car is : %s, %s, %d\n", sp1, sp2, *sp3);
printf("Nice car\n");
}

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Sample Output
/* Sample output
What is the maker of your car? Honda
What is the model of your car? Stream
What year is your car? 2003
Your car is : Honda, Stream, 2003
Nice car
End of my act!
Press any key to continue
*/

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Enumeration Constants
An enumeration, introduced by the keyword enum, is a set of
integer constants represented by identifiers. (to specify one
after another)
Example:
enum islamic_months {
muharam, safar, rabiulawal, rabiulakhir,
jamadilawal, jamadilakhir, rejab, syaaban,
ramadhan, syawal, zulkaedah, zulhijjah
};
Each of the identifiers actually has a value, starting with 0
(unless specified otherwise). Therefore, we can treat them as
integers.

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Enumeration Constants
If we want the enumeration to start with a value
other than 0, we can assign the value to the first
identifier:
enum islamic_months {
muharam = 1, safar, rabiulawal, rabiulakhir,
jamadilawal, jamadilakhir, rejab, syaaban,
ramadhan, syawal, zulkaedah, zulhijjah
};
Same as with the other data types, before an enum
can be used, a variable needs to be declared:
enum islamic_months months;

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Enumeration Constants
There are cases where it is appropriate for us to use
an enum. This is an example of such a case:
enum islamic_months months;
GetMonth (&months);
switch (months) {
case muharam:
...
break;
case safar:
...
break;
...
}

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Enumeration Constants
This is another case where it is appropriate to use an enum:
enum Boolean {FALSE, TRUE};
void main ( ) {
int list[];
Boolean found;

Read(list);
found = Search(list);
if (found == TRUE)
printf(FOUND!!);
else
printf(Cannot find the requested item);
}

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Example

#include <stdio.h>

enum months {JAN = 1, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP,
OCT, NOV, DEC};

void main ( ) {
enum months month;
char *monthsName[] = {January, February, March,
April, May, June, July, August, September,
October, November, December};

for (month = JAN; month <= DEC; month++)

printf(%d %s, month, monthName[month-1]);
}

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Output
Output:
1 January
2 February
3 March
4 April
5 May
6 June
7 July
8 August
9 September
10 October
11 November
12 December
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SUMMARY
In this chapter you have learnt about
Structure type and variable declarations
How structure members can be accessed
How structure can be initialized
Passing structure to function
Enumeration

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