Very basic pointer problem

Hi guys, I seem to have a very basic pointer problem.

I have a main that has 2 counters, i need them to be updated by a function, so i decided to declare both int counters, and pointers to these int to pass to the function.

This is how I (tried to) declare them:

Code:

int leftTriCont,rightTriCont;
int* leftTriAbscissa,rightTriAbscissa;

leftTriAbscissa=&leftTriCont;
    rightTriAbscissa=&rightTriCont;

so leftTriAbscissa points to leftTriCont and the same with rightTriAbscissa and rightTriCont.

So my idea was to pass the pointers to the function, BUT:

I get an error, both on declaration, and when I call the famous function:

main.c:56: warning: assignment makes integer from pointer without a cast

main.c:160: warning: passing arg 4 of `fastTriangulate' makes pointer from integer without a cast

Why that error? What did i do wrong in the declaration?

"rightTriAbscissa" isn't a pointer, it should be:

Code:

int *leftTriAbscissa, *rightTriAbscissa;

Oh I tought it was only to put near the type... So it has to be near every var?

Yes, '*' needs to be with each variable. Although you will see some people argue the '*' should be next to the type. The compiler does not care where exactly the space is but putting it next to the type doesn't help.
Why not just pass the addresses of the counters... no need to define new variables.

Code:

function(&leftTriCont, &rightTriCont);

Inside the function you always reference the variables as *leftTriCont and *rightTriCont and any assignment you make will change their value outside the scope of the function.

Originally Posted by nonoob

Yes, '*' needs to be with each variable. Although you will see some people argue the '*' should be next to the type.

Quite a few people also argue that only one variable at a time. So instead of

Code:

int *leftTriAbscissa, *rightTriAbscissa;

they would do;

Code:

    int *leftTriAbscissa;
    int *rightTriAbscissa;

I personally prefer the asterix being near the variable name, as it indicates (say) that *leftTriAbscissa is an int or, equivalently, that leftTriAbscissa is a pointer. The location of whitespace does not matter.

An alternative approach to the original problem is to use a typedef

Code:

typedef int *int_ptr;
int_ptr  leftTriAbscissa, rightTriAbscissa;

which defines both leftTriAbscissa and rightTriAbscissa as pointers.

General format for declaration of pointer is

<datatype> *(Variable_Name);

Originally Posted by DeliriumCordia

Oh I tought it was only to put near the type... So it has to be near every var?

Just to clarify, when you typed:

Code:

int* leftTriAbscissa,rightTriAbscissa;

You made 2 variables, one of them was a pointer, the other was a regular int.

So your original code was the same as:

Code:

int * leftTriAbscissa;
int rightTriAbscissa;