STRINGS

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Outline
• Introduction to string
– Declaration
– Initialization
• Reading and writing strings
– functions of the standard input/output library (stdio.
h)
• Processing of strings.
– String Manipulation Functions from the String
Handling Library
• Comparing strings
– Determining the length of string

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Introduction
• Use of C standard library functions: for strings
Quick yak
and characters: Discussion fo
r
g usage can
– s t rin
Easy string and character processing d
be exemplifie
– Programs can process characters, ing
mentionstrings, lines of
text, and blocks of memory• Goongslelator!!!
Tra
• These techniques are used to make
– Word processors
– Page layout software
– Typesetting programs

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 Fundamentals of characters
• Characters
– Building blocks of programs
• Every program is a sequence of meaningfully grouped
characters
– Character constant
• An int value represented as a character in single quotes
• 'z' represents the integer value of z (122 ASCII value).

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Fundamentals of strings
• Strings
– Array of characters treated as a single unit called
string:
• Can include letters, digits and special characters (*, /,
$)
– String literal (string constant) - written in double
quotes
• “Lovely Professional University."

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Fundamentals of strings
• Strings are arrays of characters
– String is a pointer to first character (like array)
– Value of string is the address of first character
• Each element of the string is stored in a
contiguous memory locations.
• Terminated by a null character(‘\0’) which is
automatically inserted by the compiler to
indicate the end of string.

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 String Definition
• They are defined as
char array_name[size];
e.g. char carname[30];
or char *carname;
• It defines an array name and reserves 30 bytes
for storing characters and single character
consumes 1 bytes each.
• Since the last byte is used for storing null
character so total number of character specified
by the user cannot exceed 29.

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 String Initialization
• String Initialization
– Two ways:
– Define as a character array or a variable of type
char *
char color[] = "blue"; //char array
Or char color[] = { 'b', 'l', 'u', 'e', '\0' };
char *colorPtr = "blue"; //pointer variable

– Remember that strings represented as character

arrays end with '\0'
b • l coloruhas 5 eelements
\0 b l u e \0
color Temporary

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*colorPtr
 char *colorPtr = "blue"; //pointer variable
Printf(“%s”, colorPtr);

Is correct way to use pointer to char. But:

char *colorPtr; //pointer variable
scanf(“%s”, &colorPtr);
printf(“%s”, colorPtr); /* invalid statement %s don’t
work with pointer to char */

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 String Input/Output
• Inputting strings
– Use scanf.
scanf("%s", word);
• Copies input into word[]
• Do not need & (because a string is a pointer)
– Remember to leave last place in the array for '\0‘.
– Because array knows no bounds the string written
beyond char array size will overwrite the data in
memory.
• Displaying strings
– Use printf.
printf("%s", word);

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

#include <stdio.h>
Program to
void main() read and
{
display string
char carname[20]; //string char array
printf(“Enter the name of your car: ");
scanf("%s", carname);
// to display the input
printf(“\nName of car is %s", carname);

} //end main

Enter the name of your car: XUV500

Name of car is XUV500
Output

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 How?
• The last program will print only a single word
not the sentences with white spaces?
• That is if input is
Lovely Professional University
• Output will be: use gets and puts
Lovely
• So how to print:
Lovely Professional University

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

#include <stdio.h>
Program to
void main() print strings
{
with white
char name[100]; //string char array spaces using
puts(“\nEnter a string: ”); library functions
gets(name); //to input string with space

printf(“\nString is: ”)
puts(name); //to output const string

}//end main

Enter a string:
Lovely Professional University
Output
String is:
Lovely Professional University
©LPU CSE101 C Programming
#include <stdio.h>
Program to
void main() print strings
{
character by
char name[]={“Lovely Professional character using
University"}; //string char array
int i=0; loop.
while(name[i]!='\0') //untill null character
{
printf("%c", name[i]);
i++;
}//end while

}//end main
Lovely Professional University
Output

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 String Handling Library
• Functions defined in #include<string.
h>
• String handling library provides many useful
functions:
– Manipulate string data(copy and concatenate)
– Comparing strings
– Determine string length
– Search strings

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 String Manipulation Functions
• List of string manipulation functions
Function prototype Function description
char *strcpy( char *s1, const char *s2 ) Copies string s2 into array s1. The value
of s1 is returned.
char *strncpy( char *s1, const char *s2, Copies at most n characters of string s2
int n ) into array s1. The value of s1 is returned.
char *strcat( char *s1, const char *s2 ) Appends string s2 to array s1. The first
character of s2 overwrites the
terminating null character of s1. The
value of s1 is returned.
char *strncat( char *s1, const char *s2, Appends at most n characters of string s2
int n ) to array s1. The first character of s2
overwrites the terminating null character
of s1. The value of s1 is returned.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 strcpy() and strncpy()
• strcpy() copies the entire second argument
string into first argument.
strcpy( s1, s2);
• strncpy() copies the first n characters of
second string argument into first string
argument.
strncpy( s1, s2, 4);
– A null character ('\0') is appended explicitly to first
argument, because the call to strncpy in the program
does not write a terminating null character.
– The third argument is less than the string length of
the second argument.

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 Example Code
This program
demonstrates
string
manipulation
/ processing
functions:
strcpy() and
strncpy()

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 Output
The string in array x is: Happy Birthday to You
The string in array y is: Happy Birthday to You
The string in array z is: Happy Birthday

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 strcat()
• Function strcat appends its second argument
string to its first argument string.
strcat( s1, s2);
• The array used to store the first string should be
large enough to store
– the first string
– the second string and
– the terminating null character copied from the second
string.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 strncat()
• Function strncat appends a specified
number of characters from the second string
to the first string.
strncat( s1, s2, 6)
• A terminating null character is automatically
appended to the result.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Example Code
This program
demonstrates
string
manipulation
/ processing
functions:
strcat() and
strncat()

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 output
s1 = Happy
s2 = New Year
strcat( s1, s2 ) = Happy New Year Quick yak:
to
strncat( s3, s1, 6 ) = Happy
Ask students
strcat( s3, s1 ) = Happy Happy New Year mes
print their na
as:
a
Ankur Sharm
r
Sharma Anku
Ankur S.
A. Sharma

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Comparison Functions of the
String Handling Library
• Comparing strings
– Computer compares numeric ASCII codes of
characters in string
– strcmp() Compares its first string argument with
its second string argument, character by character.
– Function strncmp() does not compare characters
following a null character in a string.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 strcmp()
int strcmp( const char *s1, const char *s2 );
– Compares string s1 to s2
– Returns
• a negative number if s1 < s2,
• zero if s1 == s2
• a positive number if s1 > s2

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 strncmp()
int strncmp( const char *s1, const char *s2, int n);
– Compares up to n characters of string s1 to s2
• a negative number if s1 < s2,
• zero if s1 == s2
• a positive number if s1 > s2

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Example Code
This program
demonstrates
string
comparison
functions:
strcmp() and
strncmp()

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Output
s1 = Happy New Year
s2 = Happy New Year
s3 = Happy Holidays
Quick yak:
strcmp(s1, s2) = 0 Students to
create a
strcmp(s1, s3) = 1
strcmp(s3, s1) = -1
me:
friendship ga
Based on the
strncmp(s1, s3, 6) = 0
strncmp(s1, s3, 7) = 1
strncmp(s3, s1, 7) = -1 score out of
-1,0,1 of first
o
names of tw
people….

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Determining the length of string
strlen()
• Function strlen in #include<string.h>
• Function strlen() takes a string as an
argument and returns the number of
characters in the string
– the terminating null character is not included in
the length

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
Program
void main() demonstrates
{
/* initialize 3 char pointers */
string length
const char *string1 = function strlen()
"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
const char *string2 = "four";
const char *string3 = "Boston";
printf("%s\"%s\"%s%d\n%s\"%s\"%s%d\n%s\"%s\"%
s%d\n",
"The length of “,string1,"is",
strlen(string1),
"The length of “,string2,”is“,
strlen(string2),
"The length of “,string3,”is“,
strlen(string3));
} /* end main */

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

The length of "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" is 26
The length of "four" is 4
The length of "Boston" is 6
 Outline
• String Conversion Functions
• Character arithmetic
• Sorting of strings.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 String Conversion Functions
• String Conversion functions
– In <stdlib.h> (general utilities library)
• Convert strings of digits to integer and
floating-point values
Function prototype Function description
double atof( const char *nPtr ); Converts the string nPtr to double.
int atoi( const char *nPtr ); Converts the string nPtr to int.
long atol( const char *nPtr ); Converts the string nPtr to long int.
double strtod( const char *nPtr, char Converts the string nPtr to double.
**endPtr );
long strtol( const char *nPtr, char Converts the string nPtr to long.
**endPtr, int base );
unsigned long strtoul( const char Converts the string nPtr to unsigned long.
*nPtr, char **endPtr, int base );
©LPU CSE101 C Programming
 atof()
Function atof
• Function atof converts its argument—a string
that represents a floating-point number—to
a double value.
• The function returns the double value.
• If the converted value cannot be
represented—for example, if the first
character of the string is a letter—the
behavior of function atof is undefined.

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 Example Code
This program
demonstrates
string
conversion
function: atof()

The string "99.0" converted to double is 99.000

The converted value divided by 2 is 49.500 output
©LPU CSE101 C Programming
 atoi()
Function atoi
• Function atoi converts its argument—a string
of digits that represents an integer— to an
int value.
• The function returns the int value.
• If the converted value cannot be represented,
the behavior of function atoi is undefined.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Example Code
This program
demonstrates
string
conversion
function: atoi()

The string "2593" converted to int is 2593

The converted value minus 593 is 2000 output
©LPU CSE101 C Programming
 atol()
Function atol
• Function atol converts its argument—a string of
digits representing a long integer— to a long
value.
• The function returns the long value.
• If the converted value cannot be represented,
the behavior of function atol is undefined.
• If int and long are both stored in 4 bytes,
function atoi and function atol work identically.

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Example Code
This program
demonstrates
string
conversion
function: atol()

The string "1000000" converted to long int is 1000000

The converted value divided by 2 is 500000 output
©LPU CSE101 C Programming
 strtol()
• Function strtol converts to long a sequence of
characters representing an integer.
• The function receives three arguments—a string
(char *), a pointer to a string and an integer.
• The string contains the character sequence to be
converted.
• The pointer is assigned the location of the first
character after the converted portion of the string.
• The integer specifies the base of the value being
converted(octal, decimal or hexadecimal format).
©LPU CSE101 C Programming
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h> This program
int main( void )
{ demonstrates
const char *string = "-1234567abc"; /* initialize
string pointer */
string
char *remainderPtr; /* create char pointer */
long x; /* variable to hold converted sequence */
conversion
x = strtol( string, &remainderPtr, 0 ); function: strtol()
printf( "%s\"%s\"\n%s%ld\n%s\"%s\"\n%s%ld\n",
"The original string is ", string,
"The converted value is ", x,
"The remainder of the original string is ",
remainderPtr,
"The converted value plus 567 is ", x + 567 );

return 0;
} /* end

The original string is "-1234567abc"

The converted value is -1234567
The remainder of the original string is "abc"
The converted value plus 567 is -1234000

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 strstr
• Function strstr <string.h>
char *strstr(const char *s1, const char *s2);
• Function strstr searches for the first occurrence
of its second string argument in its first string
argument.
• If the second string is found in the first string, a
pointer to the location of the string in the first
string argument is returned.
• Otherwise, a NULL pointer is returned

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> Program
int main( void ) searches for the
{
const char *string1 = "abcdefabcdef"; /* string to
first occurrence
search */
const char *string2 = "def"; /* string to search for
of string2 in
*/ string1.
printf( "%s%s \n%s%s\ n\n %s\ n %s%s\n",
"string1 = ", string1, "string2 = ", string2, "The
remainder of string1 beginning with the", "first
occurrence of string2 is:", strstr(string1, string2));

} /* end main */

string1 = abcdefabcdef
string2 = def

The remainder of string1 beginning with the

first occurrence of string2 is: defabcdef

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 Character arithmetic
• To perform increment , decrement, addition
subtraction operations on the characters.
• These operations work on the ASCII value of
characters.
• Starting from ASCII value of ‘a’ = 97 to the
ASCII value of ‘z’ = 122

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Increment
• To display next char value
void main()
{
char x = 'a' + 1;
printf("%c", x); // Display Result = 'b‘
printf("%c", ++x); // Display Result = ‘c‘

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 Decrement
• To display previous char value
void main()
{
char x = ‘b' - 1;
printf("%c", x); // Display Result = ‘a‘
}

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 Addition
• Adding two ASCII values
void main()
{
char x = 'a‘ + ‘c’;
printf("%c", x); /* Display Result = - ( addition of
ASCII of a and c is 196) */
}

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Subtraction
• Adding two ASCII values Quick yak:
ip
void main() The friendsh
W
{ game can NO
e
char x = ‘z’ – ‘a’; be made mor
e
comprehensiv
printf("%c",x); /* Display Result = ↓ (difference
CII
based on AS
between ASCII of z and a ) */
values of
} characters in
es
the First Nam

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

 Sorting of strings
• To sort the strings in increasing order.
– That is if list of names is given then sort the list in
alphabetical order.
• Use strcmp() and strcpy() functions.

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#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
#include<string.h>
Program to sort
main()
{ the strings
char name[20][20];
char temp[20];
int i,j,n,l;
using arrays.
printf("Enter the no. of string to be sorted");
scanf("%d",&n);
printf(“Enter %d strings:\n", n);
for(i=0;i<=n;i++)
gets(name[i]);
for(i=0;i<=n;i++)
{
for(j=i+1;j<=n;j++)
{
l = strcmp(name[i], name[j]);
if(l>0) // if first string is greater then swap
{
strcpy(temp, name[i]);
strcpy(name[i],name[j]);
strcpy(name[j],temp);
}
}
}
puts("Sorted list is:\n");
for(i=0;i<=n;i++)
puts(name[i]);
getch();
}

©LPU CSE101 C Programming

Enter the no. of string to be sorted 3
Enter 3 strings
lovely
aananya
aman preet
Sorted list is:
aananya
aman preet
lovely

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 Next Lecture

Marking the attendance of

students by passing attendance
sheet …??
Pointer
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[email protected]