Thread: allocating mem for an array

  1. #1
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    allocating mem for an array

    I'm curious as to how I would allocate memory as needed for a multideminsional array? ex:

    Code:
    char  command_names[*][20];  //improper, yes I know
    
    command_names=malloc(blah blah); //i got no clue

    Any help? Do you understand what I'm doing? Its a character string, and I need to be able to store as much as that is needed.

    Thanks.
    [Strut]

    I lay on my bed watching the stars, and I thought to myself... Where the hell is my roof?

  2. #2
    Im back! shaik786's Avatar
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    >char command_names[*][20]; //improper, yes I know
    Is totally wrong in the declaration itself. If you want to declare 20 pointers to type 'char *', then this is the way you do it:
    Code:
    char *command_name[20];
    Now that you declared 20 pointers, they are randomly pointing to some memory location in you physical RAM. You need to make them point to your program's address space, so you use malloc() to allocate memory in your address space, and make these pointers point to the returned allocated space by. To allocate, you do:
    Code:
    command_name[0] = malloc(100);    /*   100 bytes are retrned   */
    command_name[1] = malloc(100);
    .
    .
    .

  3. #3
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    shaik, yes I know the decleration was all wrong. I wrote it like that to show that the[*] wasn't known. As in I need to allocate the[*] to how ever character strings I may need.


    I appreciate both your replies. Thank you for your help. I'll see what I can.
    [Strut]

    I lay on my bed watching the stars, and I thought to myself... Where the hell is my roof?

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