Arrays allow to define type of variables that can hold several data items
of the same kind. Similarly structure is another user defined data type
available in C that allows to combine data items of different kinds.
Structures are used to represent a record. Suppose you want to keep
track of your books in a library. You might want to track the following
attributes about each book
Title
Author
Subject
Book ID
Defining a Structure
To define a structure, you must use the struct statement. The struct
statement defines a new data type, with more than one member. The
format of the struct statement is as follows
struct [structure tag] {
member definition;
member definition;
...
member definition;
} [one or more structure variables];
The structure tag is optional and each member definition is a normal
variable definition, such as int i; or float f; or any other valid variable
definition. At the end of the structure's definition, before the final
semicolon, you can specify one or more structure variables but it is
optional. Here is the way you would declare the Book structure
struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
} book;
Accessing Structure Members
To access any member of a structure, we use the member access
operator (.). The member access operator is coded as a period between
the structure variable name and the structure member that we wish to
access. You would use the keyword struct to define variables of
structure type. The following example shows how to use a structure in a
program
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
};
int main( ) {
struct Books Book1; /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
struct Books Book2; /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
/* book 1 specification */
strcpy( Book1.title, "C Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Nuha Ali");
strcpy( Book1.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;
/* book 2 specification */
strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Zara Ali");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom Billing Tutorial");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;
/* print Book1 info */
printf( "Book 1 title : %s\n", Book1.title);
printf( "Book 1 author : %s\n", Book1.author);
printf( "Book 1 subject : %s\n", Book1.subject);
printf( "Book 1 book_id : %d\n", Book1.book_id);
/* print Book2 info */
printf( "Book 2 title : %s\n", Book2.title);
printf( "Book 2 author : %s\n", Book2.author);
printf( "Book 2 subject : %s\n", Book2.subject);
printf( "Book 2 book_id : %d\n", Book2.book_id);
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result
Book 1 title : C Programming
Book 1 author : Nuha Ali
Book 1 subject : C Programming Tutorial
Book 1 book_id : 6495407
Book 2 title : Telecom Billing
Book 2 author : Zara Ali
Book 2 subject : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book 2 book_id : 6495700
Structures as Function Arguments
You can pass a structure as a function argument in the same way as you
pass any other variable or pointer.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
};
/* function declaration */
void printBook( struct Books book );
int main( ) {
struct Books Book1; /* Declare Book1 of type Book */
struct Books Book2; /* Declare Book2 of type Book */
/* book 1 specification */
strcpy( Book1.title, "C Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Nuha Ali");
strcpy( Book1.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;
/* book 2 specification */
strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Zara Ali");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom Billing Tutorial");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;
/* print Book1 info */
printBook( Book1 );
/* Print Book2 info */
printBook( Book2 );
return 0;
}
void printBook( struct Books book ) {
printf( "Book title : %s\n", book.title);
printf( "Book author : %s\n", book.author);
printf( "Book subject : %s\n", book.subject);
printf( "Book book_id : %d\n", book.book_id);
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result
Book title : C Programming
Book author : Nuha Ali
Book subject : C Programming Tutorial
Book book_id : 6495407
Book title : Telecom Billing
Book author : Zara Ali
Book subject : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book book_id : 6495700
Pointers to Structures
You can define pointers to structures in the same way as you define
pointer to any other variable
