We have been using arrays to collect together related information, all of the same type, into one data structure, with a single name. We can use a collection of arrays to represent a datadase of information.
For example, consider the stock program again. For each stock in a portfolio, we had its id number, number of shares, whole, numerator and denominator values for the stock price, and the calculated value of the stock. A protfolio consists of a number of values for each of these variables. In our previous programs, we read and processed each stock individually; one at a time. We can now declare a set of arrays to store an entire portfolio in the program:
int id[MAX_STOCKS], /* the stock id numbers */
shares[MAX_STOCKS], /* the number of shares of stock */
whole[MAX_STOCKS], /* the whole dollar price of stock */
numerator[MAX_STOCKS],denominator[MAX_STOCKS]; /* the fractional */
/* price of stock */
float value[MAX_STOCKS]; /* the value of a stock */
This allocates six arrays:
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