Hello,
I am casting an integer value to a pointer. It works without problems on systems where sizeof(int) == sizeof(pointer)
But on systems where this is not the case, I am getting a compiler warning.
How can I do the number to pointer cast, so that it works everywhere without warnings?
The context is:
User can input a number which is interpreted as an address. He can look up the value at that address.
Maybe explain why you need to do such a thing.
"It happens to work" isn't a good design decision.
If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.
The user inputs a number in the console, which is to be interpreted as an address.
I then have to lookup what is at that address and tell him.
I wonder how could that work.
Since your program will probably crash when you try to 'lookup what is at that address'.
So why not make the variable a pointer to begin with? Why lie to the compiler and tell it it's an int?
Is it possible to read numbers from the console as addresses then?
scanf got %p. look up the manual.
> The user inputs a number in the console, which is to be interpreted as an address.
scanf accepts %p as a format - why not use that?
If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.
As others have already pointed out this needs exceptional care...Originally Posted by Salem
OOPS....Code:Please enter the address to look up: -1
The real question here is: What possible use could this serve?
Because I didn't know.
Pointers (addresses) point to a place in memory. There is no predictable way a user would know to enter in a valid address when the program is executing since memory allocation is done dynamically... and possibly changes with each execution of the program even if you found out an example. Therefore it is not reasonable to have a user input such a value and expect it to point to anything significant. UNLESS you are attempting to read any random area of memory that's not necessarily within the scope of the executing program. The operating system would have set up fence areas and give stern warnings if you tried to access forbidden areas.
