C: Returning String From Another Function - c

Question

I'm new to C / pointers / memory management and am having trouble implementing a few functions for a project I'm working on.
In my builtins.c file, I have a function called printalias that is called to print all the alias names and corresponding values stored in my program. At the end, I want to print one of the alias names by retrieving it via another function called getal.
int x_printalias(int nargs, char *args[]) {
int i = 0;
// Loop through, print names and values
for(i = 0; i< 100; i++)
{
if(alias_names[i][0]!='\0' && !alias_disabled[i])
{
char * var = alias_names[i];
char * val = alias_vals[i];
fprintf(stderr,"%s = %s\n", var, val );
}
}
// This is where I want to retrieve the string from another function
char * hello = "brett";
hello = getal(hello);
fprintf(stderr,"Got alias for brett --> %s",hello);
return 0;
}
My getal function exists in my shellParser.c file and looks like this, generally performing the same looping and returning when it is found:
const char * getal(int nargs, char *args[])
{
fprintf(stderr,"\nRetrieving alias...\n");
int i = 0;
fprintf(stderr, "check1\n" );
fprintf(stderr,"Got args[0]: %s\n", args[0]);
while (alias_names[i][0]!='\0' && i < MAX_ALIAS_LENGTH ) // Find empty slot in variables array
{
fprintf(stderr, "check2\n" );
fprintf(stderr,"I is currently %i and current varible in slot is %s\n",i,alias_names[i]);
//strncpy(hello, variables[i], MAX_VAR_LENGTH); // Variable at current slot
if(strcmp(alias_names[i], args[0]) == 0) // If we have an entry, need to overwrite it
{
fprintf(stderr,"Found alias %s = %s at spot %i\n",args[0],alias_vals[i], i); // Not at end if here
return alias_vals[i];
}
i++;
}
fprintf(stderr, "check3\n" );
// Elided....
return '\0';
}
In the end of my printalias function, I want to test that this getal function is working by calling it on a hardcoded string "brett". However, when I call my printalias function from the command line, it makes it to the "Check 1" print statement and then simply quits without error or return value.
I think this has something to do with my memory management or incorrect declaration of variables with pointers. Can anybody spot something (or a lot of things) that I'm doing wrong here?

Answer 1

You must declarete list of argument for to call getal and it call with these
list.
And pointer of return values getal must be const char*
//....
// This is where I want to retrieve the string from another function
char * hello[] = {"brett"}; // this list argument for getal function
const char *strGetal;
strGetal = getal(1,hello);
fprintf(stderr,"Got alias for brett --> %s",strGetal);
return 0;
}

Answer 2

Example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
char** get_all(int argc, char **argv)
{
char *value;
char **values = NULL;
int i;
values = (char**) malloc(sizeof (char) * argc);
if (values == NULL) {
perror("malloc");
return NULL;
}
for (i = 0; i < argc; i++, argv++) {
value = strchr(*argv, ':');
values[i] = (value + 1);
}
return values;
}
int main()
{
char *args[] = {"key:a", "key:b", "key:c"};
char **values;
int i;
values = get_all(3, args);
for (i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
puts(values[i]);
}
return 0;
}