Creating generics with typedef in C - c

I'm doing my hw in C right now and we were given the code below in lecture to create generic types. In C++, I know you can achieve this by just using templates. Our instructor wants us to use these (so no void* for now I don't think).
However, I'm confused as to how I can declare this.
typedef struct Cell(x) *List(x);
struct Cell(x) {
x* data;
List(x) next;
};
So, I know whenever the compiler sees
List(x),
it will substitute in struct Cell(x), so I tried doing List(int) a; in main(), but that doesn't work

New versions of C added "type-generic expressions", allowing for example the abs function to do different things with different argument types.
But as far as I know, there are still no generic types. Your choices for implementing collection types:
Give up type-safety, using void*
Type out the collection / container code for each element type.
Use macros to generate the same code as #2.
I suspect you're intended to do #3. Something along the lines of:
#define Cell(x) specialized_##x##_Cell
#define List(x) specialized_##x##_List
#define SINGLY_LINKED_LIST(x) \\
typedef struct Cell(x) *List(x); \\
struct Cell(x) \\
{ \\
x* data; \\
List(x) next; \\
};
and then you can use it like
SINGLY_LINKED_LIST(int)
int main(void)
{
List(int) a;
}

There is a way you can fake templates for generics like containers in C with macros. You must write two macros that generate declarations and the definition of a new struct type and the functions acting on this type.
For example for an (incomplete) list type:
#define DECLARE_LIST(T_Name, T_Tag, T_Type) \
\
typedef struct T_Name##Node T_Name##Node; \
typedef struct T_Name T_Name; \
\
struct T_Name { \
T_Name##Node *head; \
T_Name##Node *tail; \
int count; \
}; \
\
struct T_Name##Node { \
T_Type value; \
T_Name##Node *next; \
}; \
\
int T_Tag##_init(T_Name *ll); \
int T_Tag##_free(T_Name *ll); \
int T_Tag##_add(T_Name *ll, T_Type x);
#define DEFINE_LIST(T_Name, T_Tag, T_Type) \
\
int T_Tag##_init(T_Name *ll) \
{ \
ll->head = ll->tail = NULL; \
ll->count = 0; \
return 0; \
} \
\
int T_Tag##_free(T_Name *ll) \
{ \
while (ll->head) { \
T_Name##Node *next = ll->head->next; \
free(ll->head); \
ll->head = next; \
} \
return 0; \
} \
\
int T_Tag##_add(T_Name *ll, T_Type x) \
{ \
T_Name##Node *nd = malloc(sizeof(*nd)); \
\
if (nd == NULL) return -1; \
nd->next = NULL; \
nd->value = x; \
\
if (ll->head == NULL) { \
ll->head = ll->tail = nd; \
} else { \
ll->tail->next = nd; \
ll->tail = nd; \
} \
ll->count++; \
\
return 0; \
}
#define IMPLEMENT_LIST(T_Name, T_Tag, T_Type) \
DECLARE_LIST(T_Name, T_Tag, T_Type) \
DEFINE_LIST(T_Name, T_Tag, T_Type) \
If you want to declare a new List type, you should DECLARE_LIST in a header and DEFINE_LIST in the C source. If the type is private to the compilation module, you can just place IMPLEMENT_LIST in the C source.
(The macro is incomplete, because it implements only three functions for the type, which are useless on their own. This is just to show the basic workings. You will usually end up with two huge macros.)
You can use the macro like this:
IMPLEMENT_LIST(Intlist, il, int)
IMPLEMENT_LIST(Stringlist, sl, char *)
This creates two new list types, Intlist and Stringlist, together with the according functions, prefixed il_ and sl_, which you can use like other functions:
int main()
{
Intlist il;
Stringlist sl;
il_init(&il);
sl_init(&sl);
il_add(&il, 1);
il_add(&il, 2);
il_add(&il, 5);
sl_add(&sl, "Hello");
sl_add(&sl, "World");
// ... more stuff ...
il_free(&il);
sl_free(&sl);
return 0;
}
This method is type safe: You can't pass a Stringlist to an il function, for example. Because the code consists only of macros, you can implement it in a header file.
There are restrictions, though:
Assignment is via =. That means that the string list for example can't keep a copy in a char array. If the client code copies data, the clean-up code doesn't know about it. You can cater for such cases by specifying copy, comparison, constructor and destructor functions (which can also be macros) as macro arguments, but this will quickly become complicated.
There are "secret" type names involves like the node type in the example above. They must be valid identifiers (as opposed to C++, where the compiler creates mangles names), which might lead to surprising name clashes.
When you use a private implementation, the functions aren't static as they ought to be.
It has the advantage, that Stringlist is a nicer name than std::list<std::string>, though.

Related

C MacroMagic - Struct Definition

Im looking for a solution for define a struct, where the user may enable/disable struct members as in the example (pseudo-code):
#define DEF_STRUCT_1(NAME,VAL1,VAL2) \
struct my_struct_t \
{ \
#if(NAME == TRUE) \
bool name; \
#endif \
#if(VAL1 == TRUE) \
bool val1; \
#endif \
#if(VAL2 == TRUE) \
bool val2; \
#endif \
} instance1
void main() {
DEF_STRUCT_1(TRUE,FALSE,TRUE);
instance1.name = true;
//instance1.val1 = false; // error, unavailable
instance1.val2 = false;
}
I'm not sure how useful this is, but the following should do what you ask:
#define CONDITIONAL_TRUE(code) code
#define CONDITIONAL_FALSE(code)
#define DEF_STRUCT_1(NAME,VAL1,VAL2) \
struct my_struct_t \
{ \
CONDITIONAL_##NAME(bool name;) \
CONDITIONAL_##VAL1(bool val1;) \
CONDITIONAL_##VAL2(bool val2;) \
} instance1
int main() {
DEF_STRUCT_1(TRUE,FALSE,TRUE);
instance1.name = true;
//instance1.val1 = false; // error, unavailable
instance1.val2 = false;
}
All the TRUE/FALSE parameters would have to be available at compile-time. And if you want more than one version of these parameters to be used in the same program, you should make the struct name a parameter as well.
Since you say that this is intended for a library, it isn't clear how you're planning for the library code to be able to access this struct, since it would need to know which members are available. This significantly reduces the usefulness of this method.
A more common method used by libraries is to have a config.h file, editable by the library user, with definitions such as #define USE_NAME_MEMBER 1. Then you can make a normal struct definition with #if directives:
//in mylibrary.h:
#include <mylibrary_config.h>
struct my_struct_t {
#if USE_NAME_MEMBER
bool name;
#endif
/...
};
Then you would also put #if directives around any library code that accesses the name member.
Given that the struct needs to be generated differently at compile-time, given some conditions, you will be facing the problem that all code using the struct will need to be modified accordingly. Compiler switches (#ifdef FOO .... #endif) tend to scale badly with increased complexity. If there is a large number of struct members, all the needed compiler switches will make a horrible, unmaintainable mess out of the program.
There is a well-known design pattern known as "X macros", that can be used to centralize maintenance in programs to one single place, as well as allowing compile-time iteration of all items involved. They make the code hard to read too, and therefore they are a bit of a last resort. But they are a bit of de facto standard and their ugliness doesn't scale with complexity, so they are preferred over some compiler switch madness. It goes like this:
#define INSTANCE_LIST \
/* name, type */ \
X(name, bool) \
X(val1, bool) \
X(val2, bool) \
typedef struct
{
#define X(name, type) type name;
INSTANCE_LIST
#undef X
} instance_t;
This code gets pre-processed into:
typedef struct
{
bool name;
bool val1;
bool val2;
} instance_t;
The only part that needs to be maintained is the "INSTANCE_LIST". By commenting out a line in the list, that struct member will go away. This means that all code using the struct has to be using the same list accordingly. For example, lets add code to the same example, that lists the init values of each member and then sets them:
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define INSTANCE_LIST \
/* name, type, init */ \
X(name, bool, true) \
X(val1, bool, false) \
X(val2, bool, false) \
typedef struct
{
#define X(name, type, init) type name;
INSTANCE_LIST
#undef X
} instance_t;
int main (void)
{
instance_t inst;
#define X(name, type, init) inst.name = init;
INSTANCE_LIST
#undef X
printf("%d ", inst.name);
printf("%d ", inst.val1);
printf("%d ", inst.val2);
}
Very flexible and maintainable - you can easily add more struct members without changing any other macro than the list. But as mentioned, the down-side is that the code looks quite cryptic, especially to those who aren't used to this design pattern.

Generic multiline macro with parameters

I'm trying to implement a generic stack in C, with the help of a big macro (not the best way, but that's not the point here).
This macro contains functions declarations, structures and functions calls, with a TYPE type that would be replaced by what needed:
#define STACK(TYPE) \
( \
struct stack \
{ \
size_t size; \
struct container *top; \
}; \
\
struct container \
{ \
TYPE data; \
struct container *next; \
}; \
\
struct stack *stack_init(void) \
{ \
struct stack *s = malloc(sizeof (struct stack)); \
if (!s) \
return NULL; \
return s; \
} \
... ...
)
This header file would be called in any .c file with this line
#include "utils_stack.h"
STACK(int)
Thing is, after trying every possible form of syntax gcc told me to try, I can't find a way to get it to work. I tried with parenthesis, brackets, both, none...
The code just simply won't work. Here is the error I get with the above syntax for example:
error: expected identifier or ‘(’ before ‘struct’
While trying to run gcc with the -E flag, I clearly see that TYPE is being replaced by int.
So here is my question, How do I need to write my macro to be able to... use it ?
Thank you in advance
As mentioned in the comment, this should work, just remove the parentheses:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <malloc.h>
#define STACK(TYPE) \
struct stack \
{ \
size_t size; \
struct container *top; \
}; \
\
struct container \
{ \
TYPE data; \
struct container *next; \
}; \
\
struct stack *stack_init(void) \
{ \
struct stack *s = malloc(sizeof (struct stack)); \
if (!s) \
return NULL; \
return s; \
} \
STACK(int)
int main()
{
struct stack *s;
s = stack_init();
// ...
}
Use parentheses if you define function-like macros, like:
#define maxint(a,b) \
({int _a = (a), _b = (b); _a > _b ? _a : _b; })
See gcc statement expresions for details.

Full macro in header file

I found a header to define hashtable with the following code :
#ifndef HASH_H
#define HASH_H
#define DEFINE_HASHTABLE(name, type, key, h_list, hashfunc)\
\
struct list * hashtable;\
\
static int hashtable_init (size_t size)\
{\
unsigned long i;\
hashtable = (struct list*)malloc(size * sizeof (struct list_head));\
if (!hashtable)\
return -1;\
for (i = 0; i < size; i++)\
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&hashtable[i]);\
return 0;\
}\
\
static inline void hashtable_add(type *elem)\
{\
struct list_head *head = hashtable + hashfunc(elem->key);\
list_add(&elem->h_list, head);\
}\
\
static inline void hashtable_del(type *elem)\
{\
list_del(&elem->h_list);\
}\
\
static inline type * hashtable_find(unsigned long key)\
{\
type *elem;\
struct list_head *head = hashtable + hashfunc(key);\
\
list_for_each_entry(elem, head, h_list){\
if (elem->key == key) \
return elem; \
}\
return NULL;\
}
#endif /* _HASH_H */
I never seen a header file such this one. What is the advantage of this way to write a header (I mean full macro)? Is it about genericity or things like that?
It's a way to try to ensure that all the hash function calls have their inline request granted, i.e. to reduce the number of function calls when doing hash table operations.
It's just an attempt, it can't guarantee that the functions will be inlined, but by making them static the chance at least improves. See this question for lots of discussion about this, in particular #Christoph's answer here.
Note that it will only work once per C file, since there's no "unique" part added to the function names.
If you do:
#include "hash.h"
DEFINE_HASHTABLE(foo, /* rest of arguments */);
DEFINE_HASHTABLE(bar, /* another bunch of args */);
you will get compilation errors, since all the hashtable_ functions will be defined twice. The macro writer could improve this by adding the name to all the things defined (variables and functions) by the set of macros.
I.e. this:
struct list * hashtable;\
\
static int hashtable_init (size_t size)\
should become something like:
static list *hashtable_ ##name;\
\
static int hashtable_ ##name ##_init(size_t size)\
and so on (where name is the first macro argument, i.e. the foo and bar from my example usage above).

Is my modification in queue.h implemented by Berkeley right

the queue.h implemented by Berkeley in their FreeBSD is very useful indeed, now i got a question about the TAILQ_LAST macro, please note the difference i present
original code
#define TAILQ_HEAD(name, type) \
struct name
{ \
struct type *tqh_first; /* first element */ \
struct type **tqh_last; /* addr of last next element */ \
}
#define TAILQ_ENTRY(type) \
struct
{ \
struct type *tqe_next; /* next element */ \
struct type **tqe_prev; /* address of previous next element */ \
}
#define TAILQ_LAST(head, headname) \
(*(((struct headname *)((head)->tqh_last))->tqh_last))
my proposal
#define TAILQ_LAST(head, headname) \
((head)->tqh_last))
my point is that the tqh_last member of headname refers to the address of the tqe_next member of the last TAILQ_ENTRY, which is exactly the address of the last entry in the tailq.
please correct me if i am wrong. thanks in advance.
Just looking at the two definitions, I'd think that
#define TAILQ_LAST(head, headname) \
(*(((struct headname *)((head)->tqh_last))->tqh_last))
will return a type* whereas this
#define TAILQ_LAST(head, headname) \
((head)->tqh_last))
will return a type**, so both are not equivalent.
No, they are not same. please note that tqh_last is addr of last next element, not last element.
If you directly use (head)->tqh_last, then it simply returns NULL.
Then why it is *(((struct headname *)((head)->tqh_last))->tqh_last)
Please look at:
#define TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(head, elm, field) do { \
TAILQ_NEXT((elm), field) = NULL; \
(elm)->field.tqe_prev = (head)->tqh_last; \
*(head)->tqh_last = (elm); \
(head)->tqh_last = &TAILQ_NEXT((elm), field); \
} while (0)
(head)->tqh_last = &TAILQ_NEXT((elm), field);
and what we need is &TAILQ_NEXT((elm), field)->field.tqe_prev, according to (elm)->field.tqe_prev = (head)->tqh_last;, then we get
(*(((struct headname *)((head)->tqh_last))->tqh_last))

Problem definition of struct in Macro

I'm working on macros in C, trying to simulate the objet behavior but using C and I'm having a problem with the definition of a variable defined from a struct in another struct in a macro. That's my code... it works:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define STACK_MAX_CAPACITY 10
#define DECLARE_STACK(Type) \
typedef struct MetaPile_##Type; \
\
typedef struct Pile_##Type_t{ \
Type q[STACK_MAX_CAPACITY]; \
int pos; \
} Pile_##Type; \
\
typedef struct MetaPile_##Type_t{ \
void (* push) ( Pile_##Type* p, Type val ); \
void (*init) (Pile_##Type* p); \
} MetaPile_##Type; \
\
void init_##Type( Pile_##Type* p ){ \
p->pos = 0; \
int i; \
for(i=0; i<STACK_MAX_CAPACITY; i++){ \
p->q[i]=0; \
} \
} \
\
void push_##Type( Pile_##Type* p, Type val ) { \
if(p->pos < STACK_MAX_CAPACITY){ \
p->q[p->pos]=val; \
p->pos++; \
} \
} \
MetaPile_##Type TheMetaPile_##Type; \
void initTheMetaPile_##Type(){ \
TheMetaPile_##Type.init = &init_##Type; \
TheMetaPile_##Type.push = &push_##Type; \
} \
\
DECLARE_STACK(int)
int main(){
int i;
initTheMetaPile_int();
Pile_int pi;
TheMetaPile_int.init(&pi);
push_int(&pi, 2);
push_int(&pi, 3);
push_int(&pi, 4);
push_int(&pi, 5);
push_int(&pi, 6);
for(i=0; i<STACK_MAX_CAPACITY; i++){
printf("%d",pi.q[i]);
}
return 0;
}
The first structure define an array of a dinamic type thanks to the macro (Pile_##Type) that represents the attributs side of an objet, and another structure (MetaPile_##Type) that will manage the "methods" of the objet, via fonction pointers. The fonction init works as a constructor and initialises my "objet" pi.
Now what I want is to have a reference in Pile_##Type of a variable of type MetaPile_##Type (called for exemple myClass) in order to be able to make pi->myClass->push and call the fonction push_int. But when I make:
typedef struct Pile_##Type_t{ \
Type q[STACK_MAX_CAPACITY]; \
int pos; \
MetaPile_##Type myClass; \
} Pile_##Type; \
I have a misunderstandable mistake...
D:\main.c|40|warning: useless keyword or type name in empty declaration|
D:\main.c|40|error: syntax error before "MetaPile_int"|
D:\main.c|40|warning: no semicolon at end of struct or union|
D:\main.c|40|warning: type defaults to `int' in declaration of `Pile_int'|
D:\main.c|40|warning: data definition has no type or storage class|
D:\main.c|40|error: syntax error before '*' token|
D:\main.c|40|error: syntax error before '*' token|
D:\main.c|40|error: syntax error before '*' token|
D:\main.c||In function `init_int':|
D:\main.c|40|error: `p' undeclared (first use in this function)|
D:\main.c|40|error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once|
D:\main.c|40|error: for each function it appears in.)|
D:\main.c|40|error: syntax error before '*' token|
D:\main.c||In function `push_int':|
D:\main.c|40|error: `p' undeclared (first use in this function)|
D:\main.c|40|error: `val' undeclared (first use in this function)|
D:\main.c||In function `main':|
D:\main.c|47|error: syntax error before "pi"|
D:\main.c|49|error: `pi' undeclared (first use in this function)|
||=== Build finished: 12 errors, 4 warnings ===|
I don't know what's worong with the defintion of myClass, I've used * also but the error persits. Thanks if somebody can help.
Your problem is not the usage of macros, this only distracts you.
typedef struct MetaPile_int;
is just syntactically incorrect. A simple forward declaration of a struct looks like this:
struct MetaPile_int;
But if you just want to make your life easier do it like this:
typedef struct MetaPile_int MetaPile_int;
This is a forward declaration of the struct and a definition of the identifier MetaPile_int at the same time.
To get it working try it without putting it in a macro, first. Or use a compiler that helps you trace errors in macros such as clang.
Remove the typedef struct MetaPile_##Type; line - what's that supposed to do (besides causing your errors, that is)?
You try to insert a full struct (MetaPile_##Type) before declaring it, change the order of them like that [ in MetaPile_##Type you only use pointers to Pile_##Type_t, and the size of pointers is known]:
Edit:
This declaration works for me fine:
#define DECLARE_STACK(Type) \
struct Pile_##Type_t; \
\
typedef struct MetaPile_##Type_t{ \
void (* push) ( Pile_##Type_t* p, Type val ); \
void (*init) (Pile_##Type_t* p); \
} MetaPile_##Type; \
\
typedef struct Pile_##Type_t{ \
Type q[STACK_MAX_CAPACITY]; \
int pos; \
MetaPile_##Type myClass; \
} Pile_##Type; \
\
void init_##Type( Pile_##Type* p ){ \
p->pos = 0; \
int i; \
for(i=0; i<STACK_MAX_CAPACITY; i++){ \
p->q[i]=0; \
} \
} \
\
void push_##Type( Pile_##Type* p, Type val ) { \
if(p->pos < STACK_MAX_CAPACITY){ \
p->q[p->pos]=val; \
p->pos++; \
} \
} \
MetaPile_##Type TheMetaPile_##Type; \
void initTheMetaPile_##Type(){ \
TheMetaPile_##Type.init = &init_##Type; \
TheMetaPile_##Type.push = &push_##Type; \
} \
\
and it should do the work.

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