returning pointers to structures

i realise many will think this is a stupid question but i having problems :S getting my head round pointers.

In the simplest sense I am trying to return a pointer to a structure back from a function in which i initiate the structure as well as enter certain variables into its fields.

A general example of the code involved in this, would be greatly appreciated.

whipped up some code... there are probably typos and stuff but you'll get the general idea of simple pointer manipution, how to create new objects and setting struct attributes

Code:

---

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;

struct astruct
{
    int attribute;
    char another_attribute;
    astruct *next;
};

//Function prototype:  function will accept an astruct pointer and will return an astruct pointer
astruct* set_attributes(astruct*);

int main()
{
    //Create a variable that will hold the memory address of a "astruct" object
    astruct *my_struct;

    //Create a new object in memory, and assign its location into a pointer variable
    my_struct = new astruct;

    //Who knows what kind of garbage data these variables might contain   
    cout << "\n\nHere is the unititialized struct: " << endl;
    cout << my_struct->attribute << endl;
    cout << my_struct->another_attribute << endl;
    cout << my_struct->next << endl;
     
    //Pass in the my_struct pointer and have my_struct accept the function's return pointer
    my_struct = set_attributes(my_struct);

    cout << "\n\nHere is the struct after being intialized: " << endl;
    cout << my_struct->attribute << endl;
    cout << my_struct->another_attribute << endl;
    cout << my_struct->next << endl;

    return 0;
}



//Function Definition(s)

astruct* set_attributes(astruct* temp_struct)
{
    temp_struct->attribute = 42;

    temp_struct->another_attribute = 'K';

    temp_struct->next = new astruct;

    return temp_struct;
}

---

Thanks for the quick reply Brain, got it working now and 69.3% understood too ;)

cheers,
Matt.