Thread: Flexible Array Size / Realloc

Hi all--

I'm writing a program that initializes an integer double pointer to NULL, and realloc's it's size each time a particular method is called. Something like:

Code:

int** list = NULL;

void someMethod() {
int* listElement  = malloc(sizeof(int)*3);
list = realloc(list, sizeof(list)+sizeof(listElement));
}

I'm not sure if this is the correct way of going about this, but you get the idea of what I'm trying to do.

Unfortunately, to test this-- I try printing the sizeof(list) before and after I realloc, and to my dismay-- the size is always 8.

1) Why is sizeof(list) always 8, even if I malloc it instead of initializing it to NULL?
2) How do I go about my intended program implementation?

Sizeof( list ) is always 8 because you're asking it for the size of your pointer.

C does not let you discover the size of a memory patch after the fact. The only confirmation you get is to check the returned pointer is not null... if not, then you assume it worked for the size you specified.

For keeping track of the size... use a variable...

1) Why is sizeof(list) always 8, even if I malloc it instead of initializing it to NULL?

sizeof is an operator that tells you the size of a type, and the type of list is int**, therefore, the result is the size of a pointer, int**. Likewise, sizeof(listElement) would result in the size of an int*.

2) How do I go about my intended program implementation?

I'm not sure how else to put it, but you need to make a proper calculation to get what you ask for.

Since you're implementing a 2-d array, I recommend reading this. Additionally, please store realloc's returned pointer in a temporary variable. That way if realloc fails, you can free the original memory instead of leaking it.

1) Question 7.28
2) You need to decide if you really want to work with a double pointer or just a single pointer. I'm not totally clear what you are trying to do with your code there. Do you want a 2-d array? Are you just trying to grow it by 3 elements? You will have to keep track of how many elements list is pointing to in some other variable. Also, you need to be careful with realloc. You always want to use a temp variable to hold the value of realloc and check it for NULL before assigning it to list. If realloc fails and returns NULL, you set list to NULL, lose the original value of list and cant free it or access the data in there anymore.

Thanks everyone :]