Thread: What does "strchr()" exactly do...

Hi,
there is a function "strchr()".
It returns a pointer to the first occurance of given character in string (if there isn't, it returns "NULL").
But what happen if I will call this function TWICE or MORE?

For example, we have a program:

Code:

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

int main(void)
{
  char str[] = "APPLE";   /* A whatever string */

  strchr(str, 'P');   /* First call of function */
  strchr(str, 'P');   /* Second call of function */

  return 0;
}

I found out that at FIRST call this function returns to me a pointer to the FIRST occurance of 'P', and at SECOND call it returns to me a pointer to the SECOND occurance of 'P'.

Everywhere is written about this function that it returns a first occurance, but nowhere is written what will happen if I call this function twice or more.


So if anybody can tell me, what will happen at the second call, if it skip the previous found one and if yes, how does the function know which was the last found character, if it save the last pointer to some "his" memory or what?

And if it is so, that I have described it above, what would happen if I changed after the first call the value of "str" to the new value:

Code:

str == "PEACH"

so if after that change, the SECOND call of the function returns a pointer to 'P' (the first character of "PEACH"), or if it retuns "NULL" (because the first call returned the second letter of "APPLE" and in "PEACH", the 'P' is the first letter, so if it goes back to the beginning of the word or NEVER)?


Thanks for answers.

Petike.

Originally Posted by Petike

I found out that at FIRST call this function returns to me a pointer to the FIRST occurance of 'P', and at SECOND call it returns to me a pointer to the SECOND occurance of 'P'.

I can't believe that's true. What code did you use to make it happen?

Originally Posted by Petike

But what happen if I will call this function TWICE or MORE?

You get the same pointer.

I found out that at FIRST call this function returns to me a pointer to the FIRST occurance of 'P', and at SECOND call it returns to me a pointer to the SECOND occurance of 'P'.

Nope.

Originally Posted by brewbuck

I can't believe that's true. What code did you use to make it happen?

There is a program:

Code:

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

int main(void)
{
  char str[] = "LABEL",   /* A whatever string */
       *p_c;              /* Pointer to a character */

  while ((p_c = strchr(str, 'L')) != NULL) {
    *p_c = '*';
  }

  puts(str);   /* Printing the final (changed) string */

  return 0;
}

and the result is:

Code:

*ABE*

so from this results that at first the function returned the first occurance, and then the second one (because at first there was changed the first letter "LABEL" and the the second one "*ABEL" and there arise the word "*ABE*").

So what now?

Originally Posted by Salem

Well modifying the string to overwrite the char you just found (so it's not found again) is something rather different to the back-to-back calls in your first post.

One again, paraphrasing what you actually tried caused everyone to head off in the wrong direction.

I don't understand exactly what did you want to say me.
In my second post I wrote a program.
In that program, I was calling the function "strchr()" twice in the cycle (because in 3-rd-time in the cycle, the function returned "NULL" - and terminated the cycle).

1. At the first call, there was changed the first 'L' in string.
2. At the second call, there was changed the second 'L' in string.

So the function first returned the FIRST occurance of 'L' and then the SECOND occurance of 'L'.

Am I wrong?

Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry, I was wrong.

I realized that after the first substitution ('L' to '*'), at the second call the first occurance of 'L' will be the last letter, because there I will have a word "*ABEL", and the first occurance now is the last letter.

One more sorry for the troubles.

Thanks for all your answers.

Petike.