string pointer passed to a function help

I'm not so familiar with functions and function prototypes. I get compiler errors which is the line where I attempt to pass the strings to a function

Type error in argument 1 to 'sort'; expected 'char *' but found 'char'
Type error in argument 2 to 'sort'; expected 'char *' but found 'char'
Type error in argument 3 to 'sort'; expected 'char *' but found 'char'
Type error in argument 4 to 'sort'; expected 'char *' but found 'char'

Code:

---

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

void sort (char *,char *,char *,char *);

int main()
{

        char *str1 = {"Florida"};
        char *str2 = {"Oregon"};
        char *str3 = {"California"};
        char *str4 = {"Georgia"};
       
        printf("Four states in alphabetical order");
        sort(*str1, *str2, *str3, *str4);
}

void sort (char *str1,char *str2, char *str3, char *str4)
{
        if (strcmp(str3, str1) >0)
                printf("\n%s", str3);
        if (strcmp(str1, str4) >0)
                printf("\n%s", str1);
        if (strcmp(str4, str2) >0)
                printf("\n%s", str1);
        if (strcmp(str2, str4) <0)
                printf("\n%s\n", str1);

}
/*
Build a program that uses an array of strings to store the following
names:
• “Florida”
• “Oregon”
• “California”
• “Georgia”
Using the preceding array of strings, write your own sort()
function to display each state’s name in alphabetical order using
the strcmp() function. */

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str1 is the address of the first character in the str1[] array. If you pass *str1 to the function, you are passing only that initial character rather than the whole string. Remove the * or, if it makes it easier to understand, pass it &str1[0].

I have tried removing the * already and the sort function doesn't print anything if I do. I tried again and the same result. Not sure how to write out the other part you said in the compiler.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrandNew

I have tried removing the * already and the sort function doesn't print anything if I do. I tried again and the same result. Not sure how to write out the other part you said in the compiler.

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All of your if statements in your sort function evaluate to false, thus nothing prints..

Thanks

I was basing my if conditions from the example in the book but that example has a different value of course

Code:

---

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

void sort (char *,char *,char *,char *);

int main()
{

        char *str1 = {"Florida"};
        char *str2 = {"Oregon"};
        char *str3 = {"California"};
        char *str4 = {"Georgia"};
       
        printf("Four states in alphabetical order");
        sort(str1, str2, str3, str4);
}

void sort (char *str1,char *str2, char *str3, char *str4)
{
        if (strcmp(str3, str1) <0)
                printf("\n%s", str3);
        if (strcmp(str1, str4) <0)
                printf("\n%s", str1);
        if (strcmp(str4, str2) <0)
                printf("\n%s", str4);
        if (strcmp(str2, str4) >0)
                printf("\n%s\n", str2);

}

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The problem is, you need to do more comparisons.
In just 4 comparisons, the most you can work out is which one is first. It won't be enough to tell you about the other three.

Also, sorting gets more efficient if you're allowed to re-order the elements, and to do this, an array is most useful.

Yep, you may want to use an array and make your sort a simple sorting algorithm like bubble sort.

Code:

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        if (strcmp(str4, str2) <0)
                printf("\n%s", str4);
        if (strcmp(str2, str4) >0)
                printf("\n%s\n", str2);

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Also note that those two if statements are equivalent. The parameter order matters with strcmp:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by man page

SYNOPSIS
int strcmp(const char *s1, const char *s2);

DESCRIPTION
The strcmp() function compares the two strings s1 and s2. It returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if s1 is found, respectively, to be less than,
to match, or be greater than s2.

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Switching both the parameter order and comparison cancels out the changes.