How do I implement a struct with two floats in C? - c

Question

error: must use "struct" tag to refer to type 'point'
All I want to do is store a coordinate as a struct.
This seems maddeningly simple to do but yet I cannot do it after visiting 20 websites and scouring Kernaghan's book.
What am I missing?
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
struct point
{
float x;
float y;
};
point.x = 0.0;
point.y = 1.9;
return 0;
}

Answer 1

You defined a type called struct point, not a variable name using that definition. You'd want to either define an instance of the struct using that type:
struct point mypoint; // In C, you could change mypoint to point, but that gets confusing
or (less common) declare variables with a type of the (possibly anonymous) struct definition by putting the name after the struct definition, before the semi-colon:
struct {
float x;
float y;
} point;

Answer 2

All you've declared is a type named struct point ; you haven't created an object named point to manipulate. You need a separate object definition, either by writing:
struct point {
float x;
float y;
};
struct point pvar;
or
struct point {
float x;
float y;
} pvar;
then you can manipulate the members of the object:
pvar.x = 0.0;
pvar.y = 1.9;
etc.

Answer 3

The "point" in your example is a struct tag, not a variable name. You have declared a type named struct point, but not any variable having that type. Where that declaration is in scope, you can declare variables having that type with the form
struct point my_point;
and then assign to their members as
my_point.x = 0.0;
my_point.y = 1.9;

Answer 4

What you have done, is similar to saying int = 3; This is more like it:
#include<stdio.h>
int main(void) {
struct point {
float x;
float y;
} s;
s.x = 0.0;
s.y = 1.9;
return 0;
}
But you should see compiler warnings, because the code assigns double values to float. It is better not to use the inferior float type unless you are forced to.

Answer 5

You need to have a structure object, ie instantiate the structure.
struct point obj;
obj.x = 0.0;
obj.y = 1.9;
Other options available are
struct point // Note,structure is tagged 'point' which enables multiple instantiations
{
float x;
float y;
}obj;
and
struct // Anonymous structure with one & only one instance possible
{
float x;
float y;
}obj;
and finally a typedef which is also a common practice
typedef struct point
{
float x;
float y;
}point;
point obj;
obj.x = 0.0;
obj.y = 1.9;