ENG1410

C Programming: Topic #10

“C: User Defined Types
(typedef, enum, union)”
S. Areibi
School of Engineering
University of Guelph
 Topics
 Introduction
 User Defined Data Types
 Typedef
 Enum
 Unions
 ….
 Textbook Resources

 Chapter #13, #16

Introduction
 C BASIC (DATA) TYPES
In C, data type categorized as:

1. Primitive Types in ANSI C (C89)/ISO C (C90) -

char, short, int, float and double.
2. Primitive Types added to ISO C (C99) -
long long
3. User Defined Types –
struct, union, enum and typedef
4. Derived Types –
pointer, array and function pointer.

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 Data Types
 What is a Data Type?
o Defines a certain domain of values
o Defines Operations allowed on these values
 Example
1. int type
o Takes only integer values
o Operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, bitwise
operations e.t.c
2. float type
o Takes only floating point values
o Operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
e.t.c (bitwise and % operations are not allowed).

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 Primitive Data Types
• Almost all programming languages provide
a set of primitive data types
• Primitive data types: Those not defined in
terms of other data types
• Some primitive data types are merely
reflections of the hardware
• Others require only a little non-hardware
support for their implementation

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 User Defined Data Types
o In contrast to primitive data types, there is a concept
of user defined data types.
o The operations and values of user defined data types
are not specified in the language itself but is specified
by the user.
o Examples of user defined data types include:
1. Typedef: C provides a capability that enables users to assign
an alternate name to a data type. This is done with a
statement known as typedef
2. Structure: by using structures, we are defining our own type
by combining other data types.
3. Enum: types are defined and used by the programmer as
need arises.
4. Union: is one of the more advanced programming applications in
which it is necessary to store different types of data in the same
storage area.

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Typedef
 Type Definition
• Syntax: typedef type Name ;
• Name becomes a name you can use for the type
• Examples:
typedef int INTEGER;
INTEGER x; /* x is an integer */
typedef char *STRING;
STRING sarray[10];
/* sarray is an array of char *’s, equivalent to declaring:
char *sarray[10]; */

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 Typedef
• Definition:– a typedef is a way of renaming a
type

• E.g.,
typedef struct motor Motor;

Motor m, n;
Motor *p, r[25];
Motor function(const Motor m; …);

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 typedef (continued)
• typedef may be used to rename any type
– Convenience in naming
– Clarifies purpose of the type
– Cleaner, more readable code
– Portability across platforms
• E.g.,
– typedef char *String;
• E.g.,
– typedef int size_t;
– typedef long int32;
– typedef long long int64;

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“enum” Data Type
 Enum Data Types
 enum is a user-defined type consisting of a set of named
constants called enumerators.
 Using a keyword enum, it is a set of integer constants
represented by identifiers.
 The syntax is shown below, ([is optional])
// for definition of enumerated type
enum [tag]
{
enum-list
}
[declarator];

 And
// for declaration of variable of type tag
enum tag declarator;

 These enumeration constants are, in effect, symbolic

constants whose values can be set automatically.
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 Enum Data Types: Declaring
 The values in an enum start with 0, unless specified
otherwise, and are incremented by 1. For example,
the following enumeration,
enum days {Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun};

 Creates a new data type, enum days, in which the

identifiers are set automatically to the integers 0 to 6.
 To number the days 1 to 7, use the following
enumeration,
enum days {Mon = 1, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun};

 Or we can re-arrange the order,

enum days {Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu = 7, Fri, Sat, Sun};
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Enum Data Types: Variables

enum day {sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat};

The keyword enum is used to declare an enumeration type.

The enumerators above are the identifiers sun, mon,...,sat.

The keyword enum along with the tag name day are used as
a type specifier to declare variables of type enum day.

enum day d1, d2; /* declares variables d1 & d2 */

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 Alternative var Declaration
On the previous slide, the enumeration type
enum day was first declared, then variables of
that type were declared.
o We can do both at the same time.

enum day {sun,mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat} d1, d2;

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 Enum Data Types: What Are they?

enum day {sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat} d1;

 The enumerators sun, mon, ..., sat are identifiers:

 They are constants of type int.

 By default, the first one is given the value 0,

and each succeeding one has the next integer.

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 Enum Data Types: Initialization

enum fruit {apple = 7,pear, orange = 3,lemon} fruit;

o Since the enumerator apple has been initialized to

7, pear has a value of 8.

o Since orange has a value of 3, lemon has a value

of 4.

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 Enum Data Types: Example
// An example program to demonstrate working
// of enum in C
#include<stdio.h>

enum week{Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun};

int main() Output?:

{
enum week day; The day is: 2
day = Wed;
printf(“The day is:%d",day);
return 0;
}

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 Enum Data Types: Example
// Another example program to demonstrate
// working of enum in C
#include<stdio.h>

enum year{Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul,

Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec};

int main() Output?:

{
int i;
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
for (i=Jan; i<=Dec; i++)
printf("%d ", i);

return 0;
}

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“union” Data Type
 Union Data Types
 One of the more unusual constructs in the C programming
language is the union.
 This construct is used in applications in which it is necessary
to store different types of data in the same storage area.
 For example if you want to define a single variable called x,
which could be used to store (a) a single character, (b) a
floating point member, or (c) an integer, you could define a
union say called mixed as follows:

union mixed We can now declare a variable to be of type

{ union mixed as  union mixed x;
char c;
float f; However, this declaration does not define x to
int I; contain three distinct members called c, f and i.
} rather it defines x can be used to store either a
char, or a float, or an int but not all three
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 Union Data Types
 A union is a user-defined data or class
type that, at any given time, contains only
one object from its list of members
(although that object can be an array or a
class type).
union [tag] { member-list } [declarators];

 Then, in program we can declare union

type variable as,
[union] tag declarators;

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 Union Data Types
 The storage associated with a union variable is
the storage required for the largest member of
the union.
 When a smaller member is stored, the union
variable can contain unused memory space.
 All members are stored in the same memory
space and start at the same address.
 Hence, the stored value is overwritten each time
a value is assigned to a different member.
 Begin the declaration of a union with the union
keyword, and enclose the member list in curly
braces.
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 Union Data Types
 Union are particularly useful in embedded programming or in situations
where direct access to the hardware/memory is needed depending on
the endianism and processor architecture.
 For example, union can be used to breakdown hardware registers into
the component bits. So, you can access an 8-bit register bit-by-bit.
 Unions are used when you want to model struct defined by hardware,
devices or network protocols, or when you are creating a large number
of objects and want to save space.
 In most occasion of the program running, you really don't need them
90% of the time. (just an assumption!)
 Most of the cases the union is wrapped in a struct and one member
of the struct tells which element in the union to access.
 In effect, a union is a structure in which all members have offset zero
from the base.
 The same operations are permitted on union as on struct:
assignment to or copying as a unit, taking the address, and accessing a
member.

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 union Data Types: Example
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
union Record {
int i;
float f;
char str[20];
};
int main( ) {
The system will print:
union Record record; // var declaration
record.i : 1917853763
record.f : 4122360580327794
record.i = 10;
record.str : C Programming
record.f = 220.5;
strcpy( record.str, "C Programming");

printf( "record.i : %d\n", record.i);

printf( "record.f : %f\n", record.f);
printf( "record.str : %s\n", record.str);

return 0;
}
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 union Data Types: Example
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
union Record {
int i;
float f;
char str[20];
};
int main( ) {

union Record record; // var declaration

The system will print:
record.i = 10;
printf( "record.i : %d\n", record.i); record.i : 10;
record.f = 220.5; record.f : 220.5;
printf( "record.f : %f\n", record.f); record.str : C Programming

strcpy( record.str, "C Programming");

printf( "record.str : %s\n", record.str);

return 0;
}
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Summary
 Summary
o User Defined Data Types are a powerful constructs
to build more complex programs.
o User Defined Data Types in “C” can be any of the
following types:
o enum: is used to assign names to the integral constants
which makes a program easy to read and maintain.
o struct: structures are aggregate data types. They are useful
for many applications such as databases, banking and
many others.
o union: Unitions allow you to create variables which share a
common memory space. Unions are a bit like structures, in
that they appear to be aggregate data types. However, the
main difference is that the union members occupy
overlapping memory areas.
 typedef: Programmers typically use typedef keyword to
improve the readability of the code and as a means of
abbreviating it.
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Resources
 Union/Enum: Resources
o YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QdJExC2AVg
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oySsPUDr35U

o Documents:
 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/c-language/c-enumeration-
declarations?view=msvc-160
 https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/c_unions.htm

o Examples:
 https://www.programiz.com/c-programming/c-enumeration
 https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/enumeration-enum-c/
 https://www.programiz.com/c-programming/c-unions

o Test Yourself:
 https://www.prep.youth4work.com/practice-_test_s/c-programming-
test/structures__comma__-unions-and-enumerations-test

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