ispunct() Function Example in C Programming

In this source code example, we will see how to use the ispunct() function in C programming with an example.

ispunct() Function Overview

The ispunct() function is a part of the <ctype.h> library in C. It is used to check if a given character is a punctuation character, which includes symbols like !, @, #, $, etc., but not alphanumeric characters or whitespace. 

Key Points: 

- To use the ispunct() function, the <ctype.h> header must be included. 

- The function accepts an int as an argument, which represents the ASCII value of the character. 

- It returns a non-zero integer if the character is a punctuation character, otherwise, it returns 0.

Source Code Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h> // Required for ispunct()

int main() {
    char ch;

    printf("Enter a character: ");
    scanf("%c", &ch);

    if (ispunct(ch)) {
        printf("The character '%c' is a punctuation character.\n", ch);
    } else {
        printf("The character '%c' is not a punctuation character.\n", ch);
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

Enter a character: !
The character '!' is a punctuation character.
Enter a character: A
The character 'A' is not a punctuation character.

Explanation

1. The necessary header files are included: stdio.h for standard input/output functions and ctype.h for the ispunct() function.

2. Within the main() function, a character variable ch is declared.

3. The user is then prompted to input a character, which is stored in the ch variable.

4. Using the ispunct() function, the program checks if the provided character is a punctuation character.

5. Depending on the result, a corresponding message is displayed to the console, indicating if the character is a punctuation character or not.