Thread: Structs, pointers and functions

  1. #1
    Registered User
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    Apr 2009
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    Structs, pointers and functions

    Hi guys, I'm currently a bit confused about passing structs to functions with pointers. I'm writing some very simple mathematical vector code, but it's not working as I expected.

    Below is the code from the vector. The function createVec3 returns a Vec3 with the specified arguments. addVec3 should take two vec3 structs, add their values together and return a new vec3. sclVec3 creates a new vec3 whose values are those of a passed argument vec3 times a double k. addToVec3 and sclToVec3 are similar, but should perform the operation on the first argument vector rather than creating a new one.

    Code:
    typedef struct s_vec3 {
        double e1;
        double e2;
        double e3;
    } vec3;
    
    vec3 createVec3(double a, double b, double c) {
        vec3 newVec3;
        newVec3.e1 = a;
        newVec3.e2 = b;
        newVec3.e3 = c;
        return newVec3;
    }
    
    vec3 addVec3(vec3 a, vec3 b) {
        vec3 newVec3;
        newVec3.e1 = a.e1+b.e1;
        newVec3.e2 = a.e2+b.e2;
        newVec3.e3 = a.e3+b.e3;
        return newVec3;
    }
    vec3 sclVec3(vec3 a, double k) {
        vec3 newVec3;
        newVec3.e1 = a.e1*k;
        newVec3.e2 = a.e2*k;
        newVec3.e3 = a.e3*k;
        return newVec3;
    }
    
    void addToVec3(vec3 * a, vec3 b) {
        a->e1 += b.e1;
        a->e2 += b.e2;
        a->e3 += b.e3;
    }
    void sclToVec3(vec3 * a, double k) {
        a->e1 *= k;
        a->e2 *= k;
        a->e3 *= k;
    }
    In my main file I have

    Code:
      vec3 a = createVec3(0.5, 0.6, 0.7);
      vec3 b = createVec3(-0.3, -0.4, -0.1);
      vec3 c = addVec3(a, b);
    
      printf("a (%f %f %f)\n",   a.e1, a.e2, a.e3);
      printf("b (%f %f %f)\n",   b.e1, b.e2, b.e3);
      printf("c (%f %f %f)\n\n", c.e1, c.e2, c.e3);
    
      addToVec3(&a, c);
    
      printf("a (%f %f %f)\n",   a.e1, a.e2, a.e3);
      printf("b (%f %f %f)\n",   b.e1, b.e2, b.e3);
      printf("c (%f %f %f)\n\n", c.e1, c.e2, c.e3);
    
      sclToVec3(&a, 3.0);
    
      printf("a (%f %f %f)\n",   a.e1, a.e2, a.e3);
      printf("b (%f %f %f)\n",   b.e1, b.e2, b.e3);
      printf("c (%f %f %f)\n\n", c.e1, c.e2, c.e3);
    Which produces the output

    Code:
    a (0.500000 0.600000 0.700000)
    b (-0.300000 -0.400000 -0.100000)
    c (0.200000 0.200000 0.600000)
    
    a (0.700000 0.800000 1.300000)
    b (-0.300000 -0.400000 -0.100000)
    c (0.200000 0.200000 0.600000)
    
    a (0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
    b (-0.300000 -0.400000 -0.100000)
    c (0.200000 0.200000 0.600000)
    The main point here is that the line "a (0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)" is incorrect from the call to sclToVec3(), but the adding operations seem to work. Also, including the line

    Code:
      vec3 c = sclVec3(a, 3.0);
    instead of vec3 c = addVec3(a, b); gives a compile error: invalid initializer, which doesn't happen with addVec(a, b).

    Can anyone pinpoint what I'm doing wrong here? Can I treat structs this way, and am I using pointers correctly?

    Sorry for the really long post, but I figured I should include everything.

  2. #2
    ATH0 quzah's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Posts
    14,826
    Code:
    #include<stdio.h>
    struct foo
    {
        double bar;
    };
    
    void baz( struct foo *bar, double d )
    {
        bar->bar *= d;
    }
    
    int main( void )
    {
        struct foo b = { 1.5f };
        
        baz( &b, 3.0f );
        
        printf( "%f\n", b.bar );
    
        return 0;
    }
    It should be fine. You don't actually have something called addVec though. Try making a very small example that is compilable to illustrate your issue.


    Quzah.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  3. #3
    Registered User
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    Russia
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    quzah,
    Code:
        baz( &b, 3.0f );
    why not 3.0 ? why 3.0f ?
    you declared this argument as a double

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