Question about pointers #3

Thanks to the great responses I got for my first two questions, I will post my third and hopefully last about this subject. This question has to do with using pointers as an array of arrays or strings. I basically want to know how to properly allocate and delete memory for something like:

Code:

---

char** pArrayList = new char*[2];
pArrayList[0] = new char[8];
pArrayList[1] = new char[8];

strcpy(pArrayList[0], "letters");
strcpy(pArrayList[1], "letters");

delete [] pArrayList[0];
delete [] pArrayList[1];
delete [] pArrayList;

---

Will this work? If not, how do I do it, using char** type variables has always confused me.

>Will this work?
Yes, that's one way to do it, and it will work just fine. Though a more general way to go about it is with a loop:

Code:

---

// Allocate
char **pArrayList = new char*[rows];
for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
  pArrayList[i] = new char[cols];
}

// Release
for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
  delete [] pArrayList[i];
}
delete [] pArrayList;

---

Where did the variable cols come from? Or are you just using that to represent the idea of columns in a matrix?

>Where did the variable cols come from?
I was using rows and cols as generic names rather than 2 and 8 as you had.

>Or are you just using that to represent the idea of columns in a matrix?
Yes. :)