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Input/ Output Functions and statements

C language has a collection of functions that can be used in a program

with required number of arguments written in parantheses. Input /Output
functions are also included in the user program by using the header file
<stdio.h> which stands for standard input-output header.

Formatted Input/ Output Functions :

scanf( ) Function:
scanf() function is used to read/input values of variables using the
standared input device (keyboard). It has the following form

scanf (“format string”, &v1, &v2, . . . , &vn);

where v1, v2, . . . , vn are variables whose values are to be read

from the keyboard.
“format string” is the control string which represents the format
specification.
The symbol & (ampersand) represents the memory address where
the variable value is to be stored.

For eg. scanf(“%d%d”, &a, &b); to read value of int variables a and b.

printf( ) Function:
printf() function is used to print/display values of variables using
the standared output device (monitor). It has the following form

printf (“format string”, v1, v2, . . . , vn);

where v1, v2, . . . , vn are variables whose values are to be display

in the monitor.
“format string” is the control string which represents the format
specification.
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For eg. printf (“%f”, s);

printf (“\n sum=%6.2f”, s);
printf (“\n %d factorial is %d”, k, kfact);

Q. What is format specifier? Explain with examples.

Solution: A format specifier is a special character sequence that begins

with a percent sign (%) and indicates how to write a single data item.
The format specifier in printf() determines the interpretation of a
variable‟s type, the width of the field, the number of decimal places
printed and the justification. Format specification determines how the
variables to be output should be displaed on the screen, is provided in the
control string.
The format specifiers in scanf() direct scanf to read and convert
characters from the input field into specific types of values, and then
store them in the locations given by the address arguments.
Some commonly used format specifier with printf() and scanf() are listed
below:
Format Specifiers
Format printf() format specifier scanf() format specifier
Single character %c %c
String %s %s
Signed decimal integer %d or %i %d or %i
Floating point (decimal %f %f or %e
notation)
Floating point (exponential %e %f or %e
notation)
Unsigned decimal integer %u %u
Unsigned hexadecimal %x %x
integer (used with
“ABCDEF” that have
decimal values 10 to 15
Unsigned octal integer %o %o

Some commonly used format specifiers for qualified numbers with

printf() are listed below:
Format printf() format specifier
Decimal long integer %ld, %li
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Decimal unsigned long integer %lu

Decimal short integer %hd, %hi
Decimal unsigned short integer %hu
Signed, double %le, %lf, %lg
Signed, long double %Le, %Lf, %Lg
Octal long integer %lo
Hexadecimal long integer %lx
To illustrate with a few examples: the call
printf(“%c %d %f %e %s %d%%\n”, „1‟,23.14,56000000, “eight”,9);
Would print
1 2 3.140000 5.600000e+07 eight 9%
The call
printf(“%d %o %x\n”,100, 100, 100);
would print
100 144 64
The following are example of scanf() statements and their inputs are supplied as
given:
scanf(“%d%c”,&i,&c);
Input: 5 x
scanf(“%d%f%f”,&x,&y,&z);
Input: 12 13.16 24.19

Q. How can the maximum field width for a data item be specified within
a “scanf” function?

Solution: The maximum field width for a data item within a “scanf”
function can be specified using an unsigned integer indicating the field
width is placed within the control string, between the percent sign (%)
and the conversion character. For example,
scanf(“%3d”,&a);
here the maximum field width for the integer variable a is specified as 3.
The number of characters in the actual data item cannot exceed the
specified field width. Any characters that extend beyond the specified
field width will not be read. Such leftover characters may be incorrectly
interpreted as the components of the next data item.

Q. What happens if an input data item contains more characters than the
maximum allowable field width in a “scanf” function? What if the data
item contains fewer characters?
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Escape Sequence:

An escape sequence provides special formatting control. An

escape sequence consists of a backslash (\) followed by a single
character. Some character such as line feed, form feed, vertical tab, alert
etc., cannot be typed through the keyboard. Such invisible characters can
be made understood to the „C‟ compiler through the use of execution
characters or escape sequences. The terms execution characters and
escape sequences are used inter-changeably.
Following program segment shows the usage of „\n‟ and a new
escape sequence „\t‟, called „tab‟. The newline character, „\n‟ when
inserted in a printf()‟s format string, would take the cursor to the
beginning of the next line. This is also demonstrated in the following
program:
main( )
{
printf(“You\tmust\tbe\tcrazy\nto\tlove\tthis\tbook”);
}
And the run output on the 80 columns printer or on screen. The numerals
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ….. show the position where the prints will take place.
1 2 3 4
012345670123456789012345678901234567890
You must be crazy
to love this book
Note that „\t‟ moves the cursor to the next tab stop.
 The newline character is an „escape sequence‟. It is so called
because the backslash symbol (\) is named as an „escape‟
character.
A 80 column monitor screen has 10 tab stops. Which means, that the
screen is divided into 10 zones of 8 columns each. Pressing a tab takes
the cursor to the beginning of next printing zone.
 The cursor jumps over eight columns when it encounters the „\t‟
character.
Thus, tab pressing is another useful technique for lining up columns for
the output. The „\n‟ character causes a new line to begin following
“crazy”. The tab and the newline are most used for escape sequences.
Table 2 shows complete list of these escape sequences.
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Table 2 Complete list of escape sequence

Esc.Seq Purpose Esc.Seq Purpose

\n New line \t Tab
\b Backspace \r Carriage return
\f Form feed \a Alert
\‟ Single quote \” Double quote
\\ Backslash

The escape sequence „\b‟ moves the cursor one position to the left of its
current position. „\r‟ takes the cursor to the beginning of the line in which
it is currently placed. „\a‟ alerts the user by sounding the speaker inside
the computer. Form feed(\f) advances the continuous stationery paper
inside the printer to the top of the next page. Characters which are used
as delimiters such as the single quote, double quote, etc., and the
backslash can be printed by preceding them with the backslash. Thus, the
statement:
printf(“He said, \”Let‟s do it!\” ”);
Will be printed as:
He said, “Let‟s do it!”

Q. What do you mean by Escape Sequence? How many types of Escape

Sequences are available in the programming language „C‟?

Assignment Statement:

An assignment statement is used to assign value to a variable. It has the

following form.
Variable = value or expression
Eg. m=24;
s=s+x;

Q. Discuss the difference between assignment and equality.

Solution: Assignment means the process of assigning the value of a

variable/expression from the right side of assignment operator to the left
side variable. The assignment operator in C is =.
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Equality means the process of checking the value of the left side
variable/expression with the right side variable. The equality operator in
C is = =.

Q. Write a C program to find the sum and product of given two numbers.

Solution:
/* program to find sum and product */

#include<stdio.h> tells the compiler “to search for a file name

Main() stdio.h and place its contents at this
{ point in the program.
int a, b, sum, product;
scanf(“%d %d”,, &a, &b); ampersand symbol and before each
sum=a+b; variable name is an operator that
product=a*b; specifies the variable names address.
printf(“%d %d”, sum, product);
}

conversion specification

Q. Write a user-friendly program in C to find the sum and product of

two numbers.

Solution: The program in C to find the sum and product of two numbers
is given below:

/* Program to find the sum and product of two numbers */

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
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int a,b, sum, product;

clrscr();
printf("Enter any two integer numbers:\n");
scanf("%d%d",&a,&b);
printf("%d%4d\n",a,b);
sum=a+b;
product=a*b;
printf("The sum of %d and %d is = %d\n",a,b,sum);
printf("The product of %d and %d is = %d\n",a,b,product);
printf("Press any key to exit...\n");
getch();
}

The output of the above program will be:

Enter any two integer numbers:
4 5
The sum of 4 and 5 is = 9
The product of 4 and 5 is = 20
Press any key to exit...

Q. Temperature of a city in Fahrenheit degrees is input through the

keyboard. Write a program to convert this temperature into Centigrade
degrees.

Solution:

/* Conversion of temperature form Fahrenheit to Centigrade */

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
main()
{
float fr,cent;
clrscr();
printf("\nEnter the temperature(F): ");
scanf("%f",&fr);
cent=5.0/9.0*(fr-32);
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printf("\nTemperature in centigrade=%.3f",cent);
printf("\n\n\nPress any key to exit...");
getch();
return;
}
Q. Two numbers are input through the keyboard into two locations C and
D. Write a program to interchange the contents of C and D.

Solution:
/* Interchanging of contents of two variable c & d */
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
main()
{
int c, d, e;
clrscr();
printf("\n Enter the number at location C: ");
scanf("%d",&c);
printf("\n Enter the number at location D: ");
scanf("%d",&d);
/*Interchanging the contents of two variable using a third variable
as temporary store */
e=c;
c=d;
d=e;
printf("\n New Number at location C=%d",c);
printf("\n New Number at location D=%d",d);
printf("\n\n\n Press any key to exit...");
getch();
return;
}

Q. Write a program to calculate the area & perimeter of the rectangle

and the area & circumference of the circle. The length & breadth of a
rectangle and radius of a circle are input through the keyboard.

Solution:
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/* Calculation of perimeter & area of rectangle and circle */

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
main()
{
int l,b,r,area1,perimeter;
float area2,circum;
clrscr();
printf("\nEnter Length & Breadth of a Rectangle: ");
scanf("%d%d",&l,&b);
area1=l*b; /* Area of a rectangle */
perimeter=2*l+2*b; /* Perimeter of a rectangle */
printf("\nArea of the Rectangle is=%d",area1);
printf("\nPerimeter of the Rectangle is=%d",perimeter);
printf("\n\nEnter Radius of a circle: ");
scanf("%d",&r);
area2=3.14*r*r; /*Area of Circle */
circum=2*3.14*r; /*Circumference of a circle */
printf("\nArea of the Circle is=%.2f",area2);
printf("\nCircumference of a Circle is=%.2f",circum);
printf("\n\n\nPress any key to exit...");
getch();
return;
}

Character Input/Output Functions:

getchar( ) Function
getchar( ) function is used to read one charater at a time from the
standard input device(keyboard). It has the following form:
ch= getchar ( );
where ch is a char variable.
Eg. char c;
c=getchar ( );
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When this function is executed, the computer will wait for a key to be
pressed and assigns the value to the variable when the entre key is
pressed.

putchar( ) Function
putchar( ) function is used to display one charater at a time from the
monitor screen. It has the following form:
putchar (ch );
where ch is a char variable.
Eg. char c=‟M‟;
putchar (c );
When this function is executed, the computer will display the value of
the char variable (i.e. letter M) on the monitor screen.

getch( ) Function
getch( ) function is used to read a charater from the keyboard and it does
not expect the enter key press. It has the following form:
ch= getch( );
where ch is a char variable.
Eg. char c;
c=getch( );
When this function is executed, the computer will wait for a key to be
pressed from the key board. As soon as a key is pressed, the control is
transferred to the next line of the program and the value is assigned to
the char variable. It is to be noted that the key(lettrer) pressed will not
be display on the monitor screen.

putch( ) Function
putch( ) function is used to display a charater on the monitor screen. It
has the following form:
putch(ch );
where ch is a char variable.
Eg. char c=‟M‟;
putch(c );
When this function is executed, the computer will display the value of
the char variable „M‟ on the monitor screen.
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getche( ) Function
getche( ) function is used to read a charater from the keyboard without
expecting the entre key press. However any key pressed by the user will
be display on the monitor. It has the following form:
ch= getche( );
where ch is a char variable.
Eg. char c;
c=getche( );
When this function is executed, the computer will wait for a key to be
pressed from the key board. The value is assigned to the char variable.
Noted that getche() is similar to getch() expect that getche()
display the key pressed from the keyboard on the monitor screen. The „e‟
at the end of getche() stands for echo. The header file <conio.h>
(console input output header) is included to ues these functions in a
program.

gets( ) Function
gets( ) function is used to read a string of characters including white
space. Note that a string containing white spaces cannot be read using
scanf() with “%s” format specifer. It has the following form:
gets(st );
where st is a char stringvariable.
Eg. char st[20];
gets(st );
When this function is executed, the computer waits for the string value.

puts( ) Function
puts( ) function is used to display a charater string on the monitor screen.
It has the following form:
puts(str );
where str is a string(array of characters).
Eg. char str[20]=‟Computer World‟;
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puts(str);
When this function is executed, the computer will display the string (i.e.
Computer World) on the monitor screen.

clrscr( ) Function
clrscr( ) function is used to clear the monitor screen. It has the following
form:
clrscr( );
When this function is executed, the previously displayed text/error
messages will be cleared. This is used when a new program is run. It is to
be noted that the header file <conio.h> (console input output header) is
included to use this function in a program.

Q. Explain the sizeof( ) operator with a suitable example.

Solution:
The sizeof Operator: The sizeof operator is used to return the size (in
bytes) of its operand. Is is used in the form:
sizeof(b)
Where b is a variable or a type.
Example:
The following program demonstrates the use of the sizeof operator
to display the size of the different data types in bytes.

#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
printf("\nThe Size of char is %d ",sizeof(char));
printf("\nThe Size of int is %d ",sizeof(int));
printf("\nThe Size of float is %d ",sizeof(float));
printf("\nThe Size of double is %d ",sizeof(double));
return;
}

RUN:
The Size of char is 1
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The Size of int is 2

The Size of float is 4
The Size of double is 8

Q. Write a C program for calculating volume and surface area of a

sphere given diameter of the sphere.

Solution:
/* Calculate the volume & surface area of sphere given diameter of the
sphere */
#include<stdio.h>
#define PI 3.14
main( )
{
float radius, volume, area;
printf(“\nEnter the radius of sphere : ”);
scanf(“%f”, &radius);
volume = (4*PI*radius*radius*radius)/3;
area=4*PI*radius*radius;
printf(“Volume of sphere = %f”, volume);
printf(“\n Surface area of sphere = %f”,area);
}

Q. A student obtained marks in five different subjects are input through

the keyboard. Write a program to find out the aggregate marks and
percentage marks obtained by the student. Assume that the maximum
marks that can be obtained by a student in each subject is 100.

Solution:
/* Calculation of aggregate & percentage marks */
#include<stdio.h>
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#include<conio.h>
main()
{
int m1,m2,m3,m4,m5,aggr;
float per;
clrscr();
printf("\nEnter marks in 5 subjects: ");
scanf("%d%d%d%d%d",&m1,&m2,&m3,&m4,&m5);
aggr=m1+m2+m3+m4+m5;
per=(float)aggr/5;
printf("\nAggregate Marks=%d",aggr);
printf("\nPercentage Marks=%.2f",per);
printf("\n\n\nPress any key to exit...");
getch();
return;
}

Q. Define the following:

a. comment b. printf( ) c. delimiters
Solution:
a. Comment: Comment is an entry in a computer program for the
purpose of documentation or explanation. The line starting with the
characters /* and ending with the characters / is the comment. Comments
are important because they help in documenting a program. Comments
should be written so that the logic of a program is understand easily. We
may type as many lines as we wish between these two sets of characters
i.e. (/*, */) for writing comments. Note that the compiler ignores
comments, and does not take any action.

b. printf( ): The printf( ) function is one of the most important and

useful functions to display the formatted output data items on the
standard output device such as a monitor.

c. delimiters: Following the function definition, there are braces ({ }) to

indicate the beginning and end of the body of the function. The opening
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brace ({ ) means a block of code that forms a distinct unit is about to

begin. The closing brace(}) terminates that block of programming code.
These set of braces are the delimiters for indicating the beginning and
end of the program segment.

Q. What are the commonly used input/output function in C? How are they accessed?

Solution: There are a couple of function that provide basic I/O facilities.
Pobably the most common are: getchar() and putchar(). They are defined and
used as follows:
int getchar(void) -- reads a char from stdin
int putchar(char ch) -- writes a char to stdout, returns character written.
int ch;

ch = getchar();
(void) putchar((char) ch);
Related Functions:
int getc(FILE *stream),
int putc(char ch,FILE *stream)
Formatted I/O
We have seen examples of how C uses formatted I/O already. Let's look at this in
more detail.
Printf :
The function is defined as follows:
int printf(char *format, arg list ...) --
prints to stdout the list of arguments according specified format string. Returns
number of characters printed.
The format string has 2 types of object:
ordinary characters -- these are copied to output.
conversion specifications -- denoted by % and listed in the following Table :

Table: Printf/scanf format characters

Format Spec (%) Type Result
c char single character
i,d int decimal number
o int octal number
x,X int hexadecimal number
lower/uppercase notation
u int unsigned int
s char * print string
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terminated by \0
f double/float format -m.ddd...
e,E " Scientific Format
-1.23e002
g,G " e or f whichever
is most compact
% - print % character

Between % and format char we can put:

- (minus sign)
-- left justify.
integer number
-- field width.
m.d
-- m = field width, d = precision of number of digits after decimal point or number of
chars from a string.
So, printf("%-2.3f\n",17.23478);
The output on the screen is:
17.235
and, printf("VAT=17.5%%\n");
...outputs:
VAT=17.5%
scanf :
This function is defined as follows:
int scanf(char *format, args....) -- reads from stdin and puts input in
address of variables specified in args list. Returns number of chars read.
Format control string similar to printf
Note: The ADDRESS of variable or a pointer to one is required by scanf.
scanf(``%d'',&i);
We can just give the name of an array or string to scanf since this corresponds to the
start address of the array/string.
char string[80];
scanf(``%s'',string);

&&&&&&&&&&