STRUCTURE

And
UNION

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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, Real, Void, Char
 Structured Data type
Array, Strings
 User Defined Data type
Enum, Structures, Unions

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 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.

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 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>;
};

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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;
};PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 Memory Space Allocation

8000
emp_id
8002
name[20]

8022
8024 salary
address[50]

8074
8076 dept_no
8078
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
employee
age
 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.

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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”;

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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.

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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.

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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;
};PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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);
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

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”);
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

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);
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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();
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}
 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
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 Output of Program
The employee id of employee is : 1
The name of employee is : Rahul
The salary of employee is : 15000
The address of employee is : 4, villa area, Delhi
The department of employee is : 3
The age of employee is : 35
The employee id of employee is : 2
The name of employee is : Rajeev
The salary of employee is : 14500
The address of employee is : flat 56H, Mumbai
The department of employee is : 5
The age of employee is : 30
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 Array of Structure
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];
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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;
};PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
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);
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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);
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
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();
}
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 Structures within Structures

C language define a variable of structure type

as a member of other structure type. The
syntax to define the structure within structure is
struct <struct_name>{
<data_type> <variable_name>;
struct <struct_name>
{ <data_type> <variable_name>;
……..}<struct_variable>;
<data_type> <variable_name>;
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};
 Example of Structure within Structure

The structure of Employee is declared as

struct employee
{ int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
int dept_no;
struct date
{ int day;
int month;
int year;
}doj;
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};
 Accessing Structures within Structures

The data member of structure within structure

is accessed by using two period (.) symbol.
The syntax to access the structure within
structure is
struct _var. nested_struct_var. struct_member;
For Example:-
e1.doj.day;
e1.doj.month;
e1.doj.year;
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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
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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.
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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;
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};
 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();
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}
 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);
}

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 Function Returning Structure

The function can return a variable of structure

type like a integer and float variable. The
program to return a structure from function.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
struct employee
{
int emp_id;
char name[20];
float salary;
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

};
 Function Returning Structure
void main ( )
{
struct employee emp;
emp=getdata();
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);
getch();
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}
 Function Returning Structure
struct employee getdata( )
{
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);
return(e1);
}
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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.

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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>;
};

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 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;
};
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 Memory Space Allocation

8000
emp_id, dept_no, age
8002
salary
8004
name

8022

address

8050

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employee
 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.
PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT
 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.
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 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.
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 Summary

 A structure is a user defined data type that groups logically related data items
of different data types into a single unit.
 The elements of a structure are stored at contiguous memory locations.
 The value of one structure variable is assigned to another variable of same type
using assignment statement.
 An array of variables of structure is created.
 A variable of structure type is defined as a member of other structure type
called nested structure.

PREETHA V AP/CSE, SRIT

 Summary

 The member of structure variable is accessed by pointer variable with arrow

operator ().
 The structure variable can be passed to a function as a parameter.
 The function can return a variable of structure type.
 A union is like structure that group logically related variables into a single unit.
The union allocate the space equal to space need to hold the largest data
member of union.
 Structure used in database management and many more applications.

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PREETHA V - AP/CSE, SRIT.