String Library functions – Explanation with Example

Library functions are inbuilt functions provided by the compilers. These library functions can be easily accessed by importing the particular header file which contains the library function. Similarly, there are many library functions that operate on strings. These library functions are included in the program by importing the header file <string.h>. Let’s have a look at the various library functions that operate on strings:

Read more :- Basics of Strings in C programming

 Input/output library functions

We already saw in the last tutorial how to input string from the user. The problem we faced was that the scanf() function could only take the input till a blank space or new line. Also, we need to add the ‘\0’ afterward. This can be simplified further by using a library function which takes direct string inputs and adds a ‘\0’ at the end of the string input. gets() function takes direct string inputs from the user and terminates when it encounters a new line or reaches the end of the file.

Similarly to print a string we do not need to display the whole string using a loop, which makes the code less readable and also increases the chances of mistakes. Instead of a loop, we can use the puts() function to display the whole string. These library functions are defined in the header file <stdio.h>. Here is a program which shows how to use gets() and puts() library functions:

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
  char name[50]; // declaring a string
  printf("Enter a string : ");
  gets(name); // using function to take string input
  printf("The string is : ");
  puts(name); // prints the string that has been entered by the user
  return 0;
}

Output:-
Enter a string : Codingeek- A home for coders
The string is : Codingeek- A home for coders

Other string related library functions

There are other string related library functions which operate on the string and produces certain results. Here are some of the commonly used string library functions:

• strlen(): This function returns the length of the string. Example: strlen(name); This will return the length of the string stored in the variable name[].
• strcat(): This function concatenates two strings. Example: strcat(name,name1); This will concatenate the strings stored in the variables name[] and name1[] in the order in which it is written.
• strcpy(): This function copies the value of the second string to the first string. Example: strcpy(name1,name); This will copy the string in name[] to the variable name1[].
• strcmp(): It compares two strings. Example: strcmp(name,name1); This compares the string in name[] with the string in name1[]. It returns 0 if the strings are same. It returns a value less than 0 if name[]<name1[]. Otherwise, it returns a value greater than 0.
• strlwr(): It changes all the characters of the string to lower case. Example: strlwr(name); It shall convert the whole string stored in the variable name[] to lowercase.
• strupr(): It changes all the characters of the string to upper case. Example: strupr(name); It shall convert the whole string stored in the variable name[] to uppercase.
• strchr(): It returns the location or the pointer of the first occurrence of a character in a string. Example: strchr(name,ch); It returns the location of the first occurrence of the character in ch in the string name[]. It returns null if the character is not found.
• strstr(): It returns the location or the pointer of the first occurrence of one string in another. Example: strstr(name,name1); It returns the location of the first occurrence of name1[] in name[]. It returns null if the string is not found.

These library functions are defined in the header file <string.h>.

Program on String Library Functions

Here is a simple program which takes two string inputs from the user and displays the result of the various string library functions:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> //taking string.h header file which defines most of the library functions.
int main() {
  char name[50], name1[50], name2[50], ch = 'B'; // declaring strings
  char *x;                                       // pointer
  printf("Enter 1st string:  ");
  gets(name); // input 1st string

  printf("Enter 2nd string:  ");
  gets(name1); // input second string

  printf("strlen() function: %d\n",
         strlen(name)); // prints the length of the name[] string

  printf("strcat() function: %s\n",
         strcat(name, name1)); // concatenates the two strings and stores the
                               // result in name[]

  strcpy(name2, name); // copying the string in name[] to name2[]
  printf("strcpy() function: %s\n", name2); // display the copied string

  printf("strcmp() function: %d\n",
         strcmp(name, name1)); // compare the two strings

  printf("strlwr() function: %s\n",
         strlwr(name)); // convert the string to lowercase

  printf("strupr() function: %s\n",
         strupr(name)); // convert the string to uppercase

  x = strchr(name, ch); // store the pointer of the character in the variable
  printf("strchr()function. The string after ch is: %s\n",
         x); // display the rest of the string

  x = strstr(name, name1); // stores the pointer of the string in the variable
  printf("strstr() function: %s", x); // displays the rest of the string.
  return 0;
}

Output:-
Enter 1st string:  The bell rings
Enter 2nd string:  bell
strlen() function: 14
strcat() function: The bell ringsbell
strcpy() function: The bell ringsbell
strcmp() function: -1
strlwr() function: the bell ringsbell
strupr() function: THE BELL RINGSBELL
strchr()function. The string after ch is: BELL RINGSBELL
strstr() function: 

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