Unknown compiler error

[Glitch003]

Ok, i tried to compile this code:

int SetPixel(int x, int y, int color); 

int main(void) {
typedef unsigned char byte;
byte *VGA = (byte *)0xA0000; //This gives you a pointer to the graphics video memory

int x;
int y;
for(y=0;y<201;y++) {
for(x=0;x<321;x++) {
SetPixel(x,y,x); //Plot a pixel
}

int SetPixel(int x, int y, int color) {
VGA[320*y+x]=color; //This plots a pixel at x,y
};

I used this command on windows xp with the dev cpp release

gcc -O3 -c kernel_c.c

and i got this errror:
(There is no line 17 in the file, the last line ends with the }; and is line 16)

17 F:\Documents and Settings\chris\Desktop\Knaut\kernel_c.c
parse error at end of input

this is an important part of an operating system im writing, and it would be really great if someone knew how to fix this.. I am a java coder with a little c++ experince, but no c experince.

Thank you sooooo much!!

[XSquared]

You don't need a semicolon after the closing brace of the SetPixel function. Also, you are missing a closing brace at the end of main( ).

[Polymorphic OOP]

You never closed your for loop scopes. Either add 2 end braces after you set the pixel, or get rid of the two open braces (both will work).

[Glitch003]

Wow, and all those times my teacher told me how important indentation is, i ignored her... I feel really stupid now, thanks.

[VirtualAce]

int SetPixel(int x, int y, int color); 

int main(void) {
typedef unsigned char byte;
byte *VGA = (byte *)0xA0000; //This gives you a pointer to the 
  //graphics video memory

int x;
int y;
for(y=0;y<201;y++) {
for(x=0;x<321;x++) {
SetPixel(x,y,x); //Plot a pixel
}

int SetPixel(int x, int y, int color) {
VGA[320*y+x]=color; //This plots a pixel at x,y
};

Looks better as:

int SetPixel(int x, int y, int color); 
typedef unsigned char BYTE;

int main(void) 
{
  //Don't typedef here - only valid in main
  //This gives you a pointer to the graphics video memory  
  BYTE far *VGA = (BYTE far *)0xA0000; //This gives you a pointer 
  
  // ** Alternate far pointer creation  **
  //MK_FP is in dos.h, if you have it  
  //BYTE far *VGA=(BYTE far *)MK_FP(0,0xA000);  

  int x;
  int y;
  for(y=0;y<201;y++) 
  {
     for(x=0;x<321;x++) 
     {
        SetPixel(x,y,x); //Plot a pixel
     }
  }
}

int SetPixel(int x, int y, int color) 
{
  VGA[320*y+x]=color; //This plots a pixel at x,y
}

But your code is going to be slow if you use it in a game. Each time you call SetPixel a stack frame is setup and then the stack is cleaned up prior to returning to the caller. A better way to do this is:

BYTE *Surface;
BYTE *Screen;
BYTE *Buffer;
#define PIXEL(x,y,c)  (Surface[(y<<6)+(y<<8)+x]=c)

In this snippet every time you do a PIXEL(x,y,c) the compiler will insert your #define code as is - hence it is not a function call thus saving the cycles needed to setup a stack frame and clean the stack up.

Surface is a pointer to the current surface. Reason for this is that you may want a double buffer but you want one function that can plot to both. If you simply change the surface pointer to the buffer pointer, you write to the buffer - if you change the surface pointer to point at the screen - you write to the screen. No additional overhead involved - except for the flipping of pointers which is next to nil.

Also if a section of code is going to be enclosed in braces I always place the braces on separate lines and I indent each section of code 2 spaces. As you can see it would have been easy to spot your error since if your closing brace does not lie on the left margin then you need another brace to close a section of code.
Using my system of braces, I rarely, if ever, have any brace related problems.

[Salem]

> byte *VGA = (byte *)0xA0000; //This gives you a pointer to the graphics video memory
And the chances that this will work on anything which isn't a real-mode DOS compiler (ie, not "I used this command on windows xp with the dev cpp release") is about zero.

> this is an important part of an operating system im writing
I'd say you're a couple of years short of some good solid C experience then.

This will keep you off the streets for a while
http://www.nondot.org/sabre/os/articles