Thread: Passing 2-Character String

  1. #1
    Why am I a programmer? shoutatchickens's Avatar
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    Passing 2-Character String

    I am trying to pass a 2 character string to a function. The second character of the string must be either P or R.

    When executed, the function returns a value of 9999 which indicates that the second character of the string was not a P or R.

    I have tried going about this as many ways as I can find, but I am not very adept when it comes to C++. I am using VS 2005 for this.

    Here is the code in question:
    Code:
    /**
    	This function converst PS position into Row/Col position
    	**/
    void PStoRC(int pos, int *result) {
    	int  HFunc, HLen, HRc;
    	char *HBuff = "AP";
    
    	// set the variables for the convert to R/C function
    	HFunc = HA_CONVERT_POS_ROW_COL;
    	HLen  = 0x00;
    	HRc   = pos;
    
    	// execute the conversion function 
    	hllapi(&HFunc, HBuff, &HLen, &HRc); // <- This is where the string is passed
    
    	// get the results
    	result[0] = HLen;
    	result[1] = HRc;
    }
    What are reasons that the function would not see the P? The first character identifies a session to apply the function to. This character is identified as I can change it to produce other errors such as invalid session ID. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

  2. #2
    Jack of many languages Dino's Avatar
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    Got a prototype for hllapi?
    Mainframe assembler programmer by trade. C coder when I can.

  3. #3
    Kernel hacker
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    Looks OK to me, so perhaps somewhere else is where the problem is?

    --
    Mats
    Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
    Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.

  4. #4
    Why am I a programmer? shoutatchickens's Avatar
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    Code:
    long WINAPI hllapi(LPINT, LPSTR, LPINT, LPINT);
    The first variable is a number that identifies a certain "function". That number determines how the other variables are used. So far, everything I have tried has worked up until this fucntion. (The HA_CONVERT_POS_ROW_COL)

  5. #5
    Jack of many languages Dino's Avatar
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    I'm not a Windows programmer, or a student of their naming conventions, but I remember seeing a lots of szVarName declarations for pointers to null terminated strings. Is LPSTR the same thing? Have you tried another level of indirection for HBuff, as in &HBuff?
    Mainframe assembler programmer by trade. C coder when I can.

  6. #6
    Why am I a programmer? shoutatchickens's Avatar
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    I've tried passing (char *)&HBuff, which I tihnk is pretty much the same as passing HBuff.
    It produces compile errors without the type cast.

    I have also tried declaring the string in different ways. Making a classic C-Syle array and setting the characters individually, as well as making strings that are NULL terminated.

    Since the first character is being identified correctly, I can't imagine what could be wrong out side of a problem with the library. I just kind of find that hard to believe for some reason.

  7. #7
    Jack of many languages Dino's Avatar
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    What is HLen? The length of the string you are passing?
    Mainframe assembler programmer by trade. C coder when I can.

  8. #8
    Why am I a programmer? shoutatchickens's Avatar
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    Not in the case of this particular HFunc value.

    In this case it is passed as a null value and used as a return field for the row.

  9. #9
    The larch
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    Well the manual appears to be here (4.5). If you are sure that the result is HARC99_INVALID_CONV_OPT and you are doing everything else as required then probably you might need to seek support from the library providers/support forum...
    I might be wrong.

    Thank you, anon. You sure know how to recognize different types of trees from quite a long way away.
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  10. #10
    Why am I a programmer? shoutatchickens's Avatar
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    That's definately the error I am getting. Looks like I will have to seek support for the library. Thanks for all of your help.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino View Post
    I'm not a Windows programmer, or a student of their naming conventions, but I remember seeing a lots of szVarName declarations for pointers to null terminated strings. Is LPSTR the same thing? Have you tried another level of indirection for HBuff, as in &HBuff?
    LPSTR = char*.
    LP means it's a pointer, and STR says it's a string.
    Stupid Windows typedefs / conventions.

    Quote Originally Posted by shoutatchickens View Post
    I've tried passing (char *)&HBuff, which I tihnk is pretty much the same as passing HBuff.
    It produces compile errors without the type cast.
    Do not use casts!
    The compiler is trying to alert you that what you are doing is wrong and the cast only hides it!
    Only use casts if you are really, really, really, really sure of what you are doing.

    And btw, that prototype is very uninformative.
    If you can, do not strip the parameter names: http://cpwiki.sf.net/Don't_remove_parameter_names
    Something to think of in the future. Good luck.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

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