{"id":5910,"date":"2023-06-17T00:01:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T07:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/?p=5910"},"modified":"2023-06-24T07:41:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T14:41:59","slug":"dumping-a-phony-associative-array","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/?p=5910","title":{"rendered":"Dumping a Phony Associative Array"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first phony associative array function I need to write is a simple dump: Output the array’s contents in the form of pairs. Performing this operation requires a bit of manipulation to the way the array is presented in the code.
\n
\nStarting with the example from last week’s Lesson<\/a>, I modified the array so that it’s a single dimension array of strings, yet presented as a series of pairs:<\/p>\n

\r\nint main()\r\n{\r\n    char *months[] =\r\n    {\r\n        \"January\", \"janvier\",\r\n        \"February\", \"fevrier\",\r\n        \"March\", \"mars\",\r\n        \"April\", \"avril\",\r\n        \"May\", \"mai\",\r\n        \"June\", \"juin\",\r\n        \"July\", \"julliet\",\r\n        \"August\", \"aout\",\r\n        \"September\", \"septembre\",\r\n        \"October\", \"octobre\",\r\n        \"November\", \"novembre\",\r\n        \"December\", \"decembre\",\r\n        NULL, NULL\r\n    };\r\n\r\n    puts(\"Array Dump\");\r\n    array_dump(months);\r\n\r\n    return(0);\r\n}<\/pre>\n
The new phony-associative array looks cleaner, plus it’s easier to work with as a single dimension char<\/em> pointer array. Specifically, look at the array_dump()<\/em> function, which requires only the array’s name as an argument; no double-pointer nonsense. Though keep in mind that this function assumes the array’s contents are strings.<\/p>\n
Also note that the final pair in the array are NULL<\/code>s. This termination allows me to be flexible with my array_dump()<\/em> function, eliminating a size argument.<\/p>\n
To output or “dump” the array, the array_dump()<\/em> function churns through each pair in the array, outputting the keys and values each on a line:<\/p>\n
\r\nvoid array_dump(char *a[])\r\n{\r\n    int x = 0;\r\n\r\n    while( a[x] )\r\n    {\r\n        printf(\"'%s' => '%s'\\n\",\r\n                a[x],\r\n                a[x+1]\r\n              );\r\n        x+=2;\r\n    }\r\n}<\/pre>\n
The function’s argument uses the same format as the months[]<\/code> array declared in the main()<\/em> function. Again, no double-asterisk nonsense.<\/p>\n
The while<\/em> loop spins as long as the value of a[x]<\/code> isn’t NULL<\/code>. Reference variables a[x]<\/code> and a[x+1]<\/code> represent each pair in the phony-associative array. The x+=2<\/code> statement notches up the offset to the next pointer pair in the array. Here’s sample output:<\/p>\n
Array Dump
\n'January' => 'janvier'
\n'February' => 'fevrier'
\n'March' => 'mars'
\n'April' => 'avril'
\n'May' => 'mai'
\n'June' => 'juin'
\n'July' => 'julliet'
\n'August' => 'aout'
\n'September' => 'septembre'
\n'October' => 'octobre'
\n'November' => 'novembre'
\n'December' => 'decembre'<\/code><\/p>\n
Click here<\/a> to view the full code on GitHub.<\/p>\n
Another dumping function commonly found in programming languages that deal with associative arrays just outputs the keys. Here is such a function, key_dump()<\/em>:<\/p>\n
\r\n\/* assumes `char` array *\/<\/span>\r\nvoid key_dump(char *k[])\r\n{\r\n    int x = 0;\r\n\r\n    while( k[x] )\r\n    {\r\n        printf(\"'%s'\\n\",\r\n                k[x]\r\n              );\r\n        x+=2;\r\n    }\r\n}<\/pre>\n
The key_dump()<\/em> function is a slight modification of array_dump()<\/em>, just eliminating the value part of the array’s output. Here’s a sample run:<\/p>\n
Key dump:
\n'January'
\n'February'
\n'March'
\n'April'
\n'May'
\n'June'
\n'July'
\n'August'
\n'September'
\n'October'
\n'November'
\n'December'<\/code><\/p>\n
You can view the full code on GitHub here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
For next week’s Lesson<\/a>, I craft a key()<\/em> function, which returns the value part of the phony-associative array when the key is supplied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the first associative array functions (methods) is the dump. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5936,"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5910\/revisions\/5936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c-for-dummies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}