Description
Search a List
You will write a program which searches an array of integers to find a given integer.
The program should print out the array index where the given integer is found, or it
should print -1 to indicate that the integer was not found in the array. Array indices
begin at 0.
Your program will accept two arguments at the command line, 1) the
name of the array file which contains the array, and 2) the integer to search for in
the array. Give your executable the name MySearch. The following is an example
of how your code will work when it is called with an array file called arr_file.txt which
contains the following array, 5 6 7 8 9. In this example, we assume that the linux
prompt is the symbol ‘$’.
$ MySearch arr_file.txt 6
1
$ MySearch arr_file.txt 8
3
$ MySearch arr_file.txt 2
-1
Multiple Processes
The unique aspect of this search is that it will use multiple processes to search different
parts of the array. You program will recursively create two child processes to search
each half of the array. Each child process will also create two child processes to search
each half of the portion of the array that it is assigned to search. This splitting will
continue until the portion of the array being searched is only a single element. At this
point the process will compare the single element to the integer being searched for.
Here is an example of the processes created to search an array 5, 6, 7, 8 for an integer.
Suppose that your program initially runs in process P1, then P1 is assigned to search
the whole array 5, 6, 7, 8. P1 creates two children, P2 which is assigned to search 5, 6,
and P3 which is assigned to search 7, 8. P2 creates two children, P4 which is assigned
to search 5, and P5 which is assigned to search 6. P3 creates two children P6 which is
assigned to search 7, and P7 which is assigned to search 8. Notice that no more splitting
will occur because P4, P5, P6, and P7 are all assigned to search single elements of the
array.
Array File Format
The array file is a file which contains a series of integers, each of which is separated by
space character. The array file should have only one line. Any lines after the file line will
be ignored. If the array file contains any characters besides integers and whitespace,
your program should print an error but it should not crash.
In the example above we used arr_file.txt as the name of the array file, but your code
should be able to accept an array file with any name.
Execution Warning
This program can create a large number of processes so do not execute it with arrays
containing more than 10 elements. If the length of the array in the array file is longer
than 10, your code should print an error and return -1 without sorting the array.
Submission Instructions
There will be a dropbox on EEE which you will use to submit your code. You should
submit a single C source code file. The code must compile and execute on the
openlab machines. The name of your C source code file should be “Lab2.c”.
