return a value from a function

Hi all i am new to programming and after i learnt Pascal i try to learn C.I have working to this program and from the pinakas function i want to return to main the first negative value of the array or if there isn't a negative value to return the first value of the array.Here is the code

Code:

#include<stdio.h>
#define n  5
int *pinakas(int *pin);
main()
{ 
     int *ptr,pin[n],i;

    //fill the array
    printf("Dwse ta stoixeia toy pinaka :\n");
    for(i=0;i<n;i++)
         scanf("%d",&pin[i]);
    ptr=pinakas(pin);
    printf("%d\n",*ptr);
}

int *pinakas(int *pin)
{
   int k;

   for (k=0;k<n;k++)
  {
       if(*(pin+k)<0)
             return pin+k;
       else
            return pin;   
  }
}

This code return me always the first value of the array and not the first negative value if there is.
Any help?

> return pin;
Should be outside your for loop.

At the moment, you return pin if the first element of the array is not negative. This means you always return the first element. You need to move the return pin to after the end of the loop when all the elements of the array have been checked.

Code:

int *pinakas(int *pin)
{
   int k;

   for (k = 0;k < n;k++)
   {
       /* pin[k] is the much less ugly equivalent of *(pin+k) */
       if(pin[k] < 0)
             return &pin[k];
   }

   /* Only return the first element once all elements have been checked. */
   return pin;   
}

main() ???
make it int main() ;
main should return a value .
also, inside the function, the code should be

Code:

 int * foobar(int *pin)
{
 int k;
 for (k=0;k<n;k++)
     {
             if(*(pin+k)<0)
             return pin+k;
     }
return (pin) ;
}

what your function is doing is just checking once and returning the value. it should check the entire array.
PING

Someone will probably respond before i'm done, but here's my reply anyway :


I think you should work work with subscripts in your program rather than pointers.

I don't usually make programs for people who need help , but i had to remake your program to show you an easier way to do it (along with comments) :

Code:

#include<stdio.h>

#define N 5   // use captial letters for #define constants
                     // to seperate them from the variables you declare
                    // within your program.

int foo(const int *);   // use const to prevent altering your
                                 // array's contents

int main(void) // main should ALWAYS return an int
{
	int arr[5]; // array
	int i;  // subscript (or array index)

	printf("Enter 5 numbers : \n");

	for(i=0; i<N; i++)
		scanf("%d", &arr[i]);

	i = foo(arr);   // send the adress of the first element
                                     // of "arr" to foo

	printf("\n%d\n", arr[i]); // print the value found (or first
                                                     // element if not found)


	return 0; // this means program terminated sucessfuly
}



int foo(const int *arrP)
{
	int k; // another subscript

// we treated our pointer just like an array.
	for(k=0; k<N; k++)
// if an element is less than zero , return its location
		if(arrP[k] < 0)
			return k;

// or else return the location of the first element
	return 0;
}

there you go.


I didn't compile your program , but i guess the reason it returns a pointer to the first element is this piece of code :

Code:

if(*(pin+k)<0)
             return pin+k;
       else
            return pin;

this means if any element is NOT less than zero then return a pointer to the first element. So if your second element had a positive value for example, it would ignore the 'if' statement and go to the 'else' wich returns the first element's location. This is why i seperated the last 'return' from the loop.



Hope this helps


*EDIT* you guys were too fast