C Functions help

[mtber]

I am having issues getting my find employee function to work if someone could take a look and guide me to what needs to be changed that would be good. Thanks,

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>




typedef struct employee
{
	char* name;
	char ssn[9];
	int YearBorn;
	int salary;
}employee;
employee* emps[20];

employee e = {"Kyle", "658493867", 1900, 100000};

void display(employee* e)
{
	printf("\n%s , %3.3s-%2.2s-%4.4s , %d\n", e->name, &e->ssn, &e->ssn[3], &e->ssn[5], e->YearBorn);
	printf("$%d,%.3d\n", e->salary/1000, e->salary%1000);
	
}

void readEmployee(employee* e)
{
	//e.name = (char*)malloc(100);
	char buffer[100];
	printf("\nEmployee Name: ");
	gets(buffer);
	e->name = strdup(buffer);
	
	printf("\nEmployee SSN: ");
	gets(buffer);
	strcpy(e->ssn, buffer);
	
	printf("\nEnter Year you were born: ");
	scanf("%d", &e->YearBorn);
	
	printf("\nPlease enter Employee Salary: ");
	scanf("%d", &e->salary);
	
	
}

employee* createEmployee()
{
	employee* emps;
	emps = (employee*) malloc (sizeof(employee));
	readEmployee(emps);
	return emps;
	
}

releaseEmployee(employee* emp)
{
	free (emp->name);
	free (emp);
}

listEmployees(employee* emps)
{
display(emps);
}

employee *findEmployee(const char *name)
{
	size_t sz = employee_length - 1;
    for (; sz < employee_length; --sz)
    {
        if (strcmp(employee_list[sz]->name, employee_name))
            { return employee_list[sz]; } /* an employee was found */
    }
    return NULL; /* no employees were found matching employee_name */	
}
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
	int select = 0;
	while(select != 3)
	{
	printf("Type one of the following\n\n");
	printf("1 for Hire\n");
	printf("2 for List\n");
	printf("3 for Find Employee");
	printf("4 for Quit\n");
	scanf("%d",select);
	
	if(select = 1)
	{
			createEmployee();
			getchar();
	}
	if(select = 2)
	{
		listEmployees(emp);
	}
	if(select = 3)
	{
		findEmployee(emp);
	}
	if(select = 4)
	{
		releaseEmployee(emps);
	}
	return 0;
	}

[matsp]

strcmp(employee_list[sz]->name, employee_name)

returns zero if it's a match, you are checking if it returns non-zero, and then return that employee, which means that if you'll always get back the first (or rather last) element of your array - except when that's what you want.

--
Mats

[Elysia]

	gets(buffer);

Never, ever use gets.
http://cpwiki.sf.net/Gets

if (strcmp(employee_list[sz]->name, employee_name))

strcmp returns 0 if strings are equal, not > 0.

if(select = 1)
if(select = 2)
if(select = 3)
if(select = 4)

Assign (=) instead of compare (==).

[mtber]

I am getting an error saying "A Symbol 'employee_length' has not been declared" What does that mean i cant figure out the error.

[JDGATX]

I am getting an error saying "A Symbol 'employee_length' has not been declared" What does that mean i cant figure out the error.

Show me where you have employee_length defined and initialized because I can't see it anywhere.

[vart]

it means that you are using this variable without declaration. Each var in C shouldbe declared before usage

[Elysia]

Or, in better words, you are trying to use a variable that doesn't exist. Every variable needs to be created first, which is what you do with a declaration or definition.

[dwks]

Well, I don't know if you'd say that a declaration "creates" a variable, but we know what you mean.

The ssn member of your structure needs to be one element larger, to account for the NULL.

[Elysia]

Well, I don't know if you'd say that a declaration "creates" a variable, but we know what you mean.

Indeed, but some say declare and some say define.

[dwks]

Well, there's actually a difference. These are definitions:

void function(int, char);
extern int x;

And these are declarations:

void function(int, char) { /* ... */ }
int x = 3;

That's what I meant. A definition is like "extern int x", and it says that somewhere, there is a variable called int x. It doesn't "create" a variable in the sense that it doesn't allocated space for it, it just uses the space already allocated for that variable elsewhere.

Most definitions or declarations of variables are declarations. For example, these are all declarations:

int x;
{
    auto char c;
    for(int x = 0; /* ... */) {}
}

Declarations allocate space for variables, and thus do "create" them. I would argue that definitions do not "create" variables, however.

You may remember that in Chapter 1 we said that you have to declare the names of things before you can use them (the only exceptions to this rule are the names of functions returning int, because they are declared by default, and the names of labels). You can do it either by using a declaration, which introduces just the name and type of something but allocates no storage, or go further by using a definition, which also allocates the space used by the thing being declared.

The distinction between declaration and definition is an important one, and it is a shame that the two words sound alike enough to cause confusion.

From http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c...claration.html

[edit] Technically, however, every definition is also a declaration, which I didn't know. http://bytes.com/forum/thread560781.html [/edit]

[Elysia]

A declaration is something that brings a keyword into the existance for the compiler.
And definition is something that describes something, in how it works, or so.
That was how the standard worded it if I don't remember wrong. There was a discussion about that long ago.
I say variable definitions since basically anything that takes up memory is a definition, or thus was the conclusion anyway. But you could say either define or declare for variables.
But there are some things that are only declarations, such as variables with the extern keyword, which is a declaration. But "int x" is a definition if you ask me, but you could call it declaration, as well.

[Dave_Sinkula]

http://c-faq.com/decl/decldef.html