struct member assignment (c-only)

Hi, I'm now in a job where I have to code in pure C (not C++) and am having trouble adjusting to the differences, hope you can help. As soon as I un-comment any one of the commented lines in the code snippet below, the program fails to compile with a syntax error on the "int a=0..." line after the commented block (This line isn't a problem while the rest is commented out). I haven't been able to identify the problem, even after searching the internet, am I missing something about the assignment operator/structs/arrays in C?

Code:

typedef struct touch_switch {
	int p_loc;
} touch_switch_t;

void touch_switches_set(touch_switch_t *switches[]);



void main(void) {
	touch_switch_t S[8];

/*	S[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	S[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	S[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	S[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	S[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	S[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	S[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	S[7].p_loc = 0x9;*/
/*	touch_switches_set(&S);*/

	int a=0,b=0,c=0,d=0,e=0,f=0,g=0,h=0;
}

void touch_switches_set(touch_switch_t *switches[]) {
	(*switches)[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	(*switches)[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	(*switches)[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	(*switches)[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	(*switches)[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	(*switches)[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	(*switches)[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	(*switches)[7].p_loc = 0x9;
}

In C89, you cannot declare variables once you have done a line of code. You would have to move the variable definitions to the top of the function.

And there is no such thing as void main() in C or in C++.

Shift those declarations to before the other statements:

Code:

int main(void) {
	touch_switch_t S[8];
	int a=0,b=0,c=0,d=0,e=0,f=0,g=0,h=0;

	S[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	S[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	S[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	S[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	S[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	S[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	S[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	S[7].p_loc = 0x9;
	touch_switches_set(&S);
	return 0;
}

The reason you get an error on the int a ... is that you are not defining your variables before the start of code. In C++ you can literally put a variable definition anywhere any statement can go. Some C compilers allow this too, but far from all. So as soon as you start writing code statements (anything that isn't a type, function or variable declaration/definition), you can not declare any further variables in that block.

Your function prototype is also missing a () set.

The following code is compiling correctly on my machine with gcc -Wall -ansi -pedantic:

Code:

typedef struct touch_switch {
	int p_loc;
} touch_switch_t;

void touch_switches_set(touch_switch_t (*switches)[]);


int main(void) {
	touch_switch_t S[8];
	int a=0,b=0,c=0,d=0,e=0,f=0,g=0,h=0;

	S[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	S[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	S[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	S[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	S[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	S[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	S[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	S[7].p_loc = 0x9;
	touch_switches_set(&S);

	return 0;
}

void touch_switches_set(touch_switch_t (*switches)[]) {
	(*switches)[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	(*switches)[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	(*switches)[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	(*switches)[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	(*switches)[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	(*switches)[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	(*switches)[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	(*switches)[7].p_loc = 0x9;
}

--
Mats

Thank you all very much, this solution works. I've not come across the "define all variables at the start" rule before, and also thanks for solving a mysterious "suspicious pointer conversion" compiler warning, that I had no idea what to do with, but wasn't critical.

Originally Posted by emorrp1

Thank you all very much, this solution works. I've not come across the "define all variables at the start" rule before, and also thanks for solving a mysterious "suspicious pointer conversion" compiler warning, that I had no idea what to do with, but wasn't critical.

It wasn't "critical" becaue you were lucky that the start of the array and the address of the first element are the same thing - if you had wanted to do a slightly different variant, then it would quite possibly have been critical.

--
Mats

I may be missing something, but it seems you could simply define the function like so:

Code:

void touch_switches_set(touch_switch_t *switches) {
	switches[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	switches[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	switches[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	switches[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	switches[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	switches[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	switches[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	switches[7].p_loc = 0x9;
}

Originally Posted by swoopy

I may be missing something, but it seems you could simply define the function like so:

Code:

void touch_switches_set(touch_switch_t *switches) {
	switches[0].p_loc = 0x0;
	switches[1].p_loc = 0x1;
	switches[2].p_loc = 0x4;
	switches[3].p_loc = 0x5;
	switches[4].p_loc = 0x2;
	switches[5].p_loc = 0x3;
	switches[6].p_loc = 0x8;
	switches[7].p_loc = 0x9;
}

you're almost right! I tried it, but since you're now dealing with the pointer directly rather than its dereferenced state, you need to also change the '.' to '->'

Originally Posted by tabstop

And there is no such thing as void main() in C or in C++.

maybe not, but microcontrollers do strange things, including expecting main() to be declared as void (for the one I'm working on at the moment)

Originally Posted by emorrp1

you're almost right! I tried it, but since you're now dealing with the pointer directly rather than its dereferenced state, you need to also change the '.' to '->'

No, that's incorrect. The index operator [] dereferences the pointer.
void* p;
*p and p[0] are the same thing.
So (*p).something and p[0].something are also the same thing.