Data structure error

[ronenk]

Got this code, which is part of a larger program, but in order to debug it I have separated it from the rest of it.

#include <stdio.h>
struct PatientDetails {
	char F_name[15];
	char L_name[20];
	int QueueType;
};
typedef struct PatientDetails Patient;
	Patient CurrentPatient;
	Patient *PatientPtr;
	PatientPtr = &CurrentPatient;

void AbsrbPatient()
{
	puts ("\nPlease type patient's first name");
	flushall();
	gets (PatientPtr->F_name);
	printf ("\nfirst name is %s", PatientPtr->F_name); 
	puts ("\nPlease type patient's last name");
	flushall();
	gets (PatientPtr->L_name);
	printf ("\nlast name is %s", PatientPtr->L_name);
}

int main(void)
{
		AbsrbPatient();
}

Running it (also in original program) I get:

error C2040: 'PatientPtr' : 'int ' differs in levels of indirection from 'struct PatientDetails *'
warning C4047: 'initializing' : 'int ' differs in levels of indirection from 'struct PatientDetails *'

Nevertheless, if I run the same code with a little modification it runs OK, but it doesn’t looks very nice…

#include <stdio.h>
struct PatientDetails {
	char F_name[15];
	char L_name[20];
	int QueueType;
};
typedef struct PatientDetails Patient;
	

void AbsrbPatient()
{
	Patient CurrentPatient;
	Patient *PatientPtr;
	PatientPtr = &CurrentPatient;
	puts ("\nPlease type patient's first name");
	flushall();
	gets (PatientPtr->F_name);
	printf ("\nfirst name is %s", PatientPtr->F_name); 
	puts ("\nPlease type patient's last name");
	flushall();
	gets (PatientPtr->L_name);
	printf ("\nlast name is %s", PatientPtr->L_name);
}

int main(void)
{
	Patient CurrentPatient;
	Patient *PatientPtr;
	PatientPtr = &CurrentPatient;
	AbsrbPatient();
}

How should I right the upper version better ?

[chrismiceli]

A few things, your main doesn't return anything, it should return an exit code. Also, you should avoid globals, which is what the first code uses. You should really declare them in main and pass what is needed to the function as an argument.

[Dave_Sinkula]

>How should I right the upper version better ?

	Patient *PatientPtr = &CurrentPatient;

This is an initialization. What you had was a declaration followed by an assignment. You cannot have an assignment outside of a function.

FAQ > Explanations of... > Why gets() is bad / Buffer Overflows

[ronenk]

Thank you, chrismiceli & Dave_Sinkula. I'm all set with your notes.