Dynamic Memory Allocation in C not working - c

Question

I'm trying to make a game that requires dynamically sized arrays in C but my code isn't working even though identical code works in another one of my programs.
Here are my #includes
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "SwinGame.h" //API for graphics, physics etc
#include <math.h>
Here are my typedefs for the relevant structs used:
typedef struct position_data
{
double x;
double y;
} position_data;
typedef enum enemy_type_data {CIRCLE, TRIANGLE, SQUARE} enemy_type_data;
typedef struct enemy_data
{
position_data location;
enemy_type_data type;
bitmap bmp;
double health;
double speed;
int path_to;
} enemy_data;
typedef struct enemy_data_array
{
int size;
enemy_data *data;
} enemy_data_array;
Here is the function to add an element to the array:
void add_enemy(enemy_data_array *enemies)
{
enemy_data *new_array;
enemies->size++;
new_array = (enemy_data *)realloc(enemies->data, sizeof(enemy_data) * enemies->size);
if (new_array) //if realloc fails (ie out of memory) it will return null
{
enemies->data = new_array;
// enemies->data[enemies->size - 1] = read_enemy_data();
printf("Enemy added successfully!\n");
}
else
{
printf("FAILED. Out of Memory!\n");
enemies->size--;
}
}
And here is my function call and variable declaration in the main procedure:
int main()
{
path_data my_path[41];
enemy_data_array enemies;
enemies.size = 0;
add_enemy(&enemies);
}
Why isn't this working?

Answer 1

You invoked undefined behavior by passing indeterminate value enemies->data in uninitialized variable having automatic storage duration. Initialize it before using add_enemy().
int main()
{
path_data my_path[41];
enemy_data_array enemies;
enemies.size = 0;
enemies.data = 0; /* add this line */
add_enemy(&enemies);
}
0 is a null pointer constant and can safely be converted to pointer NULL. Unlike NULL, 0 will work without including any headers. Of course you can use enemies.data = NULL; with proper header included.

Answer 2

#2501's explanation is completely correct. Another solution is to change your implementation of add_enemy() to something like this:
void add_enemy(enemy_data_array *enemies)
{
enemy_data *new_array;
// check if size was non-zero
if (enemies->size++)
{
new_array = (enemy_data *)realloc(enemies->data, sizeof(enemy_data) * enemies->size);
}
// start new allocation
else
{
new_array = (enemy_data *)alloc(sizeof(enemy_data) * enemies->size);
}
if (new_array) //if (re)alloc fails (ie out of memory) it will return null
{
enemies->data = new_array;
// enemies->data[enemies->size - 1] = read_enemy_data();
printf("Enemy added successfully!\n");
}
else
{
printf("FAILED. Out of Memory!\n");
enemies->size--;
}
}

Answer 3

If fails because you haven't cleared the content of "enemies". Since it is a stack variable, it will contain whatever garbage data is on the stack.
set enemies.data to NULL in the main function and try it again.