Array of struct pointers - Losing my mind

Hey everyone,

I've been staring at my code for over an hour and I can't seem to figure out what's wrong. I was hoping someone could help me before I lose my mind completely:

I would like to have an array that holds pointers to structs.

I'd like to create these structs and shove them in this array and later be able to search the array to find a certain struct based on its name.

This is what my code looks like:

my struct looks like this:

Code:

---

typedef struct {
  char *entryName;
  [other vars here]
}regEntry;   


// global array of struct pointers...
regEntry *entryTable[100];
int numEntries=0;

int rpcRegisterFunction(char *name, [other params]) {
    regEntry *newRegEntry = malloc(sizeof(*newRegEntry));
   
    newRegEntry->entryName = name;
    [fill the rest of struct vars here]   

        // put my struct pointer into the array of pointers
        entryTable[numEntries] = newRegEntry;
    numEntries++;
}



int rpcServer(void){
  // receive a message (struct), call it recMsg
  // recMsg will contain a name
  regEntry *foundRegEntry;
  foundRegEntry = (regEntry *)getRegEntry(recMsg->rpcName); 
  return;
}

//Search method - will search array by name and return pointer to the struct having the requested name
regEntry * getRegEntry (char *name)    {
  int iter;
 
  for (iter=0; iter<numEntries; iter++)    {
      if (strcmp(entryTable[iter]->entryName, name) == 0)  {
          return entryTable[iter];
      }
  }   
}

---

I'm not sure if it's my C (which I don't really know that well) or if it's my logic... I'm not entirely sure that the malloc thing is doing what I want either.

When I try to compile I get this:

rpc_server.c:138: error: conflicting types for 'getRegEntry'
rpc_server.c:118: error: previous implicit declaration of 'getRegEntry' was here

line 138 is my function declaration
regEntry * getRegEntry (char *name) {

and line 118 is my assignment when I come back from the search:
foundRegEntry = (regEntry *)getRegEntry(recMsg->rpcName);

Please, please please help if you can. Like I said, if I don't resolve this soon, I'm gonna start throwing things!!!

Thanks in advance,

Tanya

Where do you actually have a recMsg->rpcName?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave_Sinkula

Where do you actually have a recMsg->rpcName?

---

recMsg is a struct defined elsewhere that I'm including in this file. This struct has an attribute rpcName.

I should also mention that this code compiles fine if I comment out the getRegEntry() call from rpcServer().

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drucillica

recMsg is a struct defined elsewhere that I'm including in this file. This struct has an attribute rpcName.

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Y'mind showing us a snippet of code that is compilable and demonstrates the problem, or is 20 questions your game?

Will the code compile if you declare the function before using it?
Perhaps a simple:

Code:

---

regEntry *getRegEntry(char *name);

---

Near the top of the file, so that the compiler knows the return type and arguments before it encounters it in the code? (I think the cast you use on line 118 is unneeded as well.)

Edit: As for your malloc() issue... you could output the value of sizeof(*newRegEntry)... if it's the size of the structure you're good... if it's 4 bytes, then it's probably the size of a pointer, and not what you want. I usually use types, not variables in malloc() calls. That was just the way I learned it though, not sure which is preferred/better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cactus_Hugger

Will the code compile if you declare the function before using it?
Perhaps a simple:

Code:

---

regEntry *getRegEntry(char *name);

---

Near the top of the file, so that the compiler knows the return type and arguments before it encounters it in the code? (I think the cast you use on line 118 is unneeded as well.)

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I got it - your response made me think of the header file and turns out i screwed that up, which caused the compile errors.

And you're right about the unneeded cast - that was out of desperation trying to fix "conflicting types for 'getRegEntry'" compile error.

Thanks a million - you rock!

Tanya