Structures

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 INTRODUCTION
◼ Arrays can be used to represent a group of data
items that belong to the same type such as int or
float.
◼ Problem: we cannot use an array if we want to
represent a collection of data items of different type
using a single name.
◼ Solution: C supports a constructed data type known
as structures→a mechanism for packing data of
different types.

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What is a Structure?
◼ Used for handling a group of logically
related data items
 Examples:
◼ Student name, roll number, and marks

◼ Real part and complex part of a complex number

◼ Helps in organizing complex data in a

more meaningful way
◼ The individual structure elements are
called members
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Defining a Structure
struct tag {
member 1;
member 2;
:
member m;
};

 struct is the required C keyword

 tag is the name of the structure
 member 1, member 2, … are individual member
declarations

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Contd.
◼ The individual members can be ordinary
variables, pointers, arrays, or other structures
(any data type)
 The member names within a particular
structure must be distinct from one another
 A member name can be the same as the
name of a variable defined outside of the
structure
◼ Once a structure has been defined, the
individual structure-type variables can be
declared as:
struct tag var_1, var_2, …, var_n;

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 Example
◼ A structure definition
struct student {
char name[30];
int roll_number;
int total_marks;
char dob[10];
};

◼ Defining structure variables:

struct student a1, a2, a3;

A new data-type
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A Compact Form
◼ It is possible to combine the declaration of the
structure with that of the structure variables:

struct tag {
member 1;
member 2;
:
member m;
} var_1, var_2,…, var_n;

◼ Declares three variables of type struct tag

◼ In this form, tag is optional 7
Accessing member of Structure
◼ The members of a structure are processed
individually, as separate entities
 Each member is a separate variable
◼ A structure member can be accessed by using dot (.)
operator :
variable.member
where variable refers to the name of a structure-type
variable, and member refers to the name of a
member within the structure
◼ Examples:
a1.name, a2.name, a1.roll_number, a3.dob
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 Structure Initialization
◼ A structure variable can be initialized at compile time:
◼ Syntax:
◼ struct structure_name structure_variable={value1,value2,…..valueN}
◼ void main( )
◼ {
◼ struct st-record
◼ {
◼ int weight;
◼ float height:
◼ };
◼ struct st-record student1={ 60,180.75};
◼ struct st-record student2={53,170.60};
◼ }

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 Structure Initialization
◼ Another method to initialize structure variable outside
function:
◼ struct st-record
◼ {
◼ int weight;
◼ float height:
◼ }student1={ 60,180.75};
◼ void main( )
◼ {
◼ struct st-record student2={53,170.60};
◼ }

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Example: Complex number addition
void main()
{
struct complex
{
float real;
float cmplex;
} a, b, c;

scanf (“%f %f”, &a.real, &a.cmplex);

scanf (“%f %f”, &b.real, &b.cmplex);

c.real = a.real + b.real;

c.cmplex = a.cmplex + b.cmplex;
printf (“\n %f + %f j”, c.real, c.cmplex);
}
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 Example1
◼ #include <stdio.h>
◼ struct book{
◼ char title[10];
◼ char author[20];
◼ double price;
◼ int pages;
◼ };
◼ int main(){
◼ struct book book1 = {"Learn C", "Dennis Ritchie", 675.50, 325};
◼ printf("Title: %s \n", book1.title);
◼ printf("Author: %s \n", book1.author);
◼ printf("Price: %lf\n", book1.price);
◼ printf("Pages: %d \n", book1.pages);
◼ return 0;
◼ }

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◼ #include <stdio.h>
Example2
◼ #include <string.h>
◼ struct book{
◼ char title[10];
◼ char author[20];
◼ double price;
◼ int pages;
◼ } book1;
◼ int main(){
◼ strcpy(book1.title, "Learn C");
◼ strcpy(book1.author, "Dennis Ritchie");
◼ book1.price = 675.50;
◼ book1.pages = 325;
◼ printf("Title: %s \n", book1.title);
◼ printf("Author: %s \n", book1.author);
◼ printf("Price: %lf \n", book1.price);
◼ printf("Pages: %d \n", book1.pages);
◼ return 0;
◼ }

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Operations on Structure
Variables
◼ Unlike arrays, a structure variable can be directly
assigned to another structure variable of the
same type
a1 = a2;
◼ All the individual members get assigned

◼ Two structure variables can not be compared

for equality or inequality
if (a1 == a2)…… this cannot be done

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 Arrays of Structures
◼ Let us consider we have a structure as:
◼ struct student
◼ {
◼ char name[20];
◼ int rollno;
◼ float marks;
◼ };
◼ If we want to keep record of 100 students, we have to make 100
structure variables like st1,st2,st3,………….st100.
◼ In this situation we can use array of structure to store the records of
100 students which is easier and efficient to handle.

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 Arrays of Structures
◼ Two ways to declare an array of structure:
◼ struct student struct student
◼ { {
◼ char name[20]; char name[20];
◼ int rollno; int rollno;
◼ float marks; float marks;
◼ }st[100]; };
◼ struct student st[100];
◼

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 Example to illustrate Arrays of Structure
struct student{
char name[10];
int rollno;
float marks;
};
int main(){
struct student b[3];
strcpy(b[0].name, ”John");
b[0].rollno = 34;
b[0].marks= 32.5;
strcpy(b[1].name, ”Tommy");
b[1].rollno = 17;
b[1].marks = 22.5;
strcpy(b[2].name, ”Richie");
b[2].rollno = 25;
b[2].marks = 32.5;
printf("\nList of Students:\n");
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++){
printf(”Name: %s \t Rollno: %d \t Marks: %f\n", b[i].name, b[i].rollno, b[i].marks);
}
return 0;
}

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Arrays within Structures
◼ A structure member can be an array
struct student
{
char name[30];
int roll_number;
int marks[5];
char dob[10];
} a1, a2, a3;
◼ The array element within the structure can
be accessed as:
a1.marks[2], a1.dob[3],…
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