Struct Pointers Segmentation Fault, How can I solve this? - c

Question

I have these structures in C:
typedef struct Game{
char* name;
char* team_1;
char* team_2;
int score[2];
} *pGame;
typedef struct Team{
char *name;
int victories;
} *pTeam;
typedef struct node_game{
pGame game;
struct node_game *next;
} *link_game;
typedef struct node_team{
pTeam team;
struct link_team *next;
} *link_team;
typedef struct head{
link_game game_list;
link_team team_list;
} *pHead;
And these functions to go with it:
void initialize(pHead* heads,int m){
int i;
heads = (pHead*)malloc(m*sizeof(pHead));
for (i = 0; i < m; i++)
heads[i] = NULL;
}
//this function is to allocate dynamic memory for a string
char* str_dup(char* buffer){
char* str;
str = (char*) malloc(sizeof(char)*(strlen(buffer)+1));
strcpy(str,buffer);
return str;
}
void add_team(pHead* heads, char* name){
char* name_dup;
link_team new_team = (link_team) malloc(sizeof(struct node_team));
name_dup = str_dup(name);
new_team->team->name = name_dup; //this line gives me segmentation fault
}
int main(){
pHead* heads;
initialize(heads,M);
add_team(heads, "manchester");
return 0;
}
Why is it that the last line of add_team gives me segmentation fault? I've looked at this with the VSC debugger and it seems it should go well. My problem is most likely that I'm not allocating memory when I should, but I can't see where. (also, the function will do more stuff, but it gives me segmentation fault already there).

Answer 1

At the time you do this:
new_team->team->name = name_dup;
You allocated memory for new_team, but not for new_team->team. This means that new_team->team->name dereferences an uninitialized pointer invoking undefined behavior.
You need to allocate space for it first:
link_team new_team = malloc(sizeof(struct node_team));
new_team->team = malloc(sizeof(struct Team));
Or you can change team from a struct Team * to a struct Team and access it directly. You probably want to do the same for game in struct node_game.