Thread: Alternative to typedef?

Hey everyone, I have a problem. This is what I'm trying to do (but a lot simplified):

Code:

int a;
//stuff
void myFunction()
{
     if(a == 1)
          typedef char data_type;
     else if(a == 2)
          typedef short data_type;
     else
          typedef long data_type;
}

void function2()
{
     data_type* x = (data_type*)myData; //myData is a void*
     //do stuff with x
}

that's the basic idea of what I want to do, but this won't work since typedef can't be used inside a function's definition. Is there any alternative way to achieve the same purpose? (function2 is always called after myFunction)