Structure

 A collection of one or more variables,
typically of different types, grouped together
under a single name for convenient handling
 Structure is a collection of variables of
different types under a single name.
 Known as struct in C and C++
1

 Keyword struct is used for creating a
structure.
 Syntax of structure
struct structure_name
{
data_type member1;
data_type member2;
.
.
data_type memeber;
};
2

 We can create the structure for a person as
mentioned below as:
struct person
{
char name[50];
int citNo;
float salary;
};
This declaration above creates the derived data
type struct person.
3

When a structure is defined, it creates a user-
defined type but, no storage or memory is
allocated.
 For the above structure of a person, variable can
be declared as:
struct person
{
char name[50];
int citNo;
float salary;
};
4

int main()
{
struct person person1, person2, person3[20];
return 0;
}
5

Another way of creating a structure variable is:
struct person
{
char name[50];
int citNo;
float salary;
} person1, person2, person3[20];
6

There are two types of operators used for
accessing members of a structure.
1. Member operator(.)
2. Structure pointer operator(->)
Any member of a structure can be accessed as:
structure_variable_name.member_name
7

Suppose, we want to access salary for
variable person2.
Then, it can be accessed as: person2.salary
8

 Let
struct motor p;
struct motor q[10];
 Then
p.volts — is the voltage
p.amps — is the amperage
p.phases — is the number of phases
p.rpm — is the rotational speed
q[i].volts — is the voltage of the ith motor
q[i].rpm — is the speed of the ith motor
9
Like Java!

Writing struct structure_name variable_name; to declare a
structure variable isn't intuitive as to what it signifies,
and takes some considerable amount of development
time.
So, developers generally use typedef to name the
structure as a whole. For example:
typedef struct complex
{ int imag;
float real;
} comp;
int main()
{
comp comp1, comp2;
}
10

Structures can be nested within other
structures in C programming.
struct complex
{ int imag_value;
float real_value;
};
struct number { struct complex comp; int real; }
num1, num2;
11

Suppose, you want to access imag_value
for num2 structure variable then, following
structure member is used.
num2.comp.imag_value
12

 Copy/assign
struct motor p, q;
p = q;
 Get address
struct motor p;
struct motor *s
s = &p;
 Access members
p.volts;
s -> amps;
13

 Remember:–
 Passing an argument by value is an instance of copying or
assignment
 Passing a return value from a function to the caller is an
instance of copying or assignment
 E.g,:–
struct motor f(struct motor g) {
struct motor h = g;
...;
return h;
}
14

 K & R say (p. 131)
 “If a large structure is to be passed to a function, it is
generally more efficient to pass a pointer than to copy the
whole structure”
 I disagree:–
 Copying is very fast on modern computers
 Creating an object with malloc() and assigning a pointer
is not as fast
 Esp. if you want the object passed or returned by value
 In real life situations, it is a judgment call
15

 Let struct motor {
float volts;
float amps;
int phases;
float rpm;
}; //struct motor
 Then
struct motor m = {208, 20, 3, 1800};
initializes the struct
 See also p. 133 of K&R for initializing arrays of
structs
16

 Open-ended data structures
 E.g., structures that may grow during processing
 Avoids the need for realloc() and a lot of
copying
 Self-referential data structures
 Lists, trees, etc.
17

struct item {
char *s;
struct item *next;
}
 I.e., an item can point to another item
 … which can point to another item
 … which can point to yet another item
 … etc.
Thereby forming a list of items
18

 The following is legal:–
/* in a .c or .h file */
struct item;
struct item *p, *q;
… /* In another file */
struct item {
int member1;
float member2;
struct item *member3;
};
19
Called an opaque type!
Program can use pointers to items
but cannot see into items.
Cannot define any items, cannot
malloc any items, etc.
Implementer of item can change
the definition without forcing
users of pointers to change their
code!

 The following is not legal:–
struct motor {
float volts;
float amps;
float rpm;
unsigned int phases;
}; //struct motor
motor m;
motor *p;
20
You must write
struct motor m;
struct motor *p;

 Definition:– a typedef is a way of renaming a
type
 See §6.7
 E.g.,
typedef struct motor Motor;
Motor m, n;
Motor *p, r[25];
Motor function(const Motor m; …);
21

 typedef may be used to rename any type
 Convenience in naming
 Clarifies purpose of the type
 Cleaner, more readable code
 Portability across platforms
 E.g.,
 typedef char *String;
 E.g.,
 typedef int size_t;
 typedef long int32;
 typedef long long int64;
22

 typedef may be used to rename any type
 Convenience in naming
 Clarifies purpose of the type
 Cleaner, more readable code
 Portability across platforms
 E.g.,
 typedef char *String;
 E.g.,
 typedef int size_t;
 typedef long int32;
 typedef long long int64;
23

 The following is legal:–
/* in a .c or .h file */
typedef struct _item Item;
Item *p, *q;
… /* In another file */
struct _item {
char *info;
Item *nextItem;
};
24

 A union is like a struct, but only one of its
members is stored, not all
▪ I.e., a single variable may hold different types at different times
▪ Storage is enough to hold largest member
▪ Members are overlaid on top of each other
 E.g.,
union {
int ival;
float fval;
char *sval;
} u;
26

 It is programmer’s responsibility to keep track of
which type is stored in a union at any given time!
 E.g., (p. 148)
struct taggedItem {
enum {iType, fType, cType} tag;
union {
int ival;
float fval;
char *sval;
} u;
};
27

 It is programmer’s responsibility to keep track of
which type is stored in a union at any given time!
 E.g., (p. 148)
struct taggedItem {
enum {iType, fType, cType} tag;
union {
int ival;
float fval;
char *sval;
} u;
};
28
Members of struct are:–
enum tag;
union u;
Value of tag says which
member of u to use

 unions are used much less frequently than
structs — mostly
▪ in the inner details of operating system
▪ in device drivers
▪ in embedded systems where you have to access
registers defined by the hardware
29

Structure

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