You need a structure comparator function that matches the prototype of the function expected by qsort()
, viz:
int md_comparator(const void *v1, const void *v2)
{
const mydata *p1 = (mydata *)v1;
const mydata *p2 = (mydata *)v2;
if (p1->id < p2->id)
return -1;
else if (p1->id > p2->id)
return +1;
else
return 0;
}
If you ever get to a more complex sort criterion, this is still a good basis because you can add secondary criteria using the same skeleton:
int md_comparator(const void *v1, const void *v2)
{
const mydata *p1 = (mydata *)v1;
const mydata *p2 = (mydata *)v2;
if (p1->latitude < p2->latitude)
return -1;
else if (p1->latitude > p2->latitude)
return +1;
else if (p1->longitude < p2->longitude)
return -1;
else if (p1->longitude > p2->longitude)
return +1;
else
return 0;
}
Clearly, this repeats for as many criteria as you need. If you need to call a function (strcmp()
?) to compare values, call it once but assign the return to a local variable and use that twice:
int md_comparator(const void *v1, const void *v2)
{
const mydata *p1 = (mydata *)v1;
const mydata *p2 = (mydata *)v2;
int rc;
if (p1->latitude < p2->latitude)
return -1;
else if (p1->latitude > p2->latitude)
return +1;
else if (p1->longitude < p2->longitude)
return -1;
else if (p1->longitude > p2->longitude)
return +1;
else if ((rc = strcmp(p1->name_dyn, p2->name_dyn)) < 0)
return -1;
else if (rc > 0)
return +1;
else
return 0;
}
Also, this template works when data members are unsigned integers, and it avoids overflow problems when comparing signed integers. Note that the short cut you might sometimes see, namely variations on:
int md_comparator(const void *v1, const void *v2) /* BAD */
{ /* BAD */
const mydata *p1 = (mydata *)v1; /* BAD */
const mydata *p2 = (mydata *)v2; /* BAD */
return(p1->id - p2->id); /* BAD */
} /* BAD */
is bad if id
is unsigned (the difference of two unsigned integers is never negative), and subject to overflow if the integers are signed and of large magnitude and opposite signs.