Author: Saim Khalid

C/C++ arrays allow you to define variables that combine several data items of the same kind, but structure is another user defined data type which allows you 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, for your program. The format of the struct statement is this −

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 struct keyword to define variables of structure type. Following is the example to explain usage of structure −

#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
 
using namespace std;
 
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, "Learn C++ Programming");
   strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan"); 
   strcpy( Book1.subject, "C++ Programming");
   Book1.book_id = 6495407;

   // book 2 specification
   strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
   strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
   strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
   Book2.book_id = 6495700;
 
   // Print Book1 info
   cout << "Book 1 title : " << Book1.title <<endl;
   cout << "Book 1 author : " << Book1.author <<endl;
   cout << "Book 1 subject : " << Book1.subject <<endl;
   cout << "Book 1 id : " << Book1.book_id <<endl;

   // Print Book2 info
   cout << "Book 2 title : " << Book2.title <<endl;
   cout << "Book 2 author : " << Book2.author <<endl;
   cout << "Book 2 subject : " << Book2.subject <<endl;
   cout << "Book 2 id : " << Book2.book_id <<endl;

   return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book 1 title : Learn C++ Programming
Book 1 author : Chand Miyan
Book 1 subject : C++ Programming
Book 1 id : 6495407
Book 2 title : Telecom Billing
Book 2 author : Yakit Singha
Book 2 subject : Telecom
Book 2 id : 6495700

Structures as Function Arguments

You can pass a structure as a function argument in very similar way as you pass any other variable or pointer. You would access structure variables in the similar way as you have accessed in the above example −

#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
 
using namespace std;
void printBook( struct Books book );

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, "Learn C++ Programming");
   strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan"); 
   strcpy( Book1.subject, "C++ Programming");
   Book1.book_id = 6495407;

   // book 2 specification
   strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
   strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
   strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
   Book2.book_id = 6495700;
 
   // Print Book1 info
   printBook( Book1 );

   // Print Book2 info
   printBook( Book2 );

   return 0;
}
void printBook( struct Books book ) {
   cout << "Book title : " << book.title <<endl;
   cout << "Book author : " << book.author <<endl;
   cout << "Book subject : " << book.subject <<endl;
   cout << "Book id : " << book.book_id <<endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book title : Learn C++ Programming
Book author : Chand Miyan
Book subject : C++ Programming
Book id : 6495407
Book title : Telecom Billing
Book author : Yakit Singha
Book subject : Telecom
Book id : 6495700

Pointers to Structures

You can define pointers to structures in very similar way as you define pointer to any other variable as follows −

struct Books *struct_pointer;

Now, you can store the address of a structure variable in the above defined pointer variable. To find the address of a structure variable, place the & operator before the structure’s name as follows −

struct_pointer = &Book1;

To access the members of a structure using a pointer to that structure, you must use the -> operator as follows −

struct_pointer->title;

Let us re-write above example using structure pointer, hope this will be easy for you to understand the concept −

#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
 
using namespace std;
void printBook( struct Books *book );

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, "Learn C++ Programming");
   strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan"); 
   strcpy( Book1.subject, "C++ Programming");
   Book1.book_id = 6495407;

   // Book 2 specification
   strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
   strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
   strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
   Book2.book_id = 6495700;
 
   // Print Book1 info, passing address of structure
   printBook( &Book1 );

   // Print Book1 info, passing address of structure
   printBook( &Book2 );

   return 0;
}

// This function accept pointer to structure as parameter.
void printBook( struct Books *book ) {
   cout << "Book title : " << book->title <<endl;
   cout << "Book author : " << book->author <<endl;
   cout << "Book subject : " << book->subject <<endl;
   cout << "Book id : " << book->book_id <<endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book title : Learn C++ Programming
Book author : Chand Miyan
Book subject : C++ Programming
Book id : 6495407
Book title : Telecom Billing
Book author : Yakit Singha
Book subject : Telecom
Book id : 6495700

The typedef Keyword

There is an easier way to define structs or you could “alias” types you create. For example −

typedef struct {
   char  title[50];
   char  author[50];
   char  subject[100];
   int   book_id;
} Books;

Now, you can use Books directly to define variables of Books type without using struct keyword. Following is the example −

Books Book1, Book2;

You can use typedef keyword for non-structs as well as follows −

typedef long int *pint32;
 
pint32 x, y, z;

x, y and z are all pointers to long ints.

The C++ standard libraries provide an extensive set of input/output capabilities which we will see in subsequent chapters. This chapter will discuss very basic and most common I/O operations required for C++ programming.

C++ I/O occurs in streams, which are sequences of bytes. If bytes flow from a device like a keyboard, a disk drive, or a network connection etc. to main memory, this is called input operation and if bytes flow from main memory to a device like a display screen, a printer, a disk drive, or a network connection, etc., this is called output operation.

I/O Library Header Files

There are following header files important to C++ programs −

The Standard Output Stream (cout)

The predefined object cout is an instance of ostream class. The cout object is said to be “connected to” the standard output device, which usually is the display screen. The cout is used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator, which is written as << which are two less than signs as shown in the following example.

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main() {
   char str[] = "Hello C++";
 
   cout << "Value of str is : " << str << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Value of str is : Hello C++

The C++ compiler also determines the data type of variable to be output and selects the appropriate stream insertion operator to display the value. The << operator is overloaded to output data items of built-in types integer, float, double, strings and pointer values.

The insertion operator << may be used more than once in a single statement as shown above and endl is used to add a new-line at the end of the line.

The Standard Input Stream (cin)

The predefined object cin is an instance of istream class. The cin object is said to be attached to the standard input device, which usually is the keyboard. The cin is used in conjunction with the stream extraction operator, which is written as >> which are two greater than signs as shown in the following example.

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main() {
   char name[50];
 
   cout << "Please enter your name: ";
   cin >> name;
   cout << "Your name is: " << name << endl;
 
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it will prompt you to enter a name. You enter a value and then hit enter to see the following result −

Please enter your name: cplusplus
Your name is: cplusplus

The C++ compiler also determines the data type of the entered value and selects the appropriate stream extraction operator to extract the value and store it in the given variables.

The stream extraction operator >> may be used more than once in a single statement. To request more than one datum you can use the following −

cin >> name >> age;

This will be equivalent to the following two statements −

cin >> name;
cin >> age;

The Standard Error Stream (cerr)

The predefined object cerr is an instance of ostream class. The cerr object is said to be attached to the standard error device, which is also a display screen but the object cerr is un-buffered and each stream insertion to cerr causes its output to appear immediately.

The cerr is also used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator as shown in the following example.

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main() {
   char str[] = "Unable to read....";
 
   cerr << "Error message : " << str << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Error message : Unable to read....

The Standard Log Stream (clog)

The predefined object clog is an instance of ostream class. The clog object is said to be attached to the standard error device, which is also a display screen but the object clog is buffered. This means that each insertion to clog could cause its output to be held in a buffer until the buffer is filled or until the buffer is flushed.

The clog is also used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator as shown in the following example.

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main() {
   char str[] = "Unable to read....";
 
   clog << "Error message : " << str << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Error message : Unable to read....

You would not be able to see any difference in cout, cerr and clog with these small examples, but while writing and executing big programs the difference becomes obvious. So it is good practice to display error messages using cerr stream and while displaying other log messages then clog should be used.

The C++ standard library does not provide a proper date type. C++ inherits the structs and functions for date and time manipulation from C. To access date and time related functions and structures, you would need to include <ctime> header file in your C++ program.

There are four time-related types: clock_t, time_t, size_t, and tm. The types – clock_t, size_t and time_t are capable of representing the system time and date as some sort of integer.

The structure type tm holds the date and time in the form of a C structure having the following elements −

struct tm {
   int tm_sec;   // seconds of minutes from 0 to 61
   int tm_min;   // minutes of hour from 0 to 59
   int tm_hour;  // hours of day from 0 to 24
   int tm_mday;  // day of month from 1 to 31
   int tm_mon;   // month of year from 0 to 11
   int tm_year;  // year since 1900
   int tm_wday;  // days since sunday
   int tm_yday;  // days since January 1st
   int tm_isdst; // hours of daylight savings time
}

Following are the important functions, which we use while working with date and time in C or C++. All these functions are part of standard C and C++ library and you can check their detail using reference to C++ standard library given below.

Current Date and Time

Suppose you want to retrieve the current system date and time, either as a local time or as a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following is the example to achieve the same −

#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>

using namespace std;

int main() {
   // current date/time based on current system
   time_t now = time(0);
   
   // convert now to string form
   char* dt = ctime(&now);

   cout << "The local date and time is: " << dt << endl;

   // convert now to tm struct for UTC
   tm *gmtm = gmtime(&now);
   dt = asctime(gmtm);
   cout << "The UTC date and time is:"<< dt << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

The local date and time is: Sat Jan  8 20:07:41 2011

The UTC date and time is:Sun Jan  9 03:07:41 2011

Format Time using struct tm

The tm structure is very important while working with date and time in either C or C++. This structure holds the date and time in the form of a C structure as mentioned above. Most of the time related functions makes use of tm structure. Following is an example which makes use of various date and time related functions and tm structure −

While using structure in this chapter, I’m making an assumption that you have basic understanding on C structure and how to access structure members using arrow -> operator.

#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>

using namespace std;

int main() {
   // current date/time based on current system
   time_t now = time(0);

   cout << "Number of sec since January 1,1970 is:: " << now << endl;

   tm *ltm = localtime(&now);

   // print various components of tm structure.
   cout << "Year:" << 1900 + ltm->tm_year<<endl;
   cout << "Month: "<< 1 + ltm->tm_mon<< endl;
   cout << "Day: "<< ltm->tm_mday << endl;
   cout << "Time: "<< 5+ltm->tm_hour << ":";
   cout << 30+ltm->tm_min << ":";
   cout << ltm->tm_sec << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Number of sec since January 1,1970 is:: 1588485717
Year:2020
Month: 5
Day: 3
Time: 11:31:57

A reference variable is an alias, that is, another name for an already existing variable. Once a reference is initialized with a variable, either the variable name or the reference name may be used to refer to the variable.

References vs Pointers

References are often confused with pointers but three major differences between references and pointers are −

• You cannot have NULL references. You must always be able to assume that a reference is connected to a legitimate piece of storage.
• Once a reference is initialized to an object, it cannot be changed to refer to another object. Pointers can be pointed to another object at any time.
• A reference must be initialized when it is created. Pointers can be initialized at any time.

Creating References in C++

Think of a variable name as a label attached to the variable’s location in memory. You can then think of a reference as a second label attached to that memory location. Therefore, you can access the contents of the variable through either the original variable name or the reference. For example, suppose we have the following example −

int i = 17;

We can declare reference variables for i as follows.

int& r = i;

Read the & in these declarations as reference. Thus, read the first declaration as “r is an integer reference initialized to i” and read the second declaration as “s is a double reference initialized to d.”. Following example makes use of references on int and double −

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main () {
   // declare simple variables
   int    i;
   double d;
 
   // declare reference variables
   int&    r = i;
   double& s = d;
   
   i = 5;
   cout << "Value of i : " << i << endl;
   cout << "Value of i reference : " << r  << endl;
 
   d = 11.7;
   cout << "Value of d : " << d << endl;
   cout << "Value of d reference : " << s  << endl;
   
   return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled together and executed, it produces the following result −

Value of i : 5
Value of i reference : 5
Value of d : 11.7
Value of d reference : 11.7

References are usually used for function argument lists and function return values. So following are two important subjects related to C++ references which should be clear to a C++ programmer −

C++ pointers are easy and fun to learn. Some C++ tasks are performed more easily with pointers, and other C++ tasks, such as dynamic memory allocation, cannot be performed without them.

As you know every variable is a memory location and every memory location has its address defined which can be accessed using ampersand (&) operator which denotes an address in memory. Consider the following which will print the address of the variables defined −

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;
int main () {
   int  var1;
   char var2[10];

   cout << "Address of var1 variable: ";
   cout << &var1 << endl;

   cout << "Address of var2 variable: ";
   cout << &var2 << endl;

   return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Address of var1 variable: 0xbfebd5c0
Address of var2 variable: 0xbfebd5b6

What are Pointers?

A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable. Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before you can work with it. The general form of a pointer variable declaration is −

type *var-name;

Here, type is the pointer’s base type; it must be a valid C++ type and var-name is the name of the pointer variable. The asterisk you used to declare a pointer is the same asterisk that you use for multiplication. However, in this statement the asterisk is being used to designate a variable as a pointer. Following are the valid pointer declaration −

int    *ip;    // pointer to an integer
double *dp;    // pointer to a double
float  *fp;    // pointer to a float
char   *ch     // pointer to character

The actual data type of the value of all pointers, whether integer, float, character, or otherwise, is the same, a long hexadecimal number that represents a memory address. The only difference between pointers of different data types is the data type of the variable or constant that the pointer points to.

Using Pointers in C++

There are few important operations, which we will do with the pointers very frequently. (a) We define a pointer variable. (b) Assign the address of a variable to a pointer. (c) Finally access the value at the address available in the pointer variable. This is done by using unary operator * that returns the value of the variable located at the address specified by its operand. Following example makes use of these operations −

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main () {
   int  var = 20;   // actual variable declaration.
   int  *ip;        // pointer variable 

   ip = &var;       // store address of var in pointer variable

   cout << "Value of var variable: ";
   cout << var << endl;

   // print the address stored in ip pointer variable
   cout << "Address stored in ip variable: ";
   cout << ip << endl;

   // access the value at the address available in pointer
   cout << "Value of *ip variable: ";
   cout << *ip << endl;

   return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as follows −

Value of var variable: 20
Address stored in ip variable: 0xbfc601ac
Value of *ip variable: 20

Pointers in C++

Pointers have many but easy concepts and they are very important to C++ programming. There are following few important pointer concepts which should be clear to a C++ programmer −