C - Structure Pointers to As Structure Members

Introduction

Any pointer can be a member of a structure.
A pointer structure member that points to the same type of structure is permitted.
Demo

#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

typedef struct Dog Dog;            // Define Dog as a type name

struct Dog                           // Structure type definition
{
  int age;/*from   ww  w  .j ava  2  s.  c o m*/
  int height;
  char name[20];
  char father[20];
  char mother[20];
  Dog *next;                         // Pointer to next Dog structure
};

int main(void)
{
  Dog *first = NULL;                 // Pointer to first dog
  Dog *current = NULL;               // Pointer to current dog
  Dog *previous = NULL;              // Pointer to previous dog

  char test = '\0';                    // Test value for ending input

  for (; ; )
  {
    printf_s("Do you want to enter details of a%s dog (Y or N)? ",
      first != NULL ? "nother" : "");
    scanf_s(" %c", &test, sizeof(test));
    if (tolower(test) == 'n')
      break;

    // Allocate memory for a Dog structure
    current = (Dog*)malloc(sizeof(Dog));
    if (first == NULL)                  // If there's no 1st Dog...
      first = current;                 // ...set this as 1st Dog

    if (previous != NULL)               // If there was a previous...
      previous->next = current;        // ...set its next to this one

    printf_s("Enter the name of the dog: ");
    scanf_s("%s", current->name, sizeof(current->name));

    printf_s("How old is %s? ", current->name);
    scanf_s("%d", &current->age);

    printf_s("How high is %s ( in hands )? ", current->name);
    scanf_s("%d", &current->height);

    printf_s("Who is %s's father? ", current->name);
    scanf_s("%s", current->father, sizeof(current->father));

    printf_s("Who is %s's mother? ", current->name);
    scanf_s("%s", current->mother, sizeof(current->mother));

    current->next = NULL;             // In case it's the last...
    previous = current;               // ...save its address
  }

  // Now tell them what we know...
  printf_s("\n");
  current = first;                    // Start at the beginning
  while (current != NULL)             // As long as we have a valid pointer
  { // Output the data
    printf_s("%s is %d years old, %d hands high,",
      current->name, current->age, current->height);
    printf_s(" and has %s and %s as parents.\n", current->father,
      current->mother);
    previous = current;               // Save the pointer so we can free memory
    current = current->next;          // Get the pointer to the next
    free(previous);                   // Free memory for the old one
    previous = NULL;
  }
  first = NULL;
  return 0;
}
C - Structure Pointers to As Structure Members

Introduction

Demo

Result
