dynamic declaration of variables

hi, my second question of the day

so what i'm now trying to do is to dynamically declare a variable something like this:

Code:

void *myFunction(char *type){
      
       if (*type == 'S'){
		SSeq *string = NULL;
	}
	else if (*type == 'Q'){
		QSeq *string = NULL;
	}

// Here i would like for my string to be either SSeq of QSeq.

Is something like tjis even possible in c ???

thank you

baxy

PS

SSeq and QSeq are both structures defined in header file

Originally Posted by baxy77bax

// Here i would like for my string to be either SSeq of QSeq.
[/code]

Is something like tjis even possible in c ???

It actually is under C99, but then the variable goes out of scope, if you see what I mean:

Code:

       if (*type == 'S'){
		SSeq *string = NULL;
	}
	else if (*type == 'Q'){
		QSeq *string = NULL;
	}

// Here is where "string" does not exist, since it was declared 
//in a block scope and we are not inside the block anymore

So kind of useless. Depending on what you are trying to do, you could accomplish the same thing with a void pointer and some casting.

both variables undergo the same procedure but they are loaded from Subject / Query file ... so i'm trying to avoid to write the same function twice. so every step is the same. therefore i want to call the function once and tell it to fill QSeq and in some other part of the code call the function to fill SSeq structure so that in the end i have query data in QSeq structure and subject data in the SSeq structure

thanx

Why wouldn't you just pass in the actual string...

Code:

void *myFunction(void *Str){
      free(Str);      
      return NULL; }

//..... then call it as...

SSeq = myFunction(SSeq);
QSeq = myFunction(QSeq);

I know it's only an example for concept... but if you return NULL or NULL the pointer without freeing the memory you're creating a memory leak.

You know every types of pointers are the same -- they are all unsigned integers. So you can convert them to whatever types you want. And using void* seems better here.

Thanx,

that helped.... I think I'm tired and thinking properly any more .... it is working now


Thank you!