String testing equality

I have a code like the below, based on another similar code from the internet. Now, this code uses the not equal operator to compare between string while, to my knowledge, 'strcmp' should be what to use but the code strangely works. Is this correct? What exactly is happening....

Code:

---

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


int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {"Chair", "Stool", "Table", ""};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (*arrptr != "")
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }


        return 0;
}

---

My proposed code would use strcmp and hence look like:

Code:

---


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


int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {"Chair", "Stool", "Table", ""};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (strcmp(*arrptr, "") != 0)
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }


        return 0;
}

---

It's not comparing strings, it's comparing pointers.

And it relies on the compiler combining identical strings, so that the pointer to "" in the array is the same pointer to "" in the while statement.

Using strcmp is the way forward, especially if you're planning to say type in "Chair" at some point and hope to be able to find it in the array.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Salem

It's not comparing strings, it's comparing pointers.

And it relies on the compiler combining identical strings, so that the pointer to "" in the array is the same pointer to "" in the while statement.

---

Didn't quite get the part about the compiler but I suppose the code should be equivalent to this:

Code:

---


#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>


int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {"Chair", "Stool", "Table", NULL};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (*arrptr != NULL)
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }


        return 0;
}

---

As far as the compiler is concerned, a string constant is represented as an anonymous char array.

So your first post is

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
const char anon1[] = "Chair";
const char anon2[] = "Stool";
const char anon3[] = "Table";
const char anon4[] = "";
int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {anon1, anon2, anon3, anon4};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (*arrptr != anon4)
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }
 
        return 0;
}

---

But the compiler (well a stupid one) could have done this, not realising two strings are the same.

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
const char anon1[] = "Chair";
const char anon2[] = "Stool";
const char anon3[] = "Table";
const char anon4[] = "";
const char anon5[] = "";
int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {anon1, anon2, anon3, anon4};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (*arrptr != anon5)
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }
 
        return 0;
}

---

Now the code is very broken.


Using a NULL pointer is a much better idea.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Salem

As far as the compiler is concerned, a string constant is represented as an anonymous char array.

So your first post is

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
const char anon1[] = "Chair";
const char anon2[] = "Stool";
const char anon3[] = "Table";
const char anon4[] = "";
int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {anon1, anon2, anon3, anon4};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (*arrptr != anon4)
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }
 
        return 0;
}

---

But the compiler (well a stupid one) could have done this, not realising two strings are the same.

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
const char anon1[] = "Chair";
const char anon2[] = "Stool";
const char anon3[] = "Table";
const char anon4[] = "";
const char anon5[] = "";
int main()
{
        char *arr[] = {anon1, anon2, anon3, anon4};
        char **arrptr = arr;
        while (*arrptr != anon5)
        {
                printf("%s\n", *arrptr++);
        }
 
        return 0;
}

---

Now the code is very broken.


Using a NULL pointer is a much better idea.

---

Okay, got it now.

What this code does is essentially to loop through an array of strings or a list of strings. This list/array does have a sentinel value at the end, though. It is possible to transverse though the array/list without a sentinel character?

From my othe thread, after splitting the string, it is possible to transverse through it with:

Code:

---

static void concatenate(char **tokens)
{
    while(*tokens)
    {
        printf("%s \n", *tokens++);
    }
}

---

At least it does print the strings and doesn't segmentation fault. It is not clear to me how reliable this is? For instance, trying to loop through our current example fails with a seg fault.

Can you give some input on this?

Your concatenate is fine, so long as your array has a NULL sentinel value at the end.

No sentinel, then you need to provide a count of how many elements there are.