help with this

Originally Posted by Salem

> The specifications state that it is 2 digit year, so changing it to 4 isn't allowed.
Then you need to add all that logic to your compare function

Like
1. convert both strings to integer
2. if int value is > 50, add 1900 to it, else add 2000 to it
3. compare both integer results.

That is it, but this is the problem i originally had, not sure how to do it.

Any suggestions, if i post the sort code & the compare code i have, will you be able to advise?

Use strtol() to convert a string to an int

Code:

Convert a string to double (atof and _wtof), integer (atoi, _atoi64, _wtoi and _wtoi64), or long integer (atol and _wtol).

double atof(
   const char *string 
);
double _wtof(
   const wchar_t *string 
);
int atoi(
   const char *string 
);
__int64 _atoi64(
   const char *string 
);
int _wtoi(
   const wchar_t *string 
);
__int64 _wtoi64(
   const wchar_t *string 
);
long atol(
   const char *string 
);
long _wtol(
   const wchar_t *string 
);
Parameters
string 
String to be converted. 
Return Value
Each function returns the double, int, __int64, or long value produced by interpreting the input characters as a number. The return value is 0 (for atoi, _atoi64, _wtoi, and _wtoi64), 0L (for atol and _wtol), or 0.0 (for atof and _wtof) if the input cannot be converted to a value of that type. The return value is undefined in case of overflow.

Remarks
These functions convert a character string to a double-precision, floating-point value (atof and _wtof), an integer value (atoi, _atoi64, _wtoi and _wtoi64), or a long integer value (atol and _wtol). 

The input string is a sequence of characters that can be interpreted as a numerical value of the specified type. The output value is affected by the setting of the LC_NUMERIC category in the current locale. For more information on the LC_NUMERIC category, see setlocale. The function stops reading the input string at the first character that it cannot recognize as part of a number. This character may be the null character ('\0' or L'\0') terminating the string.

The string argument to atof and _wtof has the following form:

[whitespace] [sign] [digits] [.digits] [ {d | D | e | E }[sign]digits]

A whitespace consists of space or tab characters, which are ignored; sign is either plus (+) or minus ( – ); and digits are one or more decimal digits. If no digits appear before the decimal point, at least one must appear after the decimal point. The decimal digits may be followed by an exponent, which consists of an introductory letter (d, D, e, or E) and an optionally signed decimal integer.

atoi, _atoi64, atol, _wtoi, _wtoi64 and _wtol do not recognize decimal points or exponents. The string argument for these functions has the form:

[whitespace] [sign]digits

where whitespace, sign, and digits are as described for atof and _wtof.

Generic-Text Routine Mappings

TCHAR.H routine  _UNICODE & _MBCS not defined _MBCS defined _UNICODE defined 
_tstof atof atof  _wtof  
_tstoi atoi atoi _wtoi 
_tstoi64 _atoi64 _atoi64 _wtoi64 
_tstol atol atol _wtol 
_ttoi atoi atoi _wtoi 
_ttoi64 _atoi64 _atoi64 _wtoi64 
_ttol atol atol _wtol 

Requirements
Routine Required header Compatibility 
atof <math.h> and <stdlib.h> ANSI, Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
atoi <stdlib.h> ANSI, Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
_atoi64 <stdlib.h> Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
atol <stdlib.h> ANSI, Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
_wtof <stdlib.h> or <wchar.h> Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
_wtoi <stdlib.h> or <wchar.h> Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
_wtoi64 <stdlib.h> or <wchar.h> Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 
_wtol <stdlib.h> or <wchar.h> Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP 

For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Libraries

All versions of the C run-time libraries.

Example
/* ATOF.C: This program shows how numbers stored
 * as strings can be converted to numeric values
 * using the atof, atoi, and atol functions.
 */

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

int main( void )
{
   char *s; double x; int i; long l;

   s = "  -2309.12E-15";    /* Test of atof */
   x = atof( s );
   printf( "atof test: ASCII string: %s\tfloat:  %e\n", s, x );

   s = "7.8912654773d210";  /* Test of atof */
   x = atof( s );
   printf( "atof test: ASCII string: %s\tfloat:  %e\n", s, x );

   s = "  -9885 pigs";      /* Test of atoi */
   i = atoi( s );
   printf( "atoi test: ASCII string: %s\t\tinteger: %d\n", s, i );

   s = "98854 dollars";     /* Test of atol */
   l = atol( s );
   printf( "atol test: ASCII string: %s\t\tlong: %ld\n", s, l );
   
   return 0;
}

Output
atof test: ASCII string:   -2309.12E-15   float:  -2.309120e-012
atof test: ASCII string: 7.8912654773d210   float:  7.891265e+210
atoi test: ASCII string:   -9885 pigs      integer: -9885
atol test: ASCII string: 98854 dollars      long: 98854

Alright ding me on that one quzah. Note I did not write or really even read the example at the bottom.(hell didn't even realize it was there) I copied this directly from my compilers help on atoi(). -- Go microsoft!!!