How to use pointers correctly in C - c

Question

I am trying to add (key, value) pairs to a hashmap but cannot access the values after insertion.
This hash table is supposed to deal with collisions as I am iterating along each hash index whenever a collision occurs. I then insert it when I have reached the end of the (key, value) pair list at that index.
Essentially it is a basic linked list hashmap.
The problem is, I keep getting a segmentation fault when I try to access the value again (and my showTable() function also fails). In this test, I am simply trying to access the first (key, value) pair at each hash index after something is added at that hash index. I am probably doing something very silly but I see it.
I have not yet commented but I hope the code is self explanatory. The important bit is InsertKeyValuePair() but I have added everything as a code review would also be beneficial.
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
typedef struct TVal KeyValue;
typedef struct TVal {
char *value;
char *key;
KeyValue *next;
} KeyValue;
typedef KeyValue **HashTable;
int MAX_SIZE = 200;
int HashKey(char *Key, int Max);
void InsertKeyValuePair(char *key, char *value, int Index, HashTable table);
int insert(char *Key, char *value, HashTable table, int size);
void showTable(HashTable table, int size);
int HashKey(char *Key, int Max) {
char c = *Key;
int Hash = 0;
int n = 1;
while (c != 0) {
Hash += n * ((int)c);
c = *(Key + n);
n++;
}
return Hash % MAX_SIZE;
}
void InsertKeyValuePair(char *key, char *value, int Index, HashTable table) {
KeyValue *cursor = *(table + Index);
while (cursor != NULL) {
cursor = cursor->next;
}
cursor = malloc(sizeof(KeyValue));
cursor->value = value;
cursor->key = key;
printf("insert <K,V>(%s,%s) HashIndex = %i\n", cursor->key, cursor->value, Index);
//Trying to access value previously inserted
KeyValue *cursor2 = *(table + Index);
printf("<K,V>(%s,%s)\n", cursor2->key, cursor2->value);
}
int insert(char *Key, char *value, HashTable table, int size) {
int Index = HashKey(Key, MAX_SIZE);
InsertKeyValuePair(Key, value, Index, table);
return size + 1;
}
void showTable(HashTable table, int size) {
int i;
for (i = 0; i < size; i++) {
KeyValue *cursor = *(table + i);
if (cursor == NULL)
continue;
while (cursor != NULL) {
printf("==============");
printf("<K,V>(%s,%s)\n", cursor->key, cursor->value);
cursor = cursor->next;
}
printf("==============");
}
}
int main() {
HashTable HTbl = malloc(sizeof(HashTable) * MAX_SIZE);
int size = 0;
size = insert("yeuydfdan", "wesfg", HTbl, size);
size = insert("ywere", "rdgg", HTbl, size);
size = insert("ye4", "3244", HTbl, size);
//showTable(HTbl, MAX_SIZE);
}

Answer 1

There are multiple problems in your code:
The hash table is not initialized to NULL, causing segmentation faults when trying to dereference the pointers it contains. Allocating with calloc() would fix this problem.
It is confusing and error prone to hide pointers behind typedefs.
The allocation in main should read HashTable HTbl = calloc(sizeof(*HTbl), MAX_SIZE);
the insertion code in InsertKeyValuePair does not link the new pair at the end, nor at the beginning of the hashtable bucket list.
it is advisable to use unsigned arithmetics to compute the hash key to avoid overflow issues.
the pointer notation *(table + Index) is confusing. You should use the array notation table[Index] instead.
there seems to be some confusion between the length of the hashtable (MAX_SIZE) and the number of entries in the hashtable (size). Renaming the variables appropriately may improve readability. It is also probably better to pass the count by address and return a success indicator.
Here is a corrected version:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
typedef struct TVal KeyValue;
typedef struct TVal {
const char *value;
const char *key;
KeyValue *next;
} KeyValue;
typedef KeyValue **HashTable;
static unsigned int HASH_SIZE = 200;
static unsigned int HashKey(const char *key);
static KeyValue *InsertKeyValuePair(const char *key, const char *value, int index, HashTable table);
static int insert(const char *Key, const char *value, HashTable table, int *countp);
static void showTable(HashTable table);
static unsigned int HashKey(const char *key) {
unsigned int hash = 0;
size_t n;
for (n = 0; key[n] != 0; n++) {
hash += n * (unsigned char)key[n];
}
return hash % HASH_SIZE;
}
static KeyValue *InsertKeyValuePair(const char *key, const char *value, int index, HashTable table) {
KeyValue *cursor;
cursor = malloc(sizeof(KeyValue));
if (cursor != NULL) {
KeyValue **cursorp = &table[index];
while (*cursorp != NULL) {
cursorp = &(*cursorp)->next;
}
cursor->value = value;
cursor->key = key;
cursor->next = NULL;
*cursorp = cursor;
}
return cursor;
}
static int insert(const char *key, const char *value, HashTable table, int *countp) {
int index = HashKey(key);
if (InsertKeyValuePair(key, value, index, table)) {
*countp += 1;
return 1;
}
return 0;
}
static void showTable(HashTable table) {
unsigned int i;
for (i = 0; i < HASH_SIZE; i++) {
KeyValue *cursor = table[i];
if (cursor == NULL)
continue;
while (cursor != NULL) {
printf("==============");
printf("<K,V>(%s,%s)\n", cursor->key, cursor->value);
cursor = cursor->next;
}
printf("==============\n");
}
}
int main() {
HashTable HTbl = calloc(sizeof(*HTbl), HASH_SIZE);
int count = 0;
insert("yeuydfdan", "wesfg", HTbl, &count);
insert("ywere", "rdgg", HTbl, &count);
insert("ye4", "3244", HTbl, &count);
showTable(HTbl);
return 0;
}

Answer 2

This statement
HashTable HTbl = malloc(sizeof(HashTable)*MAX_SIZE);
is incorrect and moreover the allocated memory is not initialized. There should be
HashTable HTbl = calloc( MAX_SIZE, sizeof( KeyValue * ) );
or like
HashTable HTbl = calloc( MAX_SIZE, sizeof( *HTbl ) );
The index within the table should be calculated as some unsigned integer. Otherwise in general you can get a negative index.
In function HashKey parameter Max is not used.
In the function InsertKeyValuePair there is changed the local variable cursor instead of the data member cursor->next or *(table+Index).
The loop in the function showTable shall use MAX_SIZE not size in the loop condition. That is you have to pass as an argument the value of MAX_SIZE not the value of size.
Here is a demonstrative program that shows how the program can be updated.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
typedef struct TVal KeyValue;
typedef struct TVal
{
const char *value;
const char *key;
KeyValue *next;
} KeyValue;
typedef KeyValue **HashTable;
const size_t MAX_SIZE = 200;
static size_t HashKey( const char *key, size_t max_slots )
{
size_t Hash = 0;
for ( size_t i = 0; key[i]; i++ ) Hash += ( i + 1 ) * ( unsigned char )key[i];
return Hash % max_slots;
}
static int InsertKeyValuePair( HashTable table, const char *key, const char *value, size_t index )
{
KeyValue **cursor = &table[index];
while ( *cursor != NULL ) cursor = &( *cursor )->next;
*cursor = malloc( sizeof( KeyValue ) );
int success = *cursor != NULL;
if ( success )
{
( *cursor )->value = value;
( *cursor )->key = key;
( *cursor )->next = NULL;
}
return success;
}
int insert( HashTable table, const char *key, const char *value, size_t *size )
{
size_t index = HashKey( key, MAX_SIZE );
int success = InsertKeyValuePair( table, key, value, index );
if ( success ) ++*size;
return success;
}
void showTable( HashTable table, size_t size )
{
for ( size_t i = 0; i < size; i++ )
{
KeyValue *cursor = table[i];
if ( cursor != NULL )
{
do
{
puts( "==============" );
printf( "<K,V>(%s, %s)\n", cursor->key, cursor->value );
cursor = cursor->next;
} while ( cursor != NULL );
puts( "==============\n" );
}
}
}
int main( void )
{
HashTable HTbl = calloc( MAX_SIZE, sizeof( *HTbl ) );
size_t size = 0;
insert( HTbl, "yeuydfdan", "wesfg", &size );
insert( HTbl, "ywere", "rdgg", &size );
insert( HTbl, "ye4", "3244", &size );
showTable( HTbl, MAX_SIZE );
}
The program output is
==============
<K,V>(ywere, rdgg)
==============
==============
<K,V>(ye4, 3244)
==============
==============
<K,V>(yeuydfdan, wesfg)
==============
Of course you should add some other functions as for example a function that deletes the table with its nodes.
And it will be better if each node will allocate memory for a key and a value and copy there the passed arguments. Otherwise the table may deal in general only with string literals because they have static storage duration.
If you will rewrite the implementation of table such a way that it will copy keys and values in nodes of the table then the structure should be defined like
typedef struct TVal KeyValue;
typedef struct TVal
{
char *value;
const char *key;
KeyValue *next;
} KeyValue;
That is in any case the key should not be changed and should be declared with the qualifier const.