CODEWITHSUNDEEP
clistinputlinked-liststrncmp
James Manes
James Manes

Reputation: 526

C Strncmp Return Partial Input

I currently have a linked list structure running and I need to find a way to let a user search the struct for a certain field. I have this done, but the problem is it must be exact. For example, if the user enters "maggie" it will return the result, but if the user types in "mag" it will not return the maggie record like I want.

int counter = 0;
char search[MAX];
record_type *current = head;

printf("\n\n- - - > Search Records\n\n");
printf("\tSearch: ");
scanf("%s", search);

/* search till end of nodes */
while(current != (record_type*) NULL) {
    if(strncmp(current->name, search, MAX) == 0) {
        printf("\t%i. %s", counter, current->name);
        printf("\t%u", current->telephone);
        printf("\t%s\n", current->address);
        counter++;
    }
    current = current->next;
}

Any ideas? I'm guessing there is a way to just compare with chars? Thanks!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 313

Answers (3)

ChrisW
ChrisW

Reputation: 56123

Instead of strncmp(current->name, search, MAX) use strncmp(current->name, search, strlen(search)) or use the strstr function.

Upvotes: 2

Jonathan Wood
Jonathan Wood

Reputation: 67345

strncmp compares the number of characters to compare. So don't compare that many.

Start by comparing the string length, or just use strcmp().

Upvotes: 0

simonc
simonc

Reputation: 42205

You're question isn't entirely clear...

If you only want to return exact matches, use strcmp instead

if (strcmp(current->name, search) == 0) {

If you want to return partial matches, use strncmp but over a size that matches your search string: 

if (strncmp(current->name, search, strlen(search)) == 0) {

Upvotes: 3

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