32 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.

CSIT)

6. Arrays
6.1Introduction
An array is an identifier that refers to a collection of data items that all have the same name. All data items in an array
must be of same type. The individual data items are represented by their corresponding array-elements. Each array
element is referred to by specifying the array name followed by one or more subscripts, with each subscript enclosed in
square brackets. Each subscript must be expressed as a nonnegative integer. The number of subscripts determines the
dimensionality of the array.
For example X[i] refers to an element in one dimensional array X. Y[i][j] refers an element in two-dimensional array Y.
Higher-dimensional array can be also be formed, by adding additional subscripts in the same manner.
Individual data item in the array may be referred to separately by stating their position in the array. Let use assume the
value of array elements x[i] as given below.
X[1] = 5;
X[2] = 10;
X[3] = 15;

The position number given in parentheses are called index. The smallest element of an arrays index is called its lower
bound, and the highest element is called its upper bound.
If Min is the lower bound, and Max is the upper bond of an array then, the number of elements that one dimensional array
can hold is called its range and is given by (Max Min + 1).

Arrays can have one or more dimensions, in which case they might be declared as
int results[20];
int matrix[5][5];

6.2TypesofArrays
Arrays can be categorized based on numeric and non-numeric data.
1. Numeric array: Array of numbers (like int, float, double data types) are called numeric array. Numeric arrays
always deals with numeric values.
2. Character array (string): Array of characters are called numeric array. One dimensional character array is also
called string. We generally use <string.h> header file to perform several operations on string data. Character
arrays do not deal with numeric values.

Arrays can be categorized based on the number of dimension.
1. One dimensional array: Array with single dimension is called one-dimensional array.
2. Multidimensional array: Array with more than one dimension is called multi-dimensional array.

6.3Declaringandusingonedimensionalnumericarray
A list of items can be given one variable name using only one subscript and such a variable is called a single-subscript
variable or a one-dimensional array. In mathematics, we often deal with variables that are single-subscripted. For instance,
we use the equation A =
xI
n
=1
n
to calculate the average of n values of x.
The subscripted variable x
i
refers to the it
th
element of x. In C program, single-subscripted variable x
i
can be expressed as
x[0], x[1], x[2]...............x[n]
The subscript can begin with number 0.

In general terms, a one-dimensional array declaration can be expressed as
data-type array[expression];

Where data-type is the data type, array is the array name, and expression is a positive-valued integer expression which
indicates the number of array elements.


33 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

Example-1
A C program that ask user to input elements of float array and print its elements.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main()
{
int i;
float x[5];

clrscr();
for(i=0; i<=5;i++)
{
printf("\nx[%d]= ",i);
scanf("%f",&x[i]);
}

printf("\n\nThis is what you have entered\n");
for(i=0; i<=5;i++)
printf("%.2f\t",x[i]);
getch();
}

Note:- The array size need not be specified explicitly when initial values are included as a part of an array definitions.
With a numerical array, the size will automatically be set equal to the number of initial values included within the
definition.
6.4Initializationofarray
Let us consider the following array definitions, which are variations of the definitions in the above example.
int x[] = {10,15,20,25,30};

The individual elements will be initialized by the following values.
x[0] = 10;
x[1] = 15;
x[2] = 20;
x[3] = 25;
x[4] = 30;

6.5Processinganarray
There is no single operation for a whole entire array in C. If two array a and b are similar (i.e., same data type, same
dimensionality and same size), assignment operations, comparison operations, etc. must be carried out on an element-by-
element basis. This is usually accomplished within a loop, where each pass through the loop is used to process one array
element. The number of pass through the loop will therefore equal the number of array elements to be processed.

Example-2
A C program that will calculate the average of n numbers, then compute the deviation of each number
about the average.

34 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

void main()
{
int i;
float SUM, AVG;
float x[5], d[5];
SUM = 0;
for(i= 0; i<=5;++i)
{
printf("x[%d]=",i+1);
scanf("%f", &x[i]);
SUM +=x[i];
}

AVG = SUM/6;
printf("\nThe average is %f\n\n", AVG);

for(i= 0; i<=5;++i)
{
d[i]=x[i]-AVG;
printf("x[ %d] = %f\t d[ %d]= %f\n", i+1,x[i], i+1, d[i]);
}
getch();
}

Example-3
A C program that calculates the maximum, minimum and average elements from a given array.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

void main()
{
float x[]={12,32,87,90,5,4,7,2,9,101},max, min, avg;
int i;

clrscr();
max=x[0];
for(i=1; i<=0; i++)
if(max<x[i])
max=x[i];

min=x[0];
for(i=1; i<=9; i++)
if(min>x[i])
min=x[i];

avg= x[0];
for(i=1; i<=9; i++)
avg=avg+x[i];
avg=avg/10;

printf("\nArray's elements are:\n");
for(i=0;i<=9;i++)
printf("%.2f\t",x[i]);
35 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

printf("Minimum element of this array is %.2f\n",min);
printf("Maximum element of this array is %.2f\n",max);
printf("Avrage element of this array is %.2f\n",avg);
getch();
}
6.6Sortingonedimensionalnumericarray
Sorting means arranging elements either in ascending order or descending order.

Example-4
Ac program that sorts elements of array in ascending order
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
float x[]={12,32,87,90,5,4,7,2,101,9};
int i,j,tmp;

clrscr();
printf("\nArray's elements before sorting are:\n");
for(i=0;i<10;i++)
printf("%.2f\t", x[i]);

for(i=0; i<10; i++)
for(j=i+1; j<10; j++)
if(x[i]>x[j])
{
tmp = x[i];
x[i] = x[j];
x[j] = tmp;
}

printf("\nArray's elements after sorting in ascending are:\n");
for(i=0;i<10;i++)
printf("%.2f\t", x[i]);
getch();
}

6.7Declaringandprocessingmultidimensionalnumericarrays
In multidimensional arrays, a separate pair of square brackets is required for each subscript. Thus, a two-dimensional
array will require two pairs of square brackets; a three-dimensional array will require three pairs of square brackets, and
so on.

In general terms, a multidimensional array definition can be written as
data-type array[expression1] [expression2] ...... [expression
n
];
Where data-type is the data type, array is the array name, and expression1 expression2 ......expression
n
are positive-
valued integer expressions that indicates the number of array elements associated with each subscript.

Example-5
A program in C to print the output of MULTIPLICATION TABLE of size 5
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define ROWS 5
#define COLUMNS 5

36 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

void main()
{
int product[ROWS][COLUMNS];
int i,j;

clrscr();
printf("MULTIPLACTION TABLE\n\n");
for(i=0;i<ROWS;i++)
{
for(j=1;j<=COLUMNS;j++)
{
product[i][j]=(i+1)*j;
printf("%4d ",product[i][j]);
}
printf("\n");
}
getch();
}


Example-6
A program in C to print a new matrix by adding 10 for each element of old matrix
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

#define ROWS 4
#define COLUMNS 4
void print_matrix(int matrix[][COLUMNS]);
main()
{
int i,j;
int matrix[ROWS][COLUMNS]= {
{1,2,3,4},
{5,6,7,8},
{9,10,11,12},
{13,14,15,16}
};
clrscr();

printf("MATRIX BEFORE MODIFICATION\n");
for(i=0;i<=COLUMNS-1;i++)
{
for(j=0;j<=ROWS-1;j++)
printf("%2d ",matrix[i][j]);
printf("\n");
}

for(i=0;i<= ROWS-1;i++)
for(j=0;j<= COLUMNS-1;j++)
matrix[i][j]=matrix[i][j]+10;

printf("MATRIX AFTER MODIFICATION\n");
for(i=0;i<=COLUMNS-1;i++)
{
for(j=0;j<=ROWS-1;j++)
printf("%2d ",matrix[i][j]);
37 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

printf("\n");
}
getch();
}

6.8Declaringandprocessingcharacterarray(Strings)
String can be represented as a one-dimensional character-type array. Each character within the string will be stored within
one element of the array. For string manipulation most C compilers include library functions that allow string to be
compared, copied or concatenated (i.e., combined one behind another). Other library functions permit operation on
individual characters within strings; e.g., they allow individual characters to be located within strings, and so on.

A string variable is any valid C variable name and is always declared as any array. The general form of declaration of a
string variable is



The size determines the number of characters in the string_name. Some declaration samples are:
char city[10];
char name[30];
Character arrays may be initialized when they are declared. C permits a character array to be initialized in either of the
following two forms:
static char city[9] = NEW YORK ;
static char city[9] = {N, E, W, , Y, O, R, K, \0};

C also permits us to initialize a character array without specifying the number of elements. In such cases, the size of the
array will be determined automatically, based on the number of elements initialized. For example, the statement char
string[] = {G, O, O, D, \0}; defines the array string as five element array.

6.8.1StandardLibraryfunctionstoperformstringoperations
With every C compiler a large set of useful string handling library functions are provided. We generally use <string.h>
header file to perform several operations on string data. The following table lists the commonly used string handling
functions along with their purpose.

Function Use
strlen Finds length of string
strlwr Converts a string to lowercase
strupr Converts a string to uppercase
strcat Appends one string at the end of another
strncat Appends first n character of a string at the end of another
strcpy Copies a string into another
strncpy Copies first n character of a string into another
strcmp Compares two string
strncmp Compares first n character of two string
strcmpi Compares two string without regard to case(i denotes that this function ignores case)
stricmp Compares two string without regard to case(identical to strcmpi)
strnicmp Compares first n characters of two strings without regard to case
strdup Duplicates a string
strchr Finds first occurrence of a given character in a string
strrchr Finds last occurrence of a given character in a string
strstr Finds first occurrence of a given string in another string
strset Sets all characters of string to a given character
strnset Sets first n characters of string to a given character
strrev Reverses string
charstring_name[size];
38 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)


Example7
A program written in C that will count the occurrence of vowels and consonants from a line of text
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
#include<ctype.h>

void main()
{
int count,vowels,consonants;
char linetxt[80];
clrscr();
printf("\nEnter a line of text\n");
gets(linetxt);
vowels=0;
consonants=0;
count=0;

while(linetxt[count]!='\0')
{
if(isalpha(linetxt[count]))
if(tolower(linetxt[count])=='a' ||
tolower(linetxt[count])=='e' ||
tolower(linetxt[count])=='i' ||
tolower(linetxt[count])=='o' ||
tolower(linetxt[count])=='u')
++vowels;
else
++consonants;
count++;
}
printf("\nNumber of Vowels = %d",vowels);
printf("\nNumber of consonants = %d",consonants);
getch();
}

Example-8
A C program that uses strlen function to count the number of characters in a string.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main()
{

char str1[] = "MyString";
int len1, len2;
clrscr();

len1 = strlen(str1);
len2 = strlen("Hello World");
printf("\nstring1 = %s length= %d",str1, len1);
printf("\nstring2 = %s length= %d","Hello World", len2);
getch();
}

39 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

Example-9
A C program that uses strcpy function to copy the contents of one string into another.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main()
{
char source[] = "MyString";
char target[20];
clrscr();
strcpy(target, source);
printf("\nsource= %s",source);
printf("\ntarget= %s",target);
getch();
}

Example-10
A C program that uses strcat function to concatenate the source string at the end of the target string.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main()
{
char source[] = "World";
char target[20] = "Hello ";

clrscr();
printf("\ntarget before strcat= %s", source);
strcat(target,source);
printf("\ntarget after strcat = %s", target);
getch();
}

6.8.2Comparingtwostrings
The function strcmp() compares two strings to find out whether they are same or different. If the two strings are identical,
strcmp() returns a value zero. If theyre not, it returns the numeric difference between the ascii values of the non-
matching characters.

Example-11
A program in C that compares two strings and returns the appropriate value in the calling section.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main()
{

char string1[] = "Jerry";
char string2[] = "Ferry";
int i,j,k;
clrscr();
i= strcmp(string1,"Jerry");
40 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

j= strcmp(string1,string2);
k= strcmp(string1,"Jerry boy");

printf("\n%d %d %d",i,j,k);
getch();
}
6.8.2Sortinglistofstrings
Example-12
A program written in C that sorts the list of names of 5 persons in alphabetical order.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
int i=0,j=0;
char string[5][20],dummy[20];
clrscr();

printf("Enter name of %d items\n",5);
while(i<5)
scanf("%s",string[i++]);

for(i=1;i<5;i++) /*Outer loop begins*/
{
for(j=i;j<5;j++) /*Inner loop begins*/
{
if(strcmp(string[j-1],string[j])>0)
{
/*Exchange of contents*/
strcpy(dummy,string[j-1]);
strcpy(string[j-1],string[j]);
strcpy(string[j],dummy);
}
}/*Inner loop ends*/
}/*Outer loop ends*/
/*Sorting completed*/

printf("\nSorted list\n\n");
for(i=0;i<5;i++)
printf("%s\n",string[i]);
getch();
}
6.8.3 Counting words in a text
We assume that a word is a sequence of any characters, except escape characters and blanks, and that two words are
separated by one blank character. The algorithm for counting words is as follows:
1. Read a line of text
2. Beginning from the first character in the line, look for a blank. If blank is found, increment words by 1.
3. Continue steps 1 and 2 until the last line is completed.

The implementation of this algorithm is given below.
Example-13
A C program that counts numbers of words in a given text.
#include <stdio.h>
41 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

#include <string.h>
#include <conio.h>
void main()
{
char txt[80];
int i, words;
clrscr();
puts("Enter a line of text:");
gets(txt);

/*Counting the words in a line*/
words= 0;
if(txt[0]!='\0')
{
for(i=0;txt[i]!='\0';i++)
if(txt[i]==' ' || txt[i]=='\t')
words++;
words++;
}
clrscr();
printf("\n%s",txt);
printf("\nNumber of words = %d",words);
getch();
}

7. Function
7.1Introduction
A function in C language is a block of code that performs a specific task. It has a name and it is reusable i.e. it can be
executed from as many different parts in a C Program as required. It also optionally returns a value to the calling
program.

There are many advantages in using functions in a program they are:
9 It makes possible top down modular programming. In this style of programming, the high level logic of the
overall problem is solved first while the details of each lower level functions is addressed later.
9 The length of the source program can be reduced by using functions at appropriate places.
9 It becomes uncomplicated to locate and separate a faulty function for further study.
9 A function may be used later by many other programs this means that a c programmer can use function written by
others, instead of starting over from scratch.
9 A function can be used to keep away from rewriting the same block of codes which we are going use two or more
locations in a program. This is especially useful if the code involved is long or complicated.

7.2DifferentTypesoffunctionsinClanguage
A function may belong to any one of the following categories:
1. Functions with no arguments and no return values.
2. Functions with arguments and no return values.
3. Functions with arguments and return values.
4. Functions that return multiple values.
5. Functions with no arguments and return values.

A function can belong to either standard C library file or user defined
42 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

1. Library Functions: The C language is accompanied by a number of library functions that carry out various
commonly used operations or calculations. The standard library files in C are supplied as a part of each C
compiler.
2. User defined functions: C allows programmers to define their own functions for carrying out various individual
tasks. The use of programmer-defined functions allows a large program to be broken down into a number of
smaller, self-contained components, each of which has some unique, identifiable purpose.
7.3CLibraryFunctions
Most versions of C include a collection of header files that provide necessary information in support of various library
functions. Each file generally contains information in support of a group of related library functions. These files are
entered into the program via an #include statement at the beginning of the program.
A library function is accessed simply by writing the function name, followed by a list of arguments that represent
information being passed to the function. The argument must be enclosed in parentheses and separated by commas. The
argument can be constants, variable names, or more complex expressions. A list of standard library functions which are
more popularly used are listed below

Arithmetic Functions <math.h, complex.h>
abs Returns the absolute value of an integer
cos Calculates cosine
cosh Calculates hyperbolic cosine
exp Raises the exponential e to the xth power
fabs Finds absolute value
floor finds largest integer less than or equal to argument
fmod Finds floating-point remainder
hypot Calculates hypotenuse of right triangle
log Calculates natural logarithm
log10 Calculates base 10 logarithm
modf Breaks down argument into integer and fractional parts
pow Calculates a value raised to a power
sin Calculates hyperbolic sine
sqrt Finds square root
tan Calculates tangent
tanh Calculates hyperbolic tangent

Data Conversion Functions <math.h, stdlib.h>
atof Converts string to float
atoi Converts string to int
atol Converts string to long
ecvt Converts double string
fevt Converts double to string
gevt Converts double to string
itoa Converts int to string
itoa Converts long to string
strtod Converts string to double
strtol Converts string to long integer
strtoul Converts string to an unsigned long integer
ultoa Converts unsigned long to string

Character Classification Functions <ctype.h>
isalnum Tests for alphanumeric character
isalpha Tests for alphabetic character
isdigit Tests for decimal digit
islower Tests for lowercase character
isspace Tests for white space character
isupper Tests for uppercase character
isxdigit Tests for hexadecimal digit
43 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

tolower Tests character and converts to lowercase if uppercase
toupper Tests character and converts to uppercase if lowercase

String Manipulation Functions <string.h>
strcat Appends one string to another
strchr Finds first occurrence of a given character in a string
strcmp Compares two strings
strcmpi Compares two strings without regard to case
strcpy Copies one string to another
strdup Duplicates a string
stricmp Compares two strings without regard to case (identical to strcmpi)
strlen Finds length of a string
strlwr Converts a string
strncat Appends a portion of one string to another
stricmp Compares a portion of one string with portion of another string
strncpy Copies a given number of characters of one string to another
strnicmp Compares a portion of one string with a portion of another without regard to case
strrchr Finds last occurrence of a given character in a string
strrev Reverses a string
strset Sets all characters in a given character
strstr Finds first occurrence of a given string in another string
strupr Converts a string to uppercase

Searching and sorting functions <search.h>
bsearch Performs binary search
lfind Performs linear search for a given value
qsort Performs quick sort

I/o Functions <stdio.h>
close Closes a file
felose Closes a file
feof Detects end-of-file
fgetc Reads a character from a file
fgetchar Reads a character from keyboard (function version )
fgets Reads a string from a file
fopen Opens a file
fprintf Writes formatted data to a file
fputchar Writes a character to a file
fputchar Writes a character to screen (function version)
fputs Writes a string to a file
fscanf Reads formatted data from a file
fseek Repositions file pointer to a given location
ftell Gets current file pointer position
getc Reads a character from a file (macro version )
getch Reads a character from the keyboard
getche Reads a character from keyboard and echoes it
getchar Reads a character from keyboard (macro version )
gets Reads a line from keyboard
inport Reads a two-byte word from the specified I/O port
inportb Reads a two-byte from the specified I/O port
kbhit Checks for a keystroke at the keyboard
lseek Repositions file pointer to a given location
open Opens a file
outportb Writes a one byte to the specified I/o port
printf Writes formatted date to scren
putc Writes a character to a file (macro version )
44 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

putch Writes a character to the screen
putchar Writes a character to screen (macro version )
puts Writes a line to file
read Reads date from a file
rewind Repositions file pointer to beginning of a file
scanf Reads formatted data from keyboard
sscanf Reads formatted output to a string
tell Gets current file pointer position
write Writes data to a file

File Handling Functions <stdio.h>
remove Deletes file
rename Renames file
unlink Deletes file

Directory Control Functions <dir.h>
chdir Changes current working directory
getcwd Gets current working directory
fnsplit Splits a full path name into its components
findfirst Searches a disk directory
findnext Continues findfirst search
mkdir Makes a new directory
rmdir Removes a directory

Buffer Manipulation Functions <mem.h, string.h>
memchr Returns a pointer to the first occurrence, within a specified number of characters, of a given character in
the buffer.
memcmp Compares a specified number of characters from two buffers
memcpy Copies a specified number of characters from one buffer to another
memicmp Compares a specified number of characters from two buffers without regard to the case of the letters
memmove Copies a specified number of characters from one buffer to another
memset Uses a give character to initialise a special number of bytes in the buffer

Disk I/O Functions <direct.h, dos.h, dir.h>
absread Reads absolute disk sectors
abswrite Writes absolute disk sectors
biosdisk BIOS disk services
getdisk Gets current drive number
setdisk Sets current disk drive

Memory Allocation Functions <malloc.h>
calloc Allocates a block of memory
farmallock Allocates memory from far heap
farfree frees a block from far heap
free Frees a block allocated with malloc
malloc Allocates a block of memory
realloc Reallocates a block of memory

Process Control Functions <process.h>
abort Aborts a process
atexit Executes function at program termination
execl Executes child process
exit Terminates the process
spawnl Executes child process with argument list
spawnlp Executes child process using PATH variable and argument list
system Executes an MS-DOS command
45 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)


Graphic Functions <graphics.h>
arc Draws an arc
ellipse Draws an ellipse
floodfill Fills an area of the screen with the current color
getimage Stores a screen image in memory
getlinestyle Obtains the current line style
getpixel Obtains the pixels value
lineto Draws a line from the current graphic output position to the specified point
moveto moves the current graphic output position to a specified point
pieslic Draws a pie-slice-shaped figure
putimage Retrieves an image from memory and display it
rectangle Draws a rectangle
setcolor Sets the current color
setlinestyle Sets the current line style
putpixel Sets a pixels value
setviewport Limits graphic output and positions the logical origin within the limited area

Time Related Functions <time.h>
clock Returns the elapsed CPU time for a process
difftime Computes the difference between two times
ftime Gets currents system time as structure
strdate Returns the current system date as string
strtime Returns the current system time as string
time Gets current system time as long integer
setdate Stts DOS date
getdate Gets system date

Miscellaneous Functions <dos.h, stdlib.h>
delay Suspends execution for an interval (milliseconds)
getenv Gets value of environment variable
getpsp Gets the program Segment Prefix
perror Prints error message
putenv Adds or modifies value of environment variable
random Generates random numbers
randomize Initializes random number generation with a random value based on time
sound Turns PC speaker on at specified frequency
nsound Turns PC speaker off

DOS Interface Functions <dos.h>
FP_OFF Returns offset portion of a far pointer
FP_SEG Returns segment portion of a far pointer
getvect Gets the current value of the specified interrupt vector
keep Installs terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs
int86 Invoke MS-DOS interrupts
int86x Invoke MS-DOS interrupt with segment register values
intdos Invoke MS-DOS services using register other than DX and AL
intdosx Invoke MS-DOS services with segment register values
MK_FP Makes a far pointer
segred Returns current values of segment registers
setvect Sets the current value of the specified interrupt vector

Some commonly used C library functions
Function Type Purpose
abs(i) int Return the absolute value of i.
cos(d) double Return to the cosine of d.
46 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

cosh(d) double Return the hyperbolic cosine of d.
exp(d) double Raise e to the power d(e = 2.7182818... is the base of the natural (Naperian) system
of logarithms).
fabs(d) double Return the absolute value of d.
floor(d) double Round down to the next integer value (the largest integer that does not exceed d).
fmod(d1,d2) double Return the remainder (i.e., the noninteger part of the quotient) of d1/d2, with same
sign as d1.
log(d) double Return the natural logarithm of d.
pow(d1,d2) double Return d1 raised to the d2 power.
rand() int Return a random positive integer
sin(d) double Return the sign of d.
sqrt(d) double Return the square root of d.
srand(u) void Initialize the random number generator.
tan(d) double Return the tangent of d.
toascii(c) int Convert value of argument to ASCII.
tolower(c) int Convert letter to lowercase.
toupper(c) int Convert letter to uppercase.
Note: type refers to the data type of the quantity that is returned by the function.
c denotes a character-type argument
i denotes an integer argument
d denotes a double-precision argument
u denotes an unsigned integer argument
7.4Declaringanddefininguserdefinedfunction
A user-defined function has two principle components: the function declaration statement, and the body of the function.
In general terms, the function declaration statement can be written as
data-type name(type1 arg1, type2 arg2, ..., type
n
arg
n)
;
Where data-type represents the data type of the item that is returned by the function, name represents the function name,
and type1, type2, . . , type
n
represent the data type of the arguments arg1, arg2, . . , arg
n
.

The arguments that we pass in the body of the function are called formal arguments, because they represent the
names of data items that are transferred into the function from the calling portion of the program. The body of the function
consists of compound statement that defines the action to be taken by the function.

Example-1
/* This program adds two digits using a programmer defined function */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

float add(float x, float y);

void main()
{
float x ,y;

clrscr();
printf("Please enter value for x and y: ");
scanf("%f %f",&x, &y);
printf("\nThe sum of %f and %f is %f",x,y,add(x,y));
getch();
}

float add(float x, float y)
{
float sum;
47 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

sum = x+y;
return sum;
}

7.4.1FunctionDeclarationandprototypes
Any C function by default returns an int value. More specifically, whenever a call is made to a function, the compiler
assumes that this function would return a value of type int. If we desire that a function should return a value other than
int, then it is necessary to explicitly mention so in the calling function as well as in the called function. To specify that no
value is returned, use the void keyword.

Function prototypes are usually written at the beginning of a program, ahead of any programmer-defined functions
(including main). The general form of a function prototype is
data-type name(type1 arg1, type2 arg2, ..., type
n
arg
n);

Where data-type represents the data type of the item that is returned by the function, name represents the function name,
and type1, type2, . . , type
n
represent the data type of the arguments arg1, arg2, ...,arg
n
.
The arguments names can be omitted; however, the argument data types are essential. The data types of the actual
arguments must conform to the data types of the arguments within the prototype.
Here are some complete function prototypes:
int f1(void); // Returns an int, takes no arguments
float f3(float, int, char, double); // Returns a float
void f4(void); // Takes no arguments, returns nothing

To return a value from a function, you use the return statement. return exits the function back to the point right after the
function call. If return has an argument, that argument becomes the return value of the function. If a function says that it
will return a particular type, then each return statement must return that type. You can have more than one return
statement in a function definition

7.4.2CallingafunctioninaCprogram
A function can be called by specifying its name, followed by a list of arguments enclosed in parentheses and separated by
commas. If the function call does not require any arguments, an empty pair of parentheses must follow the name of the
function. The function call may be a part of a simple expression (such as assignment statement), or it may be one of the
operands within a more complex expression.

Example-2
/* This program calculates the factorial of n */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

long int factorial(int n);

void main()
{
int i;
long int fact;
clrscr();
printf("Please enter value between 1 to 10: ");
scanf("%d" ,&i);

if (i<0 || i>10)
printf("Invalid number\n");
else
{
fact = factorial(i);
48 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

printf("\nThe factorial of %d is %ld",i,fact);
}
getch();
}

long int factorial(int n)
{
int i;
long int prod = 1;
if (n>1)
for(i =2; i<=n; ++i)
prod *=i;
return(prod);
}

There may be several different calls to the same function from various places within a program. Within each function call,
the number of actual arguments must be the same as the number of formal arguments, and each actual argument must be
of the same data type as its corresponding formal argument.

7.4.3PassingargumentstoafunctioninC
Arguments can be passed in function in one of the following two ways
1. Passing by value (sending the values of the arguments)
2. Passing by reference/address (sending the address of the arguments)

In the first method the value of each actual argument in the calling function is copied into corresponding formal
argument of the called function. With this method, changes made to the formal arguments in the called function have no
effect on the values of the actual arguments in the calling function.
In the second method (call by reference) the address of actual arguments in the calling function are copied into formal
arguments of the called function. This that using the formal arguments in the called function we can make changes in the
actual arguments of the calling function. The following program illustrates this fact.

Example-3
The following program illustrate the function Call by value.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
void swapv(int x, int y);

void main()
{
int a =5;
int b= 10;
clrscr();
printf("\nBefore calling swapv()");
printf("\na= %d ",a);
printf("\nb= %d",b);
swapv(a,b);
printf("\nAfter calling swapv()");
printf("\na= %d ",a);
printf("\nb= %d",b);
getch();
}

void swapv(int x, int y)
{
int temp;
49 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

temp=x;
x=y;
y=temp;
printf("\nInside swapv()");
printf("\na= %d ",x);
printf("\nb= %d",y);
}

The output of the above program will be:
x=10
y=5
a=5
b=10
Note that values of a and b remain unchanged even after exchanging the values of x and y.

Example-4
The following program illustrate the function Call by reference.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

void swapr(int *x, int *y);

void main()
{
int a =5;
int b= 10;

clrscr();
printf("\nBefore calling swapv()");
printf("\na= %d ",a);
printf("\nb= %d",b);
swapr(&a,&b);
printf(\nAfter calling swapr());
printf(\na= %d ,a);
printf(\nb= %d,b);
getch();
}

void swapr(int *x, int *y)
{
int temp;
temp= *x;
*x= *y;
*y= temp;
printf(\nInside swapr());
printf(\na= %d ,*x);
printf(\nb= %d,*y);
}

The output of the above program will be:
x=10
y=5
a=10
b=5
Here that values of a and b are hanged after exchanging the values of x and y.

50 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

Some rules governing return statement in C:
1. On executing the return statement it immediately transfers the control back to the calling program.
2. It returns the value present in the parentheses after return, to the calling program.
3. There is no restriction on the number of return statements that may be present in a function. Also the return statement
need not always be present at the end of the called function.
4. A function can return only one value at a time.
5. If we want that a called function should not return any value, in this case, we must mention so by using the keyword
void as shown below.
6. If the value of a formal argument is changed in the called function, the corresponding change does not take place in
the calling function.

7.5DefiningandusingrecursivefunctioninC
Recursion is a process by which a function calls itself repeatedly, until some specified condition has been satisfied. The
process is used for repetitive computations in which each action is stated in terms of a previous result. Recursive functions
are useful in evaluating certain types of mathematical function In order to solve a problem recursively, two conditions
must be satisfied.
1. First, the problem must be written in a recursive form,
2. and second, the problem statement must include a stopping condition.
Care must be taken to define functions which will not call themselves indefinitely, otherwise your program will never
finish.
Example-5
An example of defining and using recursive function called power.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
double power(float val, unsigned pow);

void main()
{
int n;
float x;
clrscr();
printf("\n Base= ");
scanf("%f",&x);
printf("\nPower= ");
scanf("%d",&n);
printf("\n%f Power %d = %lf",x,n,power(x,n));
getch();
}

double power(float val, unsigned pow)
{
if(pow == 0) /* pow(x, 0) returns 1 */
return(1.0);
else
return(power(val, pow - 1) * val);
}

Example-6
An example of defining and using recursive function called factorial.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

long int factorial(int n);
51 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

void main()
{
int n;
clrscr();
printf("n= ");
scanf("%d",&n);
printf("n! = %ld\n",factorial(n));
getch();
}

long int factorial(int n)
{
if(n<=1)
return(1);
else
return(n*factorial(n-1));
}

7.6Passingarrayinafunction
We can pass an entire array to a function as an argument. To pass an array to a function, the array name must appear by
itself, without subscripts, as an actual argument within the function call.
Some care is required when writing function prototypes that include array arguments. An empty pair of square
brackets must follow the name of each array argument, thus indicating that the argument is an array if argument names are
not included in a function declaration, then an empty pair of square brackets must follow the array argument data type.
7.6.1Passingonedimensionalnumericarrayinafunction
Example-7
A sample program in C that calculates the maximum, minimum and average elements of an array using
user-defined function.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
float findmax(float a[],int n);
float findmin(float a[],int n);
float findavg(float a[],int n);

void main()
{
float x[]={12,32,87,90,5,4,7,2,101,9},max, min, avg;
int i;

clrscr();
max=findmax(x, 9);
min=findmin(x, 9);
avg=findavg(x, 9);

printf("\nArray's elements are:\n");
for(i=0;i<=9;i++)
printf("%.2f\t",x[i]);
printf("Minimum element of this array is %.2f\n",min);
printf("Maximum element of this array is %.2f\n",max);
printf("Avrage element of this array is %.2f\n",avg);
getch();
}

52 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)


float findmax(float a[],int n)
{
int i;
float max;
max=a[0];
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
if(max<a[i])
max=a[i];
return max;
}

float findmin(float a[],int n)
{
int i;
float min;
min=a[0];
for(i=1;i<=n;i++)
if(min>a[i])
min=a[i];
return min;
}

float findavg(float a[],int n)
{
int i;
float avg;
avg=0;
for(i=0;i<=n;i++)
avg=avg+a[i];
avg=avg/n;
return avg;
}


7.6.2Passingmultidimensionalnumericarrayinafunction
Example-8
A program that will display all elements of a matrix using a function called print_matrix.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
void print_matrix(int matrix[][4]);
void main()
{
int matrix[4][4]= {
{1,2,3,4},
{5,6,7,8},
{9,10,11,12},
{13,14,15,16}
};

clrscr();
printf("\n\n-------------------\n");
printf("MATRIX ELEMENTS\n");
print_matrix(matrix);
getch();
53 CSC-102: Programming in C (B.Sc.CSIT)

}

void print_matrix(int matrix[][4])
{
int i,j;
printf("-------------------\n");
for(i=0;i<=4-1;i++)
{
for(j=0;j<=4-1;j++)
printf("%2d | ",matrix[i][j]);
printf("\n");
}
}

7.6.3Passingcharacterarrayinafunction
Example-9
A program that counts the occurrence of vowels of a line of text using a programmer defined function
called count vowels.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
int countvowel(char x[]);

void main()
{
int vowels;
char linetxt[80];
clrscr();
printf("\nEnter a line of text\n");
gets(linetxt);
vowels=countvowel(linetxt);
printf("\nNumber of Vowels = %d",vowels);
getch();
}

int countvowel(char x[])
{
int count,v;

v=0;
count=0;
while(x[count]!='\0')
{
if(isalpha(x[count]))
if(tolower(x[count])=='a' ||
tolower(x[count])=='e' ||
tolower(x[count])=='i' ||
tolower(x[count])=='o' ||
tolower(x[count])=='u')
v++;
count++;
}
return (v);
}