Associative arrays in C

Question

I am implementing a way to transfer a set of data to a programmable dongle. The dongle is based on a smart card technology and can execute an arbitrary code inside. The input and output data is passed as a binary blocks that can be accessed via input and output pointers.

I would like to use an associative array to simplify the data processing code. Everything should work this way:

First the host application:

// Host application in C++
in_data["method"] = "calc_r";
in_data["id"] = 12;
in_data["loc_a"] = 56.19;
in_data["loc_l"] = 44.02;
processor->send(in_data);

Next the code inside the dongle:

// Some dongle function in C
char* method_name = assoc_get_string(in_data, "method");
int id = assoc_get_int(in_data, "id");
float loc_a = assoc_get_float(in_data, "loc_a");
float loc_l = assoc_get_float(in_data, "loc_l");

So my question is about the dongle part functionality. Is there C code or library to implement such an associative array behavior like the above?

Answer 1

My suspicion is that you would have to write your own. If I understand the architecture you are describing, then you will need to send the entire chunk of data in a single piece. If so, then most libraries will not work for that because they will most likely be allocating multiple pieces of memory, which would require multiple transfers (and an inside understanding of the structure). It would be similar to trying to use a library hash function and then sending its contents over the network on a socket just by passing the root pointer to the send function.

It would be possible to write some utilities of your own that manage a very simple associative array (or hash) in a single block of memory. If the amount of data is small, it could use a simple linear search for the entries and would be a fairly compact bit of code.

Answer 2

Glib's hash table. implements a map interface or (associative array). And it's most likely the most used hash table implementation for C.

GHashTable *table=g_hash_table_new(g_str_hash, g_str_equal);

/* put */
g_hash_table_insert(table,"SOME_KEY","SOME_VALUE");

/* get */
gchar *value = (gchar *) g_hash_table_lookup(table,"SOME_KEY");

Answer 3

GLib's Hash Tables and Balanced Binary Trees might be what you're after.

Answer 4

Yes, but it will not work in the way you have specified. It will instead use a struct to store the data and functions that operate on that struct, giving you the result you want. See A Simple Associative Array Library In C. Example of use:

struct map_t *test;

test=map_create();
map_set(test,"One","Won");
map_set(test,"Two","Too");
map_set(test,"Four","Fore");

Answer 5

Try uthash, a header library implementing a hash table in C. It's small and fairly easy to use.

Answer 6

Mark Wilkins gave you the right answer. If you want to send the data as a single chunk, you need to understand how C++ maps are represented in your architecture and write the access functions.

Anyway, if you decide to recreate the map on the dongle, I've written a small C library where you could write thinks like:

tbl_t in_data=NULL;

tblSetSS(in_data,"method","calc_r");
tblSetSN(in_data,"id",12);
tblSetSF(in_data,"loc_a",56.19);
tblSetSF(in_data,"loc_l",44.02);

and then:

char  *method_name = tblGetP(in_data, "method");
int    id          = tblGetN(in_data, "id");
float  loc_a       = tblGetF(in_data, "loc_a");
float  loc_l       = tblGetF(in_data, "loc_l");

The hashtable is a variation of the Hopscotch hash, which is rather good on average, and you can have any mix of type for keys and data (i.e. you can use an entire table as a key).

The focus for that functions was on easing programming rather than pure speed and the code is not thoroughly tested but if you like the idea and want to expand on it, you can have a look at the code on googlecode.

(There are other things like variable length strings and a fast sttring pattern matching function but those might not be of interest in this case).

Answer 7

This is an old thread, but I thought this might still be useful for anyone out there looking for an implementation. It doesn't take too much code; I did mine in ~100 lines of without any extra library. I called it a dictionary since it parallels (sort of) the python datatype. Here is my code:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>

typedef struct hollow_list hollow_list;

struct hollow_list{
    unsigned int size;
    void *value;
    bool *written;
    hollow_list *children;
};

//Creates a hollow list and allocates all of the needed memory
hollow_list hollow_list_create(unsigned int size){
    hollow_list output;
    output = (hollow_list) {.size = size, .value = (void *) 0, .written = calloc(size, sizeof(bool)), .children = calloc(size, sizeof(hollow_list))};
    return output;
}

//Frees all memory of associated with a hollow list and its children
void hollow_list_free(hollow_list *l, bool free_values){
    int i;
    for(i = 0; i < l->size; i++){
        hollow_list_free(l->children + i, free_values);
    }
    if(free_values){
        free(l->value);
    }
    free(l);
}

//Reads from the hollow list and returns a pointer to the item's data
void *hollow_list_read(hollow_list *l, unsigned int index){
    if(index == 0){
        return l->value;
    }
    unsigned int bit_checker;
    bit_checker = 1<<(l->size - 1);
    int i;
    for(i = 0; i < l->size; i++){
        if(bit_checker & index){
            if(l->written[i] == true){
                return hollow_list_read(l->children + i, bit_checker ^ index);
            } else {
                return (void *) 0;
            }
        }
        bit_checker >>= 1;
    }
}

//Writes to the hollow list, allocating memory only as it needs
void hollow_list_write(hollow_list *l, unsigned int index, void *value){
    if(index == 0){
        l->value = value;
    } else {
        unsigned int bit_checker;
        bit_checker = 1<<(l->size - 1);
        int i;
        for(i = 0; i < l->size; i++){
            if(bit_checker & index){
                if(!l->written[i]){
                    l->children[i] = hollow_list_create(l->size - i - 1);
                    l->written[i] = true;
                }
                hollow_list_write(l->children + i, bit_checker ^ index, value);
                break;
            }
            bit_checker >>= 1;
        }
    }
}

typedef struct dictionary dictionary;

struct dictionary{
    void *value;
    hollow_list *child;
};

dictionary dictionary_create(){
    dictionary output;
    output.child = malloc(sizeof(hollow_list));
    *output.child = hollow_list_create(8);
    output.value = (void *) 0;
    return output;
}

void dictionary_write(dictionary *dict, char *index, unsigned int strlen, void *value){
    void *hollow_list_value;
    dictionary *new_dict;
    int i;
    for(i = 0; i < strlen; i++){
        hollow_list_value = hollow_list_read(dict->child, (int) index[i]);
        if(hollow_list_value == (void *) 0){
            new_dict = malloc(sizeof(dictionary));
            *new_dict = dictionary_create();
            hollow_list_write(dict->child, (int) index[i], new_dict);
            dict = new_dict;
        } else {
            dict = (dictionary *) hollow_list_value;
        }
    }
    dict->value = value;
}

void *dictionary_read(dictionary *dict, char *index, unsigned int strlen){
    void *hollow_list_value;
    dictionary *new_dict;
    int i;
    for(i = 0; i < strlen; i++){
        hollow_list_value = hollow_list_read(dict->child, (int) index[i]);
        if(hollow_list_value == (void *) 0){
            return hollow_list_value;
        } else {
            dict = (dictionary *) hollow_list_value;
        }
    }
    return dict->value;
}

int main(){
    char index0[] = "hello, this is a test";
    char index1[] = "hello, this is also a test";
    char index2[] = "hello world";
    char index3[] = "hi there!";
    char index4[] = "this is something";
    char index5[] = "hi there";

    int item0 = 0;
    int item1 = 1;
    int item2 = 2;
    int item3 = 3;
    int item4 = 4;

    dictionary d;
    d = dictionary_create();
    dictionary_write(&d, index0, 21, &item0);
    dictionary_write(&d, index1, 26, &item1);
    dictionary_write(&d, index2, 11, &item2);
    dictionary_write(&d, index3, 13, &item3);
    dictionary_write(&d, index4, 17, &item4);

    printf("%d\n", *((int *) dictionary_read(&d, index0, 21)));
    printf("%d\n", *((int *) dictionary_read(&d, index1, 26)));
    printf("%d\n", *((int *) dictionary_read(&d, index2, 11)));
    printf("%d\n", *((int *) dictionary_read(&d, index3, 13)));
    printf("%d\n", *((int *) dictionary_read(&d, index4, 17)));
    printf("%d\n", ((int) dictionary_read(&d, index5, 8)));
}

Unfortunately you can't replicate the list[x] syntax, but this is the best alternative I have come up with.