STRUCTURE

&
UNION
For example, suppose you want to store data about a book.
You might want to store its name (a string), its price (a float)
and number of pages in it (an int).

If data about say 3 such books is to be stored, then we can follow two
approaches:

(a) Construct individual arrays, one for storing names,

another for storing prices and still another for storing number of pages.

(b) Use a structure variable.

main( )
{
char name[3] ;
float price[3] ;
int pages[3], i ;
printf ( "\n Enter names, prices and no. of pages of 3 books\n" )
;
for ( i = 0 ; i <= 2 ; i++ )
scanf ( "%c %f %d", &name[i], &price[i], &pages[i] );
printf ( "\nAnd this is what you entered\n" ) ;
for ( i = 0 ; i <= 2 ; i++ )
printf ( "%c %f %d\n", name[i], price[i], pages[i] );
}
Enter names, prices and no. of pages of 3 books
A 100.00 354
C 256.50 682
F 233.70 512

And this is what you entered

A 100.000000 354
C 256.500000 682
F 233.700000 512
main( )
{
struct book
{
char name ;
float price ;
int pages ;
};
struct book b1, b2, b3 ;
printf ( "\nEnter names, prices & no. of pages of 3 books\n" ) ;
scanf ( "%c %f %d", &b1.name, &b1.price, &b1.pages ) ;
scanf ( "%c %f %d", &b2.name, &b2.price, &b2.pages ) ;
scanf ( "%c %f %d", &b3.name, &b3.price, &b3.pages ) ;
printf ( "\nAnd this is what you entered" ) ;
printf ( "\n%c %f %d", b1.name, b1.price, b1.pages ) ;
printf ( "\n%c %f %d", b2.name, b2.price, b2.pages ) ;
printf ( "\n%c %f %d", b3.name, b3.price, b3.pages ) ;
}
Enter names, prices and no. of pages of 3 books
A 100.00 354
C 256.50 682
F 233.70 512

And this is what you entered

A 100.000000 354
C 256.500000 682
F 233.700000 512
 Data Types
C programming language which has the ability to divide the data
into different types. The type of a variable determine the what
kind of values it may take on. The various data types are

• Simple Data type

 Integer, Float, Void, Char
• Structured Data type
Array, Strings
• User Defined Data type
Enum, Structures, Unions
 Structure Data Type
A structure is a user defined data type that groups logically
related data items of different data types into a single unit.

All the elements of a structure are stored at contiguous memory

locations.

A variable of structure type can store multiple data items of

different data types under the one name.

As the data of employee in company that is name, Employee ID,

salary, address, phone number is stored in structure data type.
 Defining of Structure
A structure has to defined, before it can used.
The syntax of defining a structure is
struct <struct_name>
{
<data_type> <variable_name>;
<data_type> <variable_name>;
……..
<data_type> <variable_name>;
};
 Example of Structure

The structure of Employee is declared as

struct employee
{
int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
char address[50];
int dept_no;
int age;
};
Memory Space Allocation
8000
emp_id
8004
name[20]

8024
salary
8028
address[50]

8078
dept_no
8080
age
8082 employee
 Declaring a Structure Variable
A structure has to declared, after the body of
structure has defined. The syntax of declaring a
structure is
struct <struct_name> <variable_name>;
The example to declare the variable for defined
structure “employee”
struct employee e1;
Here e1 variable contains 6 members that are
defined in structure.
 Initializing a Structure Members
The members of individual structure variable is initialize
one by one or in a single statement. The example to
initialize a structure variable is
1) struct employee e1 = {1, “Hemant”,12000, “3 vikas
colony new delhi”,10, 35);
2) e1.emp_id=1; e1.dept_no=1
e1.name=“Hemant”; e1.age=35;
e1.salary=12000;
e1.address=“3 vikas colony new delhi ”;
 Accessing a Structure Members
The structure members cannot be directly accessed in the
expression.

They are accessed by using the name of structure variable

followed by a dot and then the name of member variable.

The method used to access the structure variables are

e1.emp_id, e1.name, e1.salary, e1.address, e1.dept_no, e1.age.

The data with in the structure is stored and printed by this

method using scanf and printf statement in c program.
 Structure Assignment
The value of one structure variable is assigned to another
variable of same type using assignment statement.

If the e1 and e2 are structure variables of type employee then

the statement
e1 = e2;
assign value of structure variable e2 to e1.

The value of each member of e2 is assigned to corresponding

members of e1.
 Program to implement the Structure

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
struct employee
{
int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
char address[50];
int dept_no;
int age;
};
 Program to implement the Structure
void main ( )
{ struct employee e1,e2;
printf (“Enter the employee id of employee”);
scanf(“%d”,&e1.emp_id);
printf (“Enter the name of employee”);
scanf(“%s”,e1.name);
printf (“Enter the salary of employee”);
scanf(“%f”,&e1.salary);
printf (“Enter the address of employee”);
scanf(“%s”,e1.address);
printf (“Enter the department of employee”);
scanf(“%d”,&e1.dept_no);
printf (“Enter the age of employee”);
 Program to implement the Structure
scanf(“%d”,&e1.age);
printf (“Enter the employee id of employee”);
scanf(“%d”,&e2.emp_id);
printf (“Enter the name of employee”);
scanf(“%s”,e2.name);
printf (“Enter the salary of employee”);
scanf(“%f”,&e2.salary);
printf (“Enter the address of employee”);
scanf(“%s”,e2.address);
printf (“Enter the department of employee”);
scanf(“%d”,&e2.dept_no);
printf (“Enter the age of employee”);
scanf(“%d”,&e2.age);
 Program to implement the Structure
printf (“The employee id of employee is : %d”,
e1.emp_id);
printf (“The name of employee is : %s”,
e1.name);
printf (“The salary of employee is : %f”,
e1.salary);
printf (“The address of employee is : %s”,
e1.address);
printf (“The department of employee is : %d”,
e1.dept_no);
printf (“The age of employee is : %d”,
e1.age);
 Program to implement the Structure
printf (“The employee id of employee is : %d”,
e2.emp_id);
printf (“The name of employee is : %s”,
e2.name);
printf (“The salary of employee is : %f”,
e2.salary);
printf (“The address of employee is : %s”,
e2.address);
printf (“The department of employee is : %d”,
e2.dept_no);
printf (“The age of employee is : %d”,e2.age);
getch();
}
 Output of Program
Enter the employee id of employee 1
Enter the name of employee Rahul
Enter the salary of employee 15000
Enter the address of employee 4,villa area, Delhi
Enter the department of employee 3
Enter the age of employee 35
Enter the employee id of employee 2
Enter the name of employee Rajeev
Enter the salary of employee 14500
Enter the address of employee flat 56H, Mumbai
Enter the department of employee 5
Enter the age of employee 30
 Array of Structures
C language allows to create an array of variables of structure.

The array of structure is used to store the large number of

similar records.
For example to store the record of 100 employees then array
of structure is used.

The method to define and access the array element of array

of structure is similar to other array.
The syntax to define the array of structure is

Struct <struct_name> <var_name> <array_name> [<value>];

For Example:-
struct employee e1[100];
Program to implement the Array of Structure
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
struct employee
{
int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
char address[50];
int dept_no;
int age;
};
Program to implement the Array of Structure
void main ( )
{
struct employee e1[5];
int i;
for (i=1; i<=100; i++)
{
printf (“Enter the employee id of employee”);
scanf (“%d”,&e[i].emp_id);
printf (“Enter the name of employee”);
scanf (“%s”,e[i].name);
printf (“Enter the salary of employee”);
scanf (“%f”,&e[i].salary);
Program to implement the Array of Structure
printf (“Enter the address of employee”);
scanf (“%s”, e[i].address);
printf (“Enter the department of employee”);
scanf (“%d”,&e[i].dept_no);
printf (“Enter the age of employee”);
scanf (“%d”,&e[i].age);
}
for (i=1; i<=100; i++)
{
printf (“The employee id of employee is : %d”,
e[i].emp_id);
printf (“The name of employee is: %s”,e[i].name);
Program to implement the Array of Structure
printf (“The salary of employee is: %f”,
e[i].salary);
printf (“The address of employee is : %s”,
e[i].address);
printf (“The department of employee is : %d”,
e[i].dept_no);
printf (“The age of employee is : %d”, e[i].age);
}
getch();
}
 Pointers and Structures
C language can define a pointer variable of structure type.

The pointer variable to structure variable is declared by using

same syntax to define a pointer variable of data type.

The syntax to define the pointer to structure

struct <struct_name> *<pointer_var_name>;

For Example:
struct employee *emp;
It declare a pointer variable “emp” of employee type.
 Access the Pointer in Structures

The member of structure variable is accessed by using the

pointer variable with arrow operator() instead of period
operator(.).
The syntax to access the pointer to structure.

pointer_var_namestructure_member;
For Example:

empname;
Here “name” structure member is accessed through pointer
variable emp.
 Passing Structure to Function

The structure variable can be passed to a

function as a parameter. The program to pass a
structure variable to a function.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
struct employee
{
int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
};
 Passing Structure to Function
void main ( )
{
struct employee e1;
printf (“Enter the employee id of employee”);
scanf(“%d”,&e1.emp_id);
printf (“Enter the name of employee”);
scanf(“%s”,e1.name);
printf (“Enter the salary of employee”);
scanf(“%f”,&e1.salary);
printdata (struct employee e1);
getch();
}
 Passing Structure to Function

void printdata( struct employee emp)

{
printf (“\nThe employee id of employee is :
%d”, emp.emp_id);
printf (“\nThe name of employee is : %s”,
emp.name);
printf (“\nThe salary of employee is : %f”,
emp.salary);
}
 Union Data Type
A union is a user defined data type like structure.

The union groups logically related variables into a single unit.

The union data type allocate the space equal to space need to
hold the largest data member of union.

The union allows different types of variable to share same

space in memory.
There is no other difference between structure and union than
internal difference. The method to declare, use and access the
union is same as structure.
 Defining of Union
A union has to defined, before it can used. The
syntax of defining a structure is
union <union_name>
{
<data_type> <variable_name>;
<data_type> <variable_name>;
……..
<data_type> <variable_name>;
};
 Example of Union

The union of Employee is declared as

union employee
{
int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
char address[50];
int dept_no;
int age;
};
 Memory Space Allocation
8000
emp_id, dept_no, age
8002
salary
8004
name

8022

address

8050
 Difference between Structures & Union

1) The memory occupied by structure variable

is the sum of sizes of all the members but
memory occupied by union variable is equal
to space hold by the largest data member of
a union.
2) In the structure all the members are
accessed at any point of time but in union
only one of union member can be accessed
at any given time.
 Application of Structures

Structure is used in database management to

maintain data about books in library, items in
store, employees in an organization, financial
accounting transaction in company. Beside that
other application are
1) Changing the size of cursor.
2) Clearing the contents of screen.
3) Drawing any graphics shape on screen.
4) Receiving the key from the keyboard.
 Application of Structures

5) Placing cursor at defined position on screen.

6) Checking the memory size of the computer.
7) Finding out the list of equipments attach to
computer.
8) Hiding a file from the directory.
9) Sending the output to printer.
10) Interacting with the mouse.
11) Formatting a floppy.
12) Displaying the directory of a disk.
 Using normal variable Using pointer variable
Syntax: Syntax:
struct tag_name struct tag_name
{ {
data type var_name1; data type var_name1;
data type var_name2; data type var_name2;
data type var_name3; data type var_name3;
}; };
Example: Example:
struct student struct student
{ {
int mark; int mark;
char name[10]; char name[10];
float average; float average;
}; };

Declaring structure using normal variable: Declaring structure using pointer variable:
struct student report; struct student *report, rep;

Initializing structure using pointer variable:

Initializing structure using normal variable:
struct student rep = {100, “Mani”, 99.5};
struct student report = {100, “Mani”, 99.5};
report = &rep;

Accessing structure members using normal Accessing structure members using pointer
variable: variable:
report.mark; report -> mark;
report.name; report -> name;
report.average; report -> average;
 Using normal variable Using pointer variable
Syntax: Syntax:
union tag_name union tag_name
{ {
data type var_name1; data type var_name1;
data type var_name2; data type var_name2;
data type var_name3; data type var_name3;
}; };
Example: Example:
union student union student
{ {
int mark; int mark;
char name[10]; char name[10];
float average; float average;
}; };

Declaring union using normal variable: Declaring union using pointer variable:
union student report; union student *report, rep;

Initializing union using pointer variable:

Initializing union using normal variable:
union student rep = {100, “Mani”, 99.5};
union student report = {100, “Mani”, 99.5};
report = &rep;

Accessing union members using normal variable: Accessing union members using pointer variable:
report.mark; report -> mark;
report.name; report -> name;
report.average; report -> average;