CIS3355: Business Data Structures
Fall, 2008
 

Bits/Bytes and ASCII Part 1
Type-in, Compile, and Run the Program (5 point)

For this part of the project, all you have to do is type in, compile and run the program listed below (there are three trivial syntactical errors; I tell you where they are).

You will notice that the program is loaded with comments. This is to help you understand what the program does. You do not have to include all of the comments (unless you want to, or you want to add some) EXCEPT that you MUST add the first 5 comments (appearing before the #include statement). These lines MUST appear in every program you write and turn in.

On additional caveat (although I have said it before, and will say it again): You could cut and paste this code, and then modify it accordingly. What will you learn if you do?? Will it help you on the quizzes?? In a job?? Are you really so desperate for time that you can't afford the 5 minutes extra it will take you to type it in?

Type in, compile and run the following c program.

// Program Name: <The name you decide upon for the program>
// Author: <Enter your name here>
// Date Written: <Enter the date you first started the program>
// Last Modified: <Enter the date you last modified the program>
// Intent: Set up an initial Menu

#include <stdio.h>     // Include the Standard C Input-Output (IO) Headers File

int main(void)         // MAIN is a function name which returns an integer
{                      // This is similar to a BEGIN statement
   char ch,ch1;        // ch and ch1 are the variables where we will store ASCII characters
                       // BUT they are really signed numeric bytes (on 8-bits)
   unsignd char ch2;   // ch2 is also a location holding an ASCII character ** There is an error here
                       // BUT it is an unsigned numeric byte
   ch = 'T';           // Store the ASCII Character T (numeric value 84) at location ch

// Let's print out the contents of location ch as a character, decimal, octal and hex
   printf("The values of character %c are %d decimal, %o octal and %x Hexadecimal\n",ch,ch,ch,ch);

// Let's change the contents of location/variable ch so that it contains the value 38
   ch = 38;

// Again, print out the contents of ch as a character, decimal, octal and hex *** There is an error
    printf("The values of character %c are %d decimal, %o octal and %x Hexadecimal\n,ch,ch,ch,ch);

// This time we are going to change the contents of ch by storing an Octal value in it
// Of course, we know that we really can't store an Octal value (ALL values are stored in Binary)
// The compiler will change our Octal entry to Binary
// We indicate that it is an Octal value by putting a 0 (Zero) in front of the number
   ch = 0135;

// Let's get the same output we have been getting *** There is an error here
    printf(The values of character %c are %d decimal, %o octal and %x Hexadecimal\n",ch,ch,ch,ch);

// This time we are going to change the contents of ch by storing a Hexadecimal value in it
// Again, we know that we really can't store an Hex value (ALL values are stored in Binary)
// The compiler will change our Hex entry to Binary
// We indicate that it is an Hex value by putting a 0X (Zero followed by 'X') in front of the number
   ch = 0X6b;
    
// Let's print it out again
   printf("The values of character %c are %d decimal, %o octal and %x Hexadecimal\n",ch,ch,ch,ch);

// Let's add two characters together and see what happens
   ch = '3';           // Assign the Character 3
   ch1 = 52;           // Assign the Character 4
   ch = ch + ch1;      // Add the two together - What is the outcome?

// Let's print it and find out
   printf("The values of character %c are %d decimal, %o octal and %x Hexadecimal\n",ch,ch,ch,ch);

// Now, let's try and store an 'Illegal' value in location ch
// I say illegal because we know that signed bytes can only take on the values:
// -2⁷ through +2⁷ - 1, or -128 though +127
// What happens if we try and store a number outside of that range?
   ch = 211;

// Let's print, using a slightly different format, and find out
   printf("The outcome is %c, decimal %d\n",ch,ch);

// Now, if we were to store the value 211 at location ch2 (an unsigned character) it should be OK
// since an unsigned character has the range 0 through 28 - 1 (0 through 255)
// Let's try it
   ch2 = 211;

// Let's print it out again (What ASCII Character corresponds to the decimal value 211??)
   printf("The outcome is %c, decimal %d\n",ch2,ch2);

// OK - we're done.
// But remember, we declared our main function to be an integer function
// Although we could get by without returning an integer value (we would get a warning message)
// For the sake of correctness, we might as well return a 'dummy' value
   return(0);

// Now let's just end the main function
// How?? Remember, we stated the function with a {, so we need to end it with a matching }
}

If you entered the code correctly (and fixed the intentional errors I told you about), you should see an output screen that looks like:

To run the executable code, click here.

CAVEAT: Depending on your browser, the sample code may flash by.

Make sure to submit your programs via the Submission Page by the Date Due (See Course Schedule)