FILE * ..=stdout : Error initializer element is not constant - c

My C code was as following:
[Linux:/si/usr/hrl]vi test.c
#include <stdio.h>
FILE * hw = stdout;
int main(void)
{
return 0;
}
When I compile on SUSE , it make the error like that:
[Linux:/si/usr/hrl]cc test.c -o test
test.c:3: error: initializer element is not constant
I have a look for the header file stdio.h and find that stdout seems to have be defined as a constant. So why the error produce?By the way, I compile the same code on AIX ,it results of success.

The standard does not require stdin, stdout and stderr to be constants.
The draft n1256 for C99 says in 7.19.1 Input/output <stdio.h>
The header declares ...
...
TMP_MAX
which expands to an integer constant expression ...
stderr
stdin
stdout
which are expressions of type ‘‘pointer to FILE’’ ...
(emphasize mine)
It is explicitely stated that some other values are constant, whereas nothing is said for stdin, stdout and stderr
So you must put initialization in main:
#include <stdio.h>
FILE * hw;
int main(void)
{
hw = stdout;
...
return 0;
}
In AIX standard library, stdout happens to be a constant, but it is just an implementation detail and you cannot rely on that, as it could break in any newer version.
But you should not rely either on stdout being a variable (nor even a lvalue), because it is also an implementation detail in GCC library.
If you cannot change much of your code, and just need a GCC hack to make it compilable, you could try to use the gcc constructor attribute extension.
Extract from gcc documentation
6.31 Declaring Attributes of Functions
In GNU C, you declare certain things about functions called in your program which help the compiler optimize function calls and check your code more carefully.
The keyword __attribute__ allows you to specify special attributes when making a declaration. This keyword is followed by an attribute specification inside double parentheses. The following attributes are currently defined for functions on all targets: ... ,constructor, ...
...
The constructor attribute causes the function to be called automatically before execution enters main () ...
So you could use:
#include <stdio.h>
FILE * hw;
void initHw(void) __attribute__((constructor)) {
hw = stdout;
}
int main(void)
{
return 0;
}
But BEWARE: it is a gcc extension, meaning that your code is not correct C.

Related

changing extern function pointer to extern pointer using preprocessor

I am using library that I shouldn't change it files, that including my h file.
the code of the library looks somthing like like:
#include "my_file"
extern void (*some_func)();
void foo()
{
(some_func)();
}
my problem is that I want that some_func will be extern function and not extern pointer to function (I am implementing and linking some_func). and that how main will call it.
that way I will save little run time and code space, and no one in mistake will change this global.
is it possible?
I thought about adding in my_file.h somthing as
#define *some_func some_func
but it won't compile because asterisk is not allowed in #define.
EDIT
The file is not compiled already, so changes at my_file.h will effect the compilation.
First of all, you say that you can't change the source of the library. Well, this is bad, and some "betrayal" is necessary.
My approach is to let the declaration of the pointer some_func as is, a non-constant writable variable, but to implement it as constant non-writable variable, which will be initialized once for all with the wanted address.
Here comes the minimal, reproducible example.
The library is implemented as you show us:
// lib.c
#include "my_file"
extern void (*some_func)();
void foo()
{
(some_func)();
}
Since you have this include file in the library's source, I provide one. But it is empty.
// my_file
I use a header file that declares the public API of the library. This file still has the writable declaration of the pointer, so that offenders believe they can change it.
// lib.h
extern void (*some_func)();
void foo();
I separated an offending module to try the impossible. It has a header file and an implementation file. In the source the erroneous assignment is marked, already revealing what will happen.
// offender.h
void offend(void);
// offender.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include "lib.h"
#include "offender.h"
static void other_func()
{
puts("other_func");
}
void offend(void)
{
some_func = other_func; // the assignment gives a run-time error
}
The test program consists of this little source. To avoid compiler errors, the declaration has to be attributed as const. Here, where we are including the declarating header file, we can use some preprocessor magic.
// main.c
#include <stdio.h>
#define some_func const some_func
#include "lib.h"
#undef some_func
#include "offender.h"
static void my_func()
{
puts("my_func");
}
void (* const some_func)() = my_func;
int main(void)
{
foo();
offend();
foo();
return 0;
}
The trick is, that the compiler places the pointer variable in the read-only section of the executable. The const attribute is just used by the compiler and is not stored in the intermediate object files, and the linker happily resolves all references. Any write access to the variable will generate a runtime error.
Now all of this is compiled in an executable, I used GCC on Windows. I did not bother to create a separated library, because it doesn't make a difference for the effect.
gcc -Wall -Wextra -g main.c offender.c lib.c -o test.exe
If I run the executable in "cmd", it just prints "my_func". Apparently the second call of foo() is never executed. The ERRORLEVEL is -1073741819, which is 0xC0000005. Looking up this code gives the meaning "STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION", on other systems known as "segmentation fault".
Because I deliberately compiled with the debugging flag -g, I can use the debugger to examine more deeply.
d:\tmp\StackOverflow\103> gdb -q test.exe
Reading symbols from test.exe...done.
(gdb) r
Starting program: d:\tmp\StackOverflow\103\test.exe
[New Thread 12696.0x1f00]
[New Thread 12696.0x15d8]
my_func
Thread 1 received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x00000000004015c9 in offend () at offender.c:16
16 some_func = other_func;
Alright, as I intended, the assignment is blocked. However, the reaction of the system is quite harsh.
Unfortunately we cannot get a compile-time or link-time error. This is because of the design of the library, which is fixed, as you say.
You could look at the ifunc attribute if you are using GCC or related. It should patch a small trampoline at load time. So when calling the function, the trampoline is called with a known static address and then inside the trampoline there is a jump instruction that was patched with the real address. So when running, all jump locations are directly in the code, which should be efficient with the instruction cache. Note that it might even be more efficient than this, but at most as bad as calling the function pointer. Here is how you would implement it:
extern void (*some_func)(void); // defined in the header you do not have control about
void some_func_resolved(void) __attribute__((ifunc("resolve_some_func")));
static void (*resolve_some_func(void)) (void)
{
return some_func;
}
// call some_func_resolved instead now

Check if a system implements a function

I'm creating a cross-system application. It uses, for example, the function itoa, which is implemented on some systems but not all. If I simply provide my own itoa implementation:
header.h:115:13: error: conflicting types for 'itoa'
extern void itoa(int, char[]);
In file included from header.h:2:0,
from file.c:2:0,
c:\path\to\mingw\include\stdlib.h:631:40: note: previous declaration of 'itoa' was here
_CRTIMP __cdecl __MINGW_NOTHROW char* itoa (int, char*, int);
I know I can check if macros are predefined and define them if not:
#ifndef _SOME_MACRO
#define _SOME_MACRO 45
#endif
Is there a way to check if a C function is pre-implemented, and if not, implement it? Or to simply un-implement a function?
Given you have already written your own implementation of itoa(), I would recommend that you rename it and use it everywhere. At least you are sure you will get the same behavior on all platforms, and avoid the linking issue.
Don't forget to explain your choice in the comments of your code...
I assume you are using GCC, as I can see MinGW in your path... there's one way the GNU linker can take care of this for you. So you don't know whether there is an itoa implementation or not. Try this:
Create a new file (without any headers) called my_itoa.c:
char *itoa (int, char *, int);
char *my_itoa (int a, char *b, int c)
{
return itoa(a, b, c);
}
Now create another file, impl_itoa.c. Here, write the implementation of itoa but add a weak alias:
char* __attribute__ ((weak)) itoa(int a, char *b, int c)
{
// implementation here
}
Compile all of the files, with impl_itoa.c at the end.
This way, if itoa is not available in the standard library, this one will be linked. You can be confident about it compiling whether or not it's available.
Ajay Brahmakshatriya's suggestion is a good one, but unfortunately MinGW doesn't support weak definition last I checked (see https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/mingwusers/44B4QMPo8lQ, for instance).
However, I believe weak references do work in MinGW. Take this minimal example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
__attribute__ ((weak)) char* itoa (int, char*, int);
char* my_itoa (int a, char* b, int c)
{
if(itoa != NULL) {
return itoa(a, b, c);
} else {
// toy implementation for demo purposes
// replace with your own implementation
strcpy(b, "no itoa");
return b;
}
}
int main()
{
char *str = malloc((sizeof(int)*3+1));
my_itoa(10, str, 10);
printf("str: %s\n", str);
return 0;
}
If the system provides an itoa implementation, that should be used and the output would be
str: 10
Otherwise, you'll get
str: no itoa
There are two really important related points worth making here along the "don't do it like this" lines:
Don't use atoi because it's not safe.
Don't use atoi because it's not a standard function, and there are good standard functions (such as snprintf) which are available to do what you want.
But, putting all this aside for one moment, I want to introduce you to autoconf, part of the GNU build system. autoconf is part of a very comprehensive, very portable set of tools which aim to make it easier to write code which can be built successfully on a wide range of target systems. Some would argue that autoconf is too complex a system to solve just the one problem you pose with just one library function, but as any program grows, it's likely to face more hurdles like this, and getting autoconf set up for your program now will put you in a much stronger position for the future.
Start with a file called Makefile.in which contains:
CFLAGS=--ansi --pedantic -Wall -W
program: program.o
program.o: program.c
clean:
rm -f program.o program
and a file called configure.ac which contains:
AC_PREREQ([2.69])
AC_INIT(program, 1.0)
AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([program.c])
AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
# Checks for programs.
AC_PROG_CC
# Checks for library functions.
AH_TEMPLATE([HAVE_ITOA], [Set to 1 if function atoi() is available.])
AC_CHECK_FUNC([itoa],
[AC_DEFINE([HAVE_ITOA], [1])]
)
AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile])
AC_OUTPUT
and a file called program.c which contains:
#include <stdio.h>
#include "config.h"
#ifndef HAVE_ITOA
/*
* WARNING: This code is for demonstration purposes only. Your
* implementation must have a way of ensuring that the size of the string
* produced does not overflow the buffer provided.
*/
void itoa(int n, char* p) {
sprintf(p, "%d", n);
}
#endif
int main(void) {
char buffer[100];
itoa(10, buffer);
printf("Result: %s\n", buffer);
return 0;
}
Now run the following commands in turn:
autoheader: This generates a new file called config.h.in which we'll need later.
autoconf: This generates a configuration script called configure
./configure: This runs some tests, including checking that you have a working C compiler and, because we've asked it to, whether an itoa function is available. It writes its results into the file config.h for later.
make: This compiles and links the program.
./program: This finally runs the program.
During the ./configure step, you'll see quite a lot of output, including something like:
checking for itoa... no
In this case, you'll see that the config.h find contains the following lines:
/* Set to 1 if function atoi() is available. */
/* #undef HAVE_ITOA */
Alternatively, if you do have atoi available, you'll see:
checking for itoa... yes
and this in config.h:
/* Set to 1 if function atoi() is available. */
#define HAVE_ITOA 1
You'll see that the program can now read the config.h header and choose to define itoa if it's not present.
Yes, it's a long way round to solve your problem, but you've now started using a very powerful tool which can help you in a great number of ways.
Good luck!

Matlab error compiling C files with mex

i'm trying to compile a program for image deblurring.
I try to run
mex apply_blur_kernel_mex.c
where the file apply_blur_kernel_mex.c have the following code
#include <mex.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <matrix.h>
#include "ow_homography.h"
...
void mexFunction(int nlhs, mxArray *plhs[], int nrhs, const mxArray *prhs[])
{
...
compute_homography_matrix(Ksharp, &theta_list[k*3], invKblurry, H);
...
}
The problem is in the function compute_homography_matrix that is in another file ow_homography.h
#ifndef OW_HOMOGRAPHY_H
#define OW_HOMOGRAPHY_H
#include "ow_mat3.h"
INLINE void compute_homography_matrix(const double *Ksharp, const double *theta, const double *invKblurry, double *H) {
double R[9];
/* Compute homography */
cp3(invKblurry,H);
rot3(theta[0],theta[1],theta[2],R);
mmip3(R,H);
mmip3(Ksharp,H);
}
This last operations (cp3, rot3...) are in another file ow_mat3.h that contains all the operations for the program.
So when i try to call
mex apply_blur_kernel_mex.c
i have the following problem:
Error using mex
Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:
"_compute_homography_matrix", referenced from:
mexFunction in apply_blur_kernel_mex.o
ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
Any suggestions to solve this problem?
Thank you all.
http://clang.llvm.org/compatibility.html#inline
C compatibility C99 inline functions
By default, Clang builds C code in GNU C11 mode, so it uses standard
C99 semantics for the inline keyword. These semantics are different
from those in GNU C89 mode, which is the default mode in versions of
GCC prior to 5.0. For example, consider the following code:
inline int add(int i, int j) { return i + j; }
int main() { int i = add(4, 5); return i; }
In C99, inline means that a function's definition is provided only for
inlining, and that there is another definition (without inline)
somewhere else in the program. That means that this program is
incomplete, because if add isn't inlined (for example, when compiling
without optimization), then main will have an unresolved reference to
that other definition. Therefore we'll get a (correct) link-time error
like this:
Undefined symbols: "_add", referenced from:
_main in cc-y1jXIr.o
By contrast, GNU C89 mode (used by default in older versions of GCC)
is the C89 standard plus a lot of extensions. C89 doesn't have an
inline keyword, but GCC recognizes it as an extension and just treats
it as a hint to the optimizer.
There are several ways to fix this problem:
1) Change add to a static inline function. This is usually the right solution if only one translation unit needs to use the function.
static inline functions are always resolved within the translation
unit, so you won't have to add a non-inline definition of the function
elsewhere in your program.
2) Remove the inline keyword from this definition of add. The inline keyword is not required for a function to be inlined, nor does it
guarantee that it will be. Some compilers ignore it completely. Clang
treats it as a mild suggestion from the programmer.
3) Provide an external (non-inline) definition of add somewhere else in your program. The two definitions must be equivalent!
4)Compile in the GNU C89 dialect by adding -std=gnu89 to the set of Clang options. This option is only recommended if the program source
cannot be changed or if the program also relies on additional
C89-specific behavior that cannot be changed.
All of this only applies to C code; the meaning of inline in C++ is
very different from its meaning in either GNU89 or C99.

putw() function in C

Following program with putw is not writing the required data in the file.
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
FILE *fp;
fp = fopen("a.txt", "w");
putw(25,fp);
putw(325,fp);
putw(425,fp);
fclose(fp);
return 0;
}
Program is compiled and executed like the following
gcc filename.c
./a.out
It is writing something in the file. Also if we read the integer using getw(), it is reading the value which is not available in the file. Even it is not the ASCII value.
When it is compiled with gcc filename.c -std=c99, it is showing implicit declaration warning error.
Is it required to link any library files to use putw/getw in c.
There is no function called putw in standard C, which is why you get compiler warnings. You probably meant to use putwc in wchar.h.
putw is an ancient function that exists on some platforms. Use fwrite and fread instead. You should also check the return value from putw. It may be telling you why it is failing.

How do I remove the following 'implicit declaration of function' warnings?

How do I compile the lex file with gcc without receiving the following warnings?
lex.yy.c: In function `yy_init_buffer':
lex.yy.c:1688: warning: implicit declaration of function `fileno'
lex.l: In function `storeLexeme':
lex.l:134: warning: implicit declaration of function `strdup'
These are the libraries I included.
%{
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <string.h>
%}
The function yy_init_buffer is not in the file. The following is the function storeLexeme.
int storeLexeme() {
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
char *curr = *(symbolTable + i);
if (strcmp(curr, yytext) == 0) {
return i;
}
}
char *lexeme = (char *)malloc(sizeof(char *));
lexeme = (char *)strdup(yytext);
symbolTable[count] = lexeme;
count++;
return (count - 1);
}
How do I remove the warnings?
Neither strdup nor fileno are ISO C functions, they're part of POSIX.
Now whether they're available on your platform depends on your platform.
If you are using the Microsoft tools, you may want to look into _fileno for the latter (fileno was deprecated in VC2005). A rather excellent version of strdup can be found here.
Although, having blown my own horn with that code, you could also use _strdup since it replaces the also-deprecated strdup :-)
These should hopefully work okay as-is since they're in stdio.h and string.h, two of the include files you're already using.
If you're on a UNIX derivative, those functions should be available in stdio.h (for fileno) and string.h (for strdup). Given that it looks like you're already including those files, the problem is likely elsewhere.
One possibility is if you're compiling in one of the strict modes like __STRICT_ANSI__ in gcc), where neither would be defined.
You should have a look at the top of your generated lex.yy.c and lex.l files to confirm that the header files are being included and also check the command line parameters you're passing to the compiler.
I suggest this option (tell the compiler you are using POSIX):
#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 1
People seem to have tightened up the feature controls in recent years and hopefully when the consistency is good and widespread we can throw away the automake garbage.
I also had this problem while using flex.
I used -std=gnu99rather than -std=c99 which solved the problem.
flex lang.l && gcc -o lexer -std=gnu99 lex.yy.c -lfl
Consider adding the following line:
extern char *strdup(const char *s);
I faced the problem when I compiled with -std=c99 -pedantic -pedantic-errors. Adding the above line solved the problem for me.
You declare the function before you use it:
//declare the function
int storeLexeme();
//use the function here
or include the header where the function is declared.
C implicitly assumes undeclared functions have return type int and deduces the parameters from how you call the function. This is deprecated in C++.
just place your function below the library calls it will be alright;

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