Activity 14

Activity 10-1 - Introduction to Strings
C-string Functions

In the previous lab, you learned to create arrays of different sizes to handle some numerical calculations. In this lab, you will use arrays of characters which will be referred to as strings. We can create a string in two different ways, 1) using the C-string style, and 2) using the string class.

To create an array using a C-string, we first need to declare an array of characters to store the characters that make the string (word). You have to keep in mind that when you use the C-string style to create a string, you are required to have an extra space at the end for character '\0' which is known as the null character. The null character, '\0', marks the end of the string. In general, a string in which the null character marks its end is referred to as a C-string. The following array is an example of a C-string, which allows us to store 7 or fewer characters:

char mystring[8];

Note this array can hold 8 characters, but the last one is kept for '\0'. If we initialize this array with "Hello":

char mystring[8] = "Hello"; or by using: char mystring[ ] = "Hello";

Then we will have:

Imaginary
Memory
Address 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030

Array Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Indexed
numlist Variable mystring[0] mystring[1] mystring[2] mystring[3] mystring[4] mystring[5] mystring[6] mystring[7]

Array
Content H e l l o \0 ? ?

Note that we haven't used the last two elements and we do not know the content of those locations.

Important Note:
Please remember that the above two statements used to initialize the array are equivalent, but the following IS NOT equivalent to these two:
char mystring[] = {'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'};

The above two initializations put a '\0, after the 'o', but this one doesn't put the '\0' at any place in the array.

Comparing two strings
When we dealt with numbers, it was easy to compare two numbers to see whether they are the same using = =. However, when we deal with C-strings, we cannot use this method. For example, if we want to check whether mystring is the same as yourstring, we cannot use the following:

char mystring[] = "Hello";
char yourstring[] = "hello";

if(mystring = = yourstring) WRONG!!!!

In order to do this, we will use a function strcmp.

if( strcmp(mystring, yourstring) = = 0)

The strcmp function will return 0 if the strings are the same. The strcmp function uses the ordering relationship known as lexicographic order to determine whether these two are the same.

Important Note:
In order to use the strcmp function, you need to use the #include<cstring> in your programs. The following table shows a list of some of the functions in that header file.

Function Name	Description	Cautions
strcpy use: strcpy(Target_String, Source_String)	Copies the C-string variable Source_String into the C-string variable Target_String	Does not check to see if the Target_String is large enough to hold the Source_String
strncpy use: strncpy(Target_String, Source_String, Limit)	The same as strcpy except that at most Limit characters are copied.	Not implemented in all versions of C++
strcat use: strcat(Target_String, Source_String)	Concatenates (put together) the C-string variable Source_String onto the end of the C-string variable Target_String	Does not check to see if the Target_String is large enough to hold both strings together
strncat use: strncat(Target_String, Source_String, Limit)	The same as strcat except that at most Limit characters are appended	Not implemented in all versions of C++
strlen int length; use: length = strlen(Source_String)	Returns an integer equal to the length of the Source_String, excluding the '\0' character.
strcmp use: strcmp(String_1, String_2)	Returns 0 if String_1 and String_2 are the same. Returns a value < 0 if String_1 is less than String_2 Returns a value > 0 if String_1 is greater than String_2 Thus, it returns a non-zero value when the two C-strings are not the same.	When the two C-strings are the same it returns 0, which converts to false. That may cause confusion as you may expect to get 1 when the two C-strings are the same.
strncmp use: strncmp(String_1, String_2, Limit)	The same as strcmp except that at most Limit characters are compared	Not implemented in all versions of C++
getline use: cin.getline(String_variable, Max_characters+1) or ifstream s; // an input stream s.getline(String_variable, Max_characters+1)	Reads a line of input up to Max_characters length and places the C-string of characters on that line into a C-string variable String_variable	If the line is longer than the maximum length defined, it only copies the first Max_characters-1 characters on that line

Following is an example program in which we use some of these functions.

// P10_1.cpp - This program demonstrates the use of C-string functions

#include<iostream>
#include<cstring>
using namespace std;

int main( )
{
     char s1[8], s2[8];
     int length1, length2;
     int count = 0;

// Initialize the two strings
strcpy(s1,"Black");
strcpy(s2,"Black");

while(count < 2)
{
      if(count > 0)
      // After the first time ask the user to enter them
      {
          cout << "Now I let you enter two strings \n";
          cout << "Enter the first string, then the second \n";
          // Another way to initialize the two strings
          cin >> s1 >> s2;
      }
      // Find their lengths
      length1 = strlen(s1);
      length2 = strlen(s2);

      // Compare their length
      if(length1 == length2)
     {
              cout << "The two strings are the same length, are they the same? \n";
      }

      // See if they are the same
      if(! strcmp(s1, s2) )
      {
           cout << "The two strings: ";
           cout << s1 << " and " << s2 << " are the same \n";
      }
      else
      {

          cout << "The two strings: ";
          cout << s1 << " and " << s2 << " are NOT the same \n";
      }
      count++;
   }

return 0;
}

C-String Input and Output
Note the way we initialized the strings from the keyboard:
cin >> s1 >> s2;
and we display their values using:
cout << s1 << " and " << s2 << " are NOT the same \n";

When we did the reading, a blank space between the two strings that we type will tell the compiler which word goes to which string. Thus, if we would enter:
"Black board", s1 would take "Black" and s2 would take "board". The same thing would happen if we would have entered these two as:
Black
board

C-String-to-Number Functions
The functions atoi, atol, and atof can be used to convert a C-string of digits to the corresponding numeric value. The first two functions convert the C-string to integers of type int or long, respectively. The last one will convert the C-string to double.
Example:
int x = atoi("675");

This sets the value of x to 675.

In order to use these functions, you need to have #include<cstdlib> in your program.

Exercise 10.1
Modify the P10_1.cpp program to ask users for two strings then:

1) Append the second string to the end of the first string and display the resulting string,

2) Display a message on whether or not the word is a Palindrome. Such strings are the same when you write them backward.
For example: race + car = racecar .... this word written backwards is also racecar, thus, it is a palindrome.

Call your new program ex101.cpp.

Imaginary Memory Address	1023	1024	1025	1026	1027	1028	1029	1030
Array Index	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Indexed numlist Variable	mystring[0]	mystring[1]	mystring[2]	mystring[3]	mystring[4]	mystring[5]	mystring[6]	mystring[7]
Array Content	H	e	l	l	o	\0	?	?