1 stupid question

how do I return an array?

If it's a local variable, you don't. If it's dynamic memory or static memory, you can just pass a pointer to it. Three examples:

Code:

char* funct()
{
    char array[SOME_MAX_SIZE];
    strcpy(array,"My Buggy message");

     /* This is a bug. Don't do this in your code */
    /* the storage for array does not stay in scope, so you
        can't return it */
    return array;
}

static char array[SOME_MAX_SIZE];
char* funct1()
{
    strcpy(array, "But this is okay");
    return array;
}

/* Or... */

char* funct2()
{
    char* array = (char*)malloc(SOME_MAX_SIZE);
    strcpy(array,"This is also okay");
    return array;
}

>how do I return an array?
Put it inside a struct, and return that. Personally I'd try not to use this method in any of my real-life designs though.