Problem: Euclidean Distance

Write a function distance that finds the

straight line distance between two points
(x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ).

CS1010E Lecture 6
Structures

Analysis:
How do we represent a point in the
Cartesian plane? As two separate values,
or as one aggregate value?
Calculate the distance between two points
(x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ) using
p
distance = (x2 x1 )2 + (y2 y1 )2

Henry Chia
hchia@comp.nus.edu.sg

Semester 1 2011 / 2012

Department of Computer Science
School Of Computing
National University Of Singapore

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.1/24

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.3/24

Using Functions with Structures

Lecture Outline
Structures.
Structure definition.
Declaration with structures.
Assigning structures.
Accessing members of a structure.

double computeDist(double x1, double y1,

double x2, double y2)
{
double dx = x2 - x1, dy = y2 - y1;
return sqrt((dx*dx) + (dy*dy));
}
main

Using functions with structures.

Passing structures by value to a function.
Returning a structure from a function.
Problem solving involving structures.

x1

1.0

y1

1.0

x2

2.0

y2

2.0

computeDist
x1

1.0

y1

1.0

x2

2.0

y2

2.0


distance

1.0,1.0,2.0,2.0

return 1.414..;

1.414..
distance = computeDist(x1,y1,x2,y2);
CS1010E Lecture 6 p.2/24

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.4/24

Structures

General Form of a C program

Thus far, declaring variables of int and double allow

us to work with individual numeric values.

Structures defined above function prototypes.

To work with practical problems, each variable or value

may constitute a set of information/data record

#include library_headers
#define CONSTANTS
struct struct_definitions

A point (x, y) comprises two floating-point values.

function_prototypes

A fraction xy comprises two integers for the

numerator and denominator.

int main(void)
{
declarations
statements
}

A bank account is associated with an integer

account number, and a floating-point balance.
A structure defines a set of heterogeneous data for a
record, i.e. the individual parts of the data do not have
to be of the same type.

function_definitions

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.5/24

Structure Definition

Structure Definition
Defining a structure is to define a new type.

struct struct_identifier
{
declarations
}; // Note the semi-colon

struct Point
{
double x, y;
};

Examples of a structure definitions:

struct Point
{
double x, y;
};

struct Fraction
{
int num;
int den;
};

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.7/24

struct BankAccount
{
int accountNum;
double balance;
};

Structures defined above function prototypes.

Structures are often called aggregate data

types, because they allow multiple data
values to be collected into a single data type.
Individual data values within a structure are
called data members, and each data
member has an identifier.
In the Point structure, x and y are members.

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.6/24

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.8/24

Declaration with Structures

Memory is not allocated for structure
definitions they only serve as blueprints for
declarations.
With the structure defined, we may proceeed
to declare variables of the structure type.
Following the struct Point definition, we
may now declare

Declaration with Structures

To initialize a structure variable during
declaration, the values are specified in a
sequence that is separated by commas and
enclosed in braces.
struct
struct
struct
struct

Point
Point
Point
Point

pt1={1.2,3.4};
unit={1};
origin={0};
pt2;

//
//
//
//

(1.2,3.4)
(1.0,0.0)
(0.0,0.0)
(?,?)

To zero a structure, just need to zero the first

member.

struct Point pt1, pt2;

In the above, each variable pt1 and pt2

contains two data values the x and y
values associated with the point.

Use braces for initialization during

declaration only. Do not use braces for
assignment.
CS1010E Lecture 6 p.9/24

Declaration with Structures

The declaration statement
struct Point pt1;

allocates memory for the two data members

with no initial values; thus, their values are
unknown.
pt1

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.11/24

Assignment with Structures

Like primitive variables, a structure variable
can be assigned to structure variables of the
same structure type.
struct Point pt1={1.2,3.4}, pt2;

pt1

A structure variable is modeled using a variable

box, just like an int variable, but with richer
content.
CS1010E Lecture 6 p.10/24

1.2

3.4

1.2

3.4

pt2

1.2

3.4

pt2 = pt1;

pt1

pt2

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.12/24

Member Operator

Member Operator

Arithmetic/relational/logical operations cannot

be applied on entire structure variables.

For input and output, use scanf to read

values into the data members, and printf to
print their values.

The operations above make sense only when

applied on specific data members.
A data member is referenced using the
structure variable name followed by the
structure member operator (.) and a data
member name.
Example, to compare points pt1 and pt2,
if (fabs(pt1.x - pt2.x) < EPSILON &&
fabs(pt1.y - pt2.y) < EPSILON )
printf("The two points are equal.\n");

The following reads a point (two floating point

values) as input, and outputs the point by
printing the individual x and y members.
struct Point pt1;
scanf("%lf %lf", &(pt1.x), &(pt1.y));
printf("The point is (%lf,%lf)\n",
pt1.x, pt1.y);

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.13/24

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.15/24

Member Operator

Structure as Function Parameter

Apart from initialization, structure variables

can also be assigned by assigning individual
data members.

Since structures behave like primitives, they

can be used as arguments to a function, and
a function can return one structure value.

pt1.x = 1.2;
pt1.y = 3.4;

By applying the member operator, the specific

member can be accessed and used in
statements, expressions, function arguments,
function return values, etc. without regards to
it being part of a structure.

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.14/24

When a structure variable is used as a

function argument, the entire content of the
structure is passed by value.
Write a function distance that finds the
straight line distance between two points
(x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ).
double distance(struct Point pt1,
struct Point pt2);

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.16/24

Returning a Structure

Structure as Function Parameter

double computeDist(struct Point pt1,
struct Point pt2)
{
double dx = pt1.x - pt2.x,
dy = pt1.y - pt2.y;
return sqrt((dx*dx) + (dy*dy));
}
main

computeDist

struct Point midPoint(struct

struct
{
struct Point midpt;
midpt.x = (pt1.x + pt2.x)
midpt.y = (pt1.y + pt2.y)
return midpt;
main
}

pt1

1.0 1.0

pt1

1.0 1.0

pt1

1.0 1.0

pt2

2.0 2.0

pt2

2.0 2.0

pt2

2.0 2.0

{1.0,1.0},{2.0,2.0}

{1.0,1.0},{2.0,2.0}
distance

return 1.414..;

midPoint
pt1

1.0 1.0

pt2

2.0 2.0

*
1.5 1.5


{1.5,1.5}

return midpt;

midpt = midPoint(pt1,pt2);
CS1010E Lecture 6 p.17/24

Returning a Structure

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.19/24

Ex: Overlapping Rectangles

A function can be defined to return a single

value of type struct.
After the function is called, the entire structure
content is returned to the calling function.
Write a function midPoint that returns the
middle point between (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ).
The midpoint (xm , ym ) is computed as
(xm , ym ) = (

/ 2;
/ 2;

midpt
midpt

1.414..
distance = computeDist(pt1,pt2);

Point pt1,
Point pt2)

x 1 + x 2 y1 + y2
,
)
2
2

A rectangle is well-defined using the

bottom-left and top-right points (xmin , ymin )
and (xmax , ymax ).
Write a function that determines if two input
rectangles overlap.
Analysis:
How do we represent a rectangle?
How do we check if two rectangles overlap
using their bottom-left and top-right
coordinates?

struct midPoint(struct Point pt1,

struct Point pt2);
CS1010E Lecture 6 p.18/24

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.20/24

Ex: Overlapping Rectangles

#include <stdio.h>

Ex: Overlapping Rectangles

int overlap(struct Rect r1, struct Rect r2)
{
int noOverlap;

struct Point
{
double x, y;
};

noOverlap = r1.min.x
r2.min.x
r1.min.y
r2.min.y

struct Rect
{
struct Point min, max;
};
int overlap(struct Rect r1, struct Rect r2);
struct Rect getRectangle();
struct Point getPoint();

>
>
>
>

r2.max.x ||
r1.max.x ||
r2.max.y ||
r1.max.y;

return !noOverlap;
}

int main(void)
{
struct Rect r1, r2;

At times, it might be easier to work out the opposing

condition, e.g.not overlapping.

r1 = getRectangle();
r2 = getRectangle();
if (overlap(r1,r2))
printf("Rectangles overlap.\n");
else
printf("Rectangles do not overlap.\n");

Apply the boolean negation operator ! on the opposing

condition to obtain the desired condition.

return 0;
}
CS1010E Lecture 6 p.21/24

Ex: Overlapping Rectangles

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.23/24

Lecture Summary
Definition of structures before usage
(declarations, functions, etc.)

struct Rect getRectangle()

{
struct Rect r;

Structures behave similarly to primitives.

r.min = getPoint();
r.max = getPoint();

Structure member operator .

return r;
}

Using functions with structures.

Pass-by-value/return of structures into/from
functions behave similarly to passing
primitives.

struct Point getPoint()

{
struct Point p;
scanf("%lf %lf", &(p.x), &(p.y));
return p;
}

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.22/24

CS1010E Lecture 6 p.24/24