Returning and receiving an unsigned char array

Why is this giving me a problem? How can I fix it? I'm basically passing a size containing a value of 2 to the makeArray function. Then I make an unsigned char* array Inside the makeArray function, fill its first two subscript, then return that array to main.cc.


Error:
main.cc:13:8: error: array type 'unsigned char *[size]' is not assignable


array = makeArray(size);


~~~~~ ^


1 error generated.


make: *** [main.o] Error 1




main.cc

Code:

---

    int size = 2;


    unsigned char* array[size];


    array = makeArray(size);




    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
        printf("%s\n", array[i]);


    } // end of for loop

---

functions.cc

Code:

---

unsigned char* makeArray(int size) {
    unsigned char* array = new unsigned char[size];


    // fill in the array
    array[0] = "1";
    array[1] = "0";


    // return array
    return array;


} // end of makeArray

---

The problem is exactly what it's saying. You can't assign "1" (a string) to a char. It needs to be '1' (an actual char).

Hey, I made the changes, but it's still giving me this error

Error:
main.cc:13:8: error: array type 'unsigned char *[size]' is not assignable
array = makeArray(size);
~~~~~ ^
1 error generated.
make: *** [main.o] Error 1

array needs to be an unsigned char *.

I'm sorry, but my array is in that format already. Ultimately I want to store the pointer to an unsigned char* array that I made in makeArray() into an unsigned char* array that I created in main.cc. How do I achieve that?

No, array as you defined it is

Code:

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unsigned char * array[size];

---

It needs to be

Code:

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unsigned char * array;

---

I.e., you defined it as an array of pointers, but it needs to just be a simple pointer in order to receive the address of a dynamically-allocated array.

Alright, when I did that and compiled It told me to change the print line in my for loop of main from printf("%s\n", array[i]); to printf("%c\n", array[i]);.

I recompiled and it gave me this error located inside the function.cc. Where in my code am I initializing the return object of type 'unsigned char*' with an lvalue of 'unsigned char'?

Error:
function.cc:49:9: error: cannot initialize return object of type
'unsigned char *' with an lvalue of type 'unsigned char'
return *array;
^~~~~~
1 error generated.
make: *** [readWritePPM.o] Error 1

Then I changed the portion where I fill in the array inside my makeArray function to the code below. I declared that the array is of size 2, but I never really initialized the last storage location array[2]. It works now but why does it let me initialize three slots inside the array when I only made it size 2? Aren't we overriding some other storage location? Possibly erasing a piece of memory (might be important data) and replacing it with another value using this code array[2] = '1';?

Code:

---

unsigned char* makeArray(int size) {
    unsigned char* array = new unsigned char[size];


    // fill in the array
    array[0] = '1';
    array[1] = '0';
    array[2] = '1';


    // return array
    return array;


} // end of makeArray

---

It works perfectly now. Thanks.

Code:

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#include <vector>
#include <string>

constexpr int size = 2; // Use constexpr for constant data, if possible; otherwise const.
std::vector<std::string> array{ makeArray(size) }; // Use std::vector for arrays and std::string for strings. Use brace initialisers if possible.
for (auto & str : array) // Use range-for loop if possible
    std::cout << str << "\n"; // Use std::cout for output, not printf.

---

Code:

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std::vector<std::string> makeArray(int size)
{
    return { "1", "0" };
} // end of makeArray

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