any concerns with static memory in C?

Hi,
I would like to know if there are any memory constraints in C regarding the largest possible size of arrays.
I have a structure, say ABC, which has another structure DEF. In DEF, there is an integer array of 4096 elements(static allocation). Can this integer array cause any memory problems?
thanks.


cal

Only if you're using some ancient fossil compiler like Turbo C, which limits the size of any single object to 64K bytes.

Or an embedded system, which typically have a very small amount of memory compared to your average desktop machine.

like
int array[4096]
?
On a modern computer, there should not be any problem. I have seen much larger arrays than that which experience no difficultly.

hmm..

ok.. i am using the VC++ 6.0 compiler (have no other choice)... the problem is something unique..
this is wat i mean.. there is a structure like this...

Code:

typdef struct _def
{
   int arr[4096];
   ;
}def;

typdef struct _xyz
{
   ;
}xyz;

typedef struct _abc
{
   def D1;
   xyz X1;
}abc;

this is the structure arrangement.. there is a function call to which i am passing the pointer to D1.

Code:

void func (def *D)
{
   D->a1 = D->a2; // a1 and a2 are pointers
   D->b1 = D->b2; // b1 and b2 are integers
}

as soon as the function call completes, a structure pointer in the X1 structure of abc structure is corrupted. It loses its values, and everything else goes wrong from there...

I tried malloc but even then, the same problem arises. with the end of the function call, a totally alien structure gets corrupted.

any ideas?

Perhaps you can post some REAL code [a minimal example that shows the problem is the best thing], because your code as you've posted it makes absolutely no sense - mostly because you are mixing variables.

Statically sized arrays in themselves are not a problem in a desktop machine (VC 6.0 indicates this), so it's probably something else that is going wrong. My suspicion would be that you are returning the address of a local variable.

--
Mats

Oh yes, can you upgrade compiler? VC6 is kind of a fossil now, too. You can get newer version of Visual Studio Express for free, too.
Newer versions of VS also typically have the ability to detect stack smashing - that is, when you overwrote memory on the stack where you shouldn't.

Sounds to me like your code is broken, and not any limitation on the size of the array.
Posting actual code which crashes would be a lot better.

Even though it's old, VC6 won't have tiny memory restrictions like DOS compilers.