struct assignment operator c

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15.13 Structure Assignment

Assignment operating on a structure type copies the structure. The left and right operands must have the same type. Here is an example:

Notionally, assignment on a structure type works by copying each of the fields. Thus, if any of the fields has the const qualifier, that structure type does not allow assignment:

See Assignment Expressions .

When a structure type has a field which is an array, as here,

structure assigment such as r1 = r2 copies array fields’ contents just as it copies all the other fields.

This is the only way in C that you can operate on the whole contents of a array with one operation: when the array is contained in a struct . You can’t copy the contents of the data field as an array, because

would convert the array objects (as always) to pointers to the zeroth elements of the arrays (of type struct record * ), and the assignment would be invalid because the left operand is not an lvalue.

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Assignment Operators in C

Assignment operators are used for assigning value to a variable. The left side operand of the assignment operator is a variable and right side operand of the assignment operator is a value. The value on the right side must be of the same data-type of the variable on the left side otherwise the compiler will raise an error.

Different types of assignment operators are shown below:

1. “=”: This is the simplest assignment operator. This operator is used to assign the value on the right to the variable on the left. Example:

2. “+=” : This operator is combination of ‘+’ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first adds the current value of the variable on left to the value on the right and then assigns the result to the variable on the left. Example:

If initially value stored in a is 5. Then (a += 6) = 11.

3. “-=” This operator is combination of ‘-‘ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first subtracts the value on the right from the current value of the variable on left and then assigns the result to the variable on the left. Example:

If initially value stored in a is 8. Then (a -= 6) = 2.

4. “*=” This operator is combination of ‘*’ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first multiplies the current value of the variable on left to the value on the right and then assigns the result to the variable on the left. Example:

If initially value stored in a is 5. Then (a *= 6) = 30.

5. “/=” This operator is combination of ‘/’ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first divides the current value of the variable on left by the value on the right and then assigns the result to the variable on the left. Example:

If initially value stored in a is 6. Then (a /= 2) = 3.

Below example illustrates the various Assignment Operators:

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Struct declaration.

A struct is a type consisting of a sequence of members whose storage is allocated in an ordered sequence (as opposed to union, which is a type consisting of a sequence of members whose storage overlaps).

The type specifier for a struct is identical to the union type specifier except for the keyword used:

[ edit ] Syntax

[ edit ] explanation.

Within a struct object, addresses of its elements (and the addresses of the bit-field allocation units) increase in order in which the members were defined. A pointer to a struct can be cast to a pointer to its first member (or, if the member is a bit-field, to its allocation unit). Likewise, a pointer to the first member of a struct can be cast to a pointer to the enclosing struct. There may be unnamed padding between any two members of a struct or after the last member, but not before the first member. The size of a struct is at least as large as the sum of the sizes of its members.

[ edit ] Forward declaration

A declaration of the following form

hides any previously declared meaning for the name name in the tag name space and declares name as a new struct name in current scope, which will be defined later. Until the definition appears, this struct name has incomplete type .

This allows structs that refer to each other:

Note that a new struct name may also be introduced just by using a struct tag within another declaration, but if a previously declared struct with the same name exists in the tag name space , the tag would refer to that name

[ edit ] Keywords

[ edit ] notes.

See struct initialization for the rules regarding the initializers for structs.

Because members of incomplete type are not allowed, and a struct type is not complete until the end of the definition, a struct cannot have a member of its own type. A pointer to its own type is allowed, and is commonly used to implement nodes in linked lists or trees.

Because a struct declaration does not establish scope , nested types, enumerations and enumerators introduced by declarations within struct-declaration-list are visible in the surrounding scope where the struct is defined.