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Session 10

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Strings

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Objectives

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 Explain string variables and constants

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 Explain pointers to strings

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 Perform string input/output operations

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 Explain the various string functions
C
 Explain how arrays can be passed as arguments
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to functions
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 Describe how strings can be used as function

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arguments
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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 2 of 20

 y
String variables

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 Strings are arrays of characters terminated by the

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NULL (‘\0’) character.

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 String variables can be assigned string constants.

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 A string constant is a sequence of characters
C
surrounded by double quotes.
h
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 The ‘\0’ null character is automatically added in the

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internal representation of a string.

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 While declaring a string variable, allow one extra

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element space for the null terminator.

Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 3 of 20
 y
Declaring string variables

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 A typical string variable declaration is:.

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char str[10];
C
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 str is a character array variable that can hold a maximum
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of 10 characters including the null terminator.

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rA
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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 4 of 20

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String I/O operations-1

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 String I/O operations are carried out using functions from the

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standard I/O library called stdio.h

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 The gets() function is the simplest method of accepting a string

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through standard input

C
 Input characters are accepted till the Enter key is pressed
h
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 The gets() function replaces the terminating ‘\n’ new line character
with the ‘\0’ character
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 Syntax :
gets(str);
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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 5 of 20

 String I/O operations-2

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 The puts() function is used to display a string on the standard output device.

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 Syntax :

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puts(str);

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C
 The scanf() and printf() functions are used to accept and display mixed data
types with a single statement.
h
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 The syntax to accept a string is as follows:

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scanf(“%s”, str);
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 The syntax to display a string is as follows:

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printf(“%s”, str);
Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 6 of 20
 y
String Functions

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Functions for handling strings are found in the

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standard header file string.h. Few of the

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operations performed by these functions are:

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• C
Concatenating strings
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• Comparing strings
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• Locating a character in a string

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• Copying one string to another

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• Calculating the length of a string

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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 7 of 20

 y
The strcat() function

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 Joins two string values into one.

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 Syntax:

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C
strcat(str1, str2);
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 Concatenates the str2 at the end of str1

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 The function returns str1

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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 8 of 20

 y
The strcmp() function

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 Compares two strings and returns an integer

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value based on the results of the comparison.

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 Syntax:
C
strcmp(str1, str2);
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 The function returns a value:

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• Less than zero if str1<str2

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• Zero if str1 is same as str2

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• Greater than zero if str1>str2

Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 9 of 20
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The strchr() function

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 Determines the occurrence of a character in a string.

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 Syntax:

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strchr(str, chr);
C
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 The function returns a value:
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• Pointer to the first occurrence of the character

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(pointed by chr) in the string, str

• NULL if it is not present
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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 10 of 20

 y
The strcpy() function

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 Copies the value in one string onto another

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 Syntax:
C
strcpy(str1, str2);
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 The value of str2 is copied onto str1

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 The function returns str1

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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 11 of 20

 y
The strlen() function

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 Determines the length of a string

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 Syntax:
C
strlen(str);
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 The function returns an integer value for the

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length of str
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Fo

Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 12 of 20

 Passing Arrays to

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Functions-1

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 When an array is passed as an argument to a function,

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only the address of the array is passed

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 The array name without the subscripts refers to the

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address of the array
void main()
C
h
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{
int ary[10];
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.
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.
fn_ary(ary);
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.
.
}
Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 13 of 20
 Passing Arrays to

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Functions-2

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#include<stdio.h>

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void main()

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{
int num[5], ctr, sum=0;

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int sum_arr(int num_arr[]); /* Function declaration */

clrscr(); C
h
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for(ctr=0;ctr<5;ctr++) /* Accepts numbers into the array */

{
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printf("\nEnter number %d: ", ctr+1);

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scanf("%d", &num[ctr]);
}
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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 14 of 20

 Passing Arrays to

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Functions-3

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sum=sum_arr(num); /* Invokes the function */

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printf("\nThe sum of the array is %d", sum);

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getch();

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}

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int sum_arr(int num_arr[]) /* Function definition */
h
{
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int i, total;
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for(i=0,total=0;i<5;i++) /* Calculates the sum */

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total+=num_arr[i];
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return total; /* Returns the sum to main() */

}
Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 15 of 20
 Passing Arrays to

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Functions-4

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Sample output of the program

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Enter number 1: 5

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Enter number 2: 10

Enter number 3: 13 C
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Enter number 4: 26
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Enter number 5: 21
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The sum of the array is 75

Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 16 of 20

 Example of Passing Strings

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to Functions-1

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#include<stdio.h>

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#include<string.h>

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void main()
{

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char lines[5][20];
int ctr, longctr=0;
C
int longest(char lines_arr[][20]);
h
/* Function declaration */
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clrscr();
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for(ctr=0;ctr<5;ctr++)
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/* Accepts string values into the array */

{
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printf("\nEnter string %d: ", ctr+1);

scanf("%s", lines[ctr]);
} Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 17 of 20
 Example of Passing Strings

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to Functions-2

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longctr=longest(lines);

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/* Passes the array to the function */

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printf("\nThe longest string is %s", lines[longctr]);

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getch();
}
C
h
int longest(char lines_arr[][20]) /* Function definition */
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{
int i=0, l_ctr=0, prev_len, new_len;
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prev_len=strlen(lines_arr[i]);
/* Determines the length of the first element */
Fo

Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 18 of 20

 Example of Passing Strings

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to Functions-3

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for(i++;i<5;i++)

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{
new_len=strlen(lines_arr[i]);

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/* Determines the length of the next element */

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if(new_len>prev_len)
l_ctr=i;
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/* Stores the subscript of the longer string */
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prev_len=new_len;
}
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return l_ctr;
/* Returns the subscript of the longest string */
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Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 19 of 20

 Example of Passing Strings

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to Functions-4

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Sample output of the program

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Enter string 1: The

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Enter string 2: Sigma

Enter string 3: Protocol C

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Enter string 4: Robert

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Enter string 5: Ludlum

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The longest string is Protocol

Elementary Programming with C/Session 1/ 20 of 20