Passing array of structures by pointer

[edharvey]

Hi there, I have been trying to write a simple program to pass an array of structures via pointer. I'm sorry if this is a trivial question, and I'm sure it has been asked many times before. I have looked on google, however haven't managed to find exactly what may be wrong with my code. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks, Ed

p.s. I have tried allocating memory using malloc but got even more compile errors..

//Structure Passing example


#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

typedef struct
{		
 
   int w;
   int h;

} card_t;   //card_t is declared to be of type struct

//prototypes
void assign(void);


card_t *(card_table)[20]; //card_table is a pointer to an array of card_t structures
 
 
	
void assign()
{
	int w=3;
	card_table[0].w = w;
}


int main(void)
{
	assign();
	int temp = card_table[0].w;
	printf("%d",temp);
	return 0;
}

Compile error: "request for member 'w' in something not a structure or union"

[Salem]

> card_t *(card_table)[20]; //card_table is a pointer to an array of card_t structures
This would simply be

card_t *card_table;

Which you would then allocate memory using

card_table = malloc( howManyCardsYouWant * sizeof(*card_table) );

[ShashiKantSuman]

Allocate memory before assigning the value and card_table[0] is a pointer so, you must use ->

card_table[0]->w = w;

[msh]

Welcome to the forums, Ed.

First, consider the following two variable definitions. Note the location of *.

card_t *(card_table)[20];  // array of 20 pointers-to-card_t
card_t (*card_table)[20];  // pointer-to-array of 20 card_t

Next, understand that you're just declaring a pointer. This does not automagically create something for it to point to -- you have to do that yourself. Therefore you would need to do something like this:

card_t table[20];             // declare an array of 20 card_t's
card_t (*card_table)[20] = &table;  // declare and define pointer-to-array of 20 card_t's

/* use it */
void assign()
{
  int w=3;
  (*card_table)[0].w = w;  // dereference card_table to get to table, [0] to access the 1st structure and .w to get the w member of it
}

Notice the rather complex syntax for accessing members of a structure in the array. It would be much easier to go with the malloc approaches suggested above.

[edharvey]

Hi guys, thanks so much for the quick replies.

I have tried the malloc approach as suggested by Salem and also dereferenced card_table in the assign function as suggested by msh

//Structure Passing example


#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

typedef struct
{
int w;
int h;

} card_t; //card_t is declared to be of type struct

//prototypes
void assign(void);

card_t *card_table; //card_table is a pointer to an array of card_t structures

card_table = malloc( 5 * sizeof(*card_t) );


void assign()
{
int w=3;
(*card_table)[0].w = w;
}


int main(void)
{
assign();
int temp = (*card_table)[0].w;
printf("%d",temp);
return 0;
}

I am now getting the following compile errors relating to the malloc line:

warning: data definition has no type or storage class
warning: type defaults to 'int' in declaration of 'card table'
error: conflicting types for 'card_table'

Thanks again for your help.
Ed

[msh]

If you are going the malloc route you don't need to dereference as show in my example. Instead, the following should work for accessing structure members. This is because now there is one less level of indirection.

card_table[0].w = w;  // likewise elsewhere

You should also check that malloc was able to allocate the requested memory. Check out the documentation for malloc function for hints on how to do that.

[Salem]

You have to call malloc inside a function.

And please read about [code][/code] tags for posting code.

[edharvey]

Ok, thanks Salem, that was my problem! Would have been handy if my textbook had said that!
Thanks again everyone for your help,
Ed