Concepts of user-defined

USER DEFINED FUNCTIONS IN C:

• As you know, there are 2 types of functions in C. They are, library functions and user defined functions.
• Library functions are inbuilt functions which are available in common place called C library. Where as, User defined functions are the functions which are written by us for our own requirement.

ADDING USER DEFINED FUNCTIONS IN C LIBRARY:

• Do you know that we can add our own user defined functions in C library?
• Yes. It is possible to add, delete, modify and access our own user defined function to or from C library.
• The advantage of adding user defined function in C library is, this function will be available for all C programs once added to the C library.
• We can use this function in any C program as we use other C library functions.
• In latest version of GCC compilers, compilation time can be saved since these functions are available in library in the compiled form.
• Normal header files are saved as “file_name.h” in which all library functions are available. These header files contain source code and this source code is added in main C program file where we add this header file using “#include <file_name.h>” command.
• Where as, precompiled version of header files are saved as “file_name.gch”.

STEPS FOR ADDING OUR OWN FUNCTIONS IN C LIBRARY:

STEP 1:

For example, below is a sample function that is going to be added in the C library. Write the below function in a file and save it as “addition.c”

addition(int i, int j)
{
int total;
total = i + j;
return total;
}

STEP 2:

Compile “addition.c” file by using Alt + F9 keys (in turbo C).

STEP 3:

“addition.obj” file would be created which is the compiled form of “addition.c” file.

STEP 4:

Use the below command to add this function to library (in turbo C).
c:\> tlib math.lib + c:\ addition.obj
+ means adding c:\addition.obj file in the math library.
We can delete this file using – (minus).

STEP 5:        

Create a file “addition.h” & declare prototype of addition() function like below.
int addition (int i, int j);
Now, addition.h file contains prototype of the function “addition”.

Note : Please create, compile and add files in the respective directory as directory name may change for each IDE.

STEP 6:

Let us see how to use our newly added library function in a C program.

C

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# include <stdio.h> // Including our user defined function. # include “c:\\addition.h”     int main () {      int total;      // calling function from library      total = addition (10, 20);      printf ("Total = %d \n", total); }

 OUTPUT:

Total = 30