Is there anyway to memset over a triple pointer? - c

For a variety of reasons I have a list of objects that I need passed around in the form of a triple pointer. I declared it like so.
List=((Entity***) malloc(sizeof(Entity) * 32));
Every cycle of this list being passed around requires the entire list to be wiped which I attempted using the line below.
memset(&***List,0,sizeof(Entity) * 32);
The end result of that method is an Access violation error. What can I do to get around this?

Suppose you are declaring a dynamically allocated three-dimensional array List[M][N][K], the correct way to initialize it is:
List = (Entity***)malloc(sizeof(Entity**) * M);
for (int i = 0; i < M; ++i) {
List[i] = (Entity**)malloc(sizeof(Entity*) * N);
for (int j = 0; j < N; ++j) {
List[i][j] = (Entity*)malloc(sizeof(Entity) * K);
for (int k = 0; k < K; ++k) {
memset(&List[i][j][k], 0, sizeof(Entity));
}
}
}
But suppose you are to initialize a statically allocated array like above, you should make M, N, K constants that can be determined at compile time and declare Entity List[M][N][K] directly. Thus you can initialize it as:
memset(List, 0, sizeof(Entity) * M * N * K);

Yes, there is mistake in your code. I like to explain with simple code
int main(void){
char ***List = NULL;
List=malloc(sizeof(char **) * 32); //step1
List[0]= malloc(sizeof(char *) * 32);//step2
List[0][0]=malloc(sizeof(char) * 32);//step3
memset(&List[0][0][0],0,sizeof(char) * 32); //step4
return 0;
}
After doing step1, you are trying to do step4. But there is step2&3 that you have missed. Which means you have allocated memory for 3D pointer only. Without allocating 1D memory memset is done for 1D pointer.

Related

How to assign Direct value to dynamically created 2 dimensional array in C?

I want to use Direct initialization of a 2d array, which is dynamically created using given function.
int** allocate2D(int m, int n) {
int **a = (int **)malloc(m * sizeof(int *) + (m * n * sizeof(int)));
int *mem = (int *)(a + m);
for(int i = 0; i < m; i++)
a[i] = mem + (i * n);
return a;
}
I have a function that allocates the memory and returns the base address and I have random list of numbers that should be assigned to that dynamically allocated memory.
For Example, here in this, I have assigned directly,
int a_11[2][2] = { a[1][1], a[1][2], a[2][1], a[2][2]};
but I want to assign these values like
int **a_11 = allocate2D(n, n);
a_11 = { a[1][1], a[1][2], a[2][1], a[2][2]};
but it's giving an error. How can I solve this? Is there any explicit way to assign values?
I just started learning C and it would be very kind if your help would be descriptive enough for me to understand and in the simplest form.
Thank You :)

Rewriting multi-dimensional VLAs in C89

I'm rewriting a bunch of C99 VLAs for an open source project for support in Visual Studio. So I have a lot of statements like
void somefunc(double var[r]){...}
which I rewrite to
void somefunc(double *var) {
var = malloc(sizeof(double) * r);
...
free(var);
}
Which I am assuming to be the correct way to do this.
The problem is I am starting to see some more complicated VLA declarations which are leaving me stumped. For example:
double *(*var)[length1][length2][length3] = malloc(sizeof(double *[length4][length1][length2][length3]));
So to me this essentially looks like a 5 dimensional array.
This is clearly illegal in C89 because of the use of variables in the sizeof() function.
My guess on how to rewrite this would be:
double *****var = malloc(sizeof(double ****) * length1);
for(int i = 0; i<length1; i++) {
var[i] = malloc(sizeof(double ***) * length2);
for(int j = 0; j<length2; j++) {
var[i][j] = malloc(sizeof(double **) * length3);
for(int k = 0; k<length3; k++) {
var[i][j][k] = malloc(sizeof(double *) * length4);
}
}
}
As messy as it is, this is my best guess on how to rewrite the above statement. Is this technically correct, and is there a better way I should be going about this?
Here's my attempt:
double***** var = malloc(sizeof *var * length4);
for (int i = 0; i < length4; ++i)
{
var[i] = malloc(sizeof *var[i] * length1);
for (int j = 0; j < length1; ++j)
{
var[i][j] = malloc(sizeof *var[i][j] * length2);
for (int k = 0; k < length2; ++k)
{
var[i][j][k] = malloc(sizeof *var[i][j][k] * length3);
for (int l = 0; l < length3; ++l)
{
var[i][j][k][l] = NULL;
// var[i][j][k][l] is a double* - you can allocate some room for a double here, or assign the address of an existing variable
}
}
}
}
Similar to yours, except that note how I used length4 in the first malloc. If you look at your original declaration, var is a pointer to a three dimensional array of double*. As we can deduce from the malloc call on the right, memory for length4 such arrays is allocated, so you can think of var as an array of length4 three-dimensional arrays of double*.
I still maintain that anyone who puts such stuff in production code ought to be shot on the spot (well, you, as a maintainer, are excused).
IIRC declaring variables inside fors isn't valid C89, but you can move these above to the top of your scope.
Note that, as #immibis points out in the comments, your first conversion is most likely a mistake; double *var is an argument to the function, which means it's passed by value, so any changes you make to it inside the function aren't visible outside, and on top of that, you malloc some memory, do stuff with it, then free it. Even if you were modifying a passed pointer - which would require the parameter type to be double** - it still isn't necessary to pass a variable so you can use it locally exclusively. You most likely wanted to malloc the memory outside of the function and pass a valid pointer (and hopefully the size) to it.

Dynamically creating a 2 dimensional array of pointers in c [duplicate]

Does someone know how I can use dynamically allocated multi-dimensional arrays using C? Is that possible?
Since C99, C has 2D arrays with dynamical bounds. If you want to avoid that such beast are allocated on the stack (which you should), you can allocate them easily in one go as the following
double (*A)[n] = malloc(sizeof(double[n][n]));
and that's it. You can then easily use it as you are used for 2D arrays with something like A[i][j]. And don't forget that one at the end
free(A);
Randy Meyers wrote series of articles explaining variable length arrays (VLAs).
With dynamic allocation, using malloc:
int** x;
x = malloc(dimension1_max * sizeof(*x));
for (int i = 0; i < dimension1_max; i++) {
x[i] = malloc(dimension2_max * sizeof(x[0]));
}
//Writing values
x[0..(dimension1_max-1)][0..(dimension2_max-1)] = Value;
[...]
for (int i = 0; i < dimension1_max; i++) {
free(x[i]);
}
free(x);
This allocates an 2D array of size dimension1_max * dimension2_max. So, for example, if you want a 640*480 array (f.e. pixels of an image), use dimension1_max = 640, dimension2_max = 480. You can then access the array using x[d1][d2] where d1 = 0..639, d2 = 0..479.
But a search on SO or Google also reveals other possibilities, for example in this SO question
Note that your array won't allocate a contiguous region of memory (640*480 bytes) in that case which could give problems with functions that assume this. So to get the array satisfy the condition, replace the malloc block above with this:
int** x;
int* temp;
x = malloc(dimension1_max * sizeof(*x));
temp = malloc(dimension1_max * dimension2_max * sizeof(x[0]));
for (int i = 0; i < dimension1_max; i++) {
x[i] = temp + (i * dimension2_max);
}
[...]
free(temp);
free(x);
Basics
Arrays in c are declared and accessed using the [] operator. So that
int ary1[5];
declares an array of 5 integers. Elements are numbered from zero so ary1[0] is the first element, and ary1[4] is the last element. Note1: There is no default initialization, so the memory occupied by the array may initially contain anything. Note2: ary1[5] accesses memory in an undefined state (which may not even be accessible to you), so don't do it!
Multi-dimensional arrays are implemented as an array of arrays (of arrays (of ... ) ). So
float ary2[3][5];
declares an array of 3 one-dimensional arrays of 5 floating point numbers each. Now ary2[0][0] is the first element of the first array, ary2[0][4] is the last element of the first array, and ary2[2][4] is the last element of the last array. The '89 standard requires this data to be contiguous (sec. A8.6.2 on page 216 of my K&R 2nd. ed.) but seems to be agnostic on padding.
Trying to go dynamic in more than one dimension
If you don't know the size of the array at compile time, you'll want to dynamically allocate the array. It is tempting to try
double *buf3;
buf3 = malloc(3*5*sizeof(double));
/* error checking goes here */
which should work if the compiler does not pad the allocation (stick extra space between the one-dimensional arrays). It might be safer to go with:
double *buf4;
buf4 = malloc(sizeof(double[3][5]));
/* error checking */
but either way the trick comes at dereferencing time. You can't write buf[i][j] because buf has the wrong type. Nor can you use
double **hdl4 = (double**)buf;
hdl4[2][3] = 0; /* Wrong! */
because the compiler expects hdl4 to be the address of an address of a double. Nor can you use double incomplete_ary4[][]; because this is an error;
So what can you do?
Do the row and column arithmetic yourself
Allocate and do the work in a function
Use an array of pointers (the mechanism qrdl is talking about)
Do the math yourself
Simply compute memory offset to each element like this:
for (i=0; i<3; ++i){
for(j=0; j<3; ++j){
buf3[i * 5 + j] = someValue(i,j); /* Don't need to worry about
padding in this case */
}
}
Allocate and do the work in a function
Define a function that takes the needed size as an argument and proceed as normal
void dary(int x, int y){
double ary4[x][y];
ary4[2][3] = 5;
}
Of course, in this case ary4 is a local variable and you can not return it: all the work with the array must be done in the function you call of in functions that it calls.
An array of pointers
Consider this:
double **hdl5 = malloc(3*sizeof(double*));
/* Error checking */
for (i=0; i<3; ++i){
hdl5[i] = malloc(5*sizeof(double))
/* Error checking */
}
Now hdl5 points to an array of pointers each of which points to an array of doubles. The cool bit is that you can use the two-dimensional array notation to access this structure---hdl5[0][2] gets the middle element of the first row---but this is none-the-less a different kind of object than a two-dimensional array declared by double ary[3][5];.
This structure is more flexible then a two dimensional array (because the rows need not be the same length), but accessing it will generally be slower and it requires more memory (you need a place to hold the intermediate pointers).
Note that since I haven't setup any guards you'll have to keep track of the size of all the arrays yourself.
Arithmetic
c provides no support for vector, matrix or tensor math, you'll have to implement it yourself, or bring in a library.
Multiplication by a scaler and addition and subtraction of arrays of the same rank are easy: just loop over the elements and perform the operation as you go. Inner products are similarly straight forward.
Outer products mean more loops.
If you know the number of columns at compile time, it's pretty simple:
#define COLS ...
...
size_t rows;
// get number of rows
T (*ap)[COLS] = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows); // ap is a *pointer to an array* of T
You can treat ap like any 2D array:
ap[i][j] = x;
When you're done you deallocate it as
free(ap);
If you don't know the number of columns at compile time, but you're working with a C99 compiler or a C2011 compiler that supports variable-length arrays, it's still pretty simple:
size_t rows;
size_t cols;
// get rows and cols
T (*ap)[cols] = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows);
...
ap[i][j] = x;
...
free(ap);
If you don't know the number of columns at compile time and you're working with a version of C that doesn't support variable-length arrays, then you'll need to do something different. If you need all of the elements to be allocated in a contiguous chunk (like a regular array), then you can allocate the memory as a 1D array, and compute a 1D offset:
size_t rows, cols;
// get rows and columns
T *ap = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows * cols);
...
ap[i * rows + j] = x;
...
free(ap);
If you don't need the memory to be contiguous, you can follow a two-step allocation method:
size_t rows, cols;
// get rows and cols
T **ap = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows);
if (ap)
{
size_t i = 0;
for (i = 0; i < cols; i++)
{
ap[i] = malloc(sizeof *ap[i] * cols);
}
}
ap[i][j] = x;
Since allocation was a two-step process, deallocation also needs to be a two-step process:
for (i = 0; i < cols; i++)
free(ap[i]);
free(ap);
malloc will do.
int rows = 20;
int cols = 20;
int *array;
array = malloc(rows * cols * sizeof(int));
Refer the below article for help:-
http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs2704/spring00/mcquain/Notes/4up/Managing2DArrays.pdf
Here is working code that defines a subroutine make_3d_array to allocate a multidimensional 3D array with N1, N2 and N3 elements in each dimension, and then populates it with random numbers. You can use the notation A[i][j][k] to access its elements.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
// Method to allocate a 2D array of floats
float*** make_3d_array(int nx, int ny, int nz) {
float*** arr;
int i,j;
arr = (float ***) malloc(nx*sizeof(float**));
for (i = 0; i < nx; i++) {
arr[i] = (float **) malloc(ny*sizeof(float*));
for(j = 0; j < ny; j++) {
arr[i][j] = (float *) malloc(nz * sizeof(float));
}
}
return arr;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int i, j, k;
size_t N1=10,N2=20,N3=5;
// allocates 3D array
float ***ran = make_3d_array(N1, N2, N3);
// initialize pseudo-random number generator
srand(time(NULL));
// populates the array with random numbers
for (i = 0; i < N1; i++){
for (j=0; j<N2; j++) {
for (k=0; k<N3; k++) {
ran[i][j][k] = ((float)rand()/(float)(RAND_MAX));
}
}
}
// prints values
for (i=0; i<N1; i++) {
for (j=0; j<N2; j++) {
for (k=0; k<N3; k++) {
printf("A[%d][%d][%d] = %f \n", i,j,k,ran[i][j][k]);
}
}
}
free(ran);
}
There's no way to allocate the whole thing in one go. Instead, create an array of pointers, then, for each pointer, create the memory for it. For example:
int** array;
array = (int**)malloc(sizeof(int*) * 50);
for(int i = 0; i < 50; i++)
array[i] = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int) * 50);
Of course, you can also declare the array as int* array[50] and skip the first malloc, but the second set is needed in order to dynamically allocate the required storage.
It is possible to hack a way to allocate it in a single step, but it would require a custom lookup function, but writing that in such a way that it will always work can be annoying. An example could be L(arr,x,y,max_x) arr[(y)*(max_x) + (x)], then malloc a block of 50*50 ints or whatever and access using that L macro, e.g.
#define L(arr,x,y,max_x) arr[(y)*(max_x) + (x)]
int dim_x = 50;
int dim_y = 50;
int* array = malloc(dim_x*dim_y*sizeof(int));
int foo = L(array, 4, 6, dim_x);
But that's much nastier unless you know the effects of what you're doing with the preprocessor macro.
int rows, columns;
/* initialize rows and columns to the desired value */
arr = (int**)malloc(rows*sizeof(int*));
for(i=0;i<rows;i++)
{
arr[i] = (int*)malloc(cols*sizeof(int));
}
// use new instead of malloc as using malloc leads to memory leaks
`enter code here
int **adj_list = new int*[rowsize];
for(int i = 0; i < rowsize; ++i)
{
adj_list[i] = new int[colsize];
}

How to declare pointer and allocate memory a two-dimensional array and pass to a function

I want to declare the correct pointer and allocate memory for a two-dimensional array, and correctly pass to a function. I am having trouble getting this to work properly and need help.
Here is my code:
double **podrucje;
podrucje=(double **) malloc (sizeof (double *) *123);
for (i=0;i<(123);i++)
{
podrucje[i]=(double *) malloc (sizeof (double) * 11);
}
for (i=0;i<(123);i++)
{
memset (podrucje[i], 0, 10);
}
But this code doesnt work, it messes up whole my program. So i decided to give up on dynamic allocation and use this:
double podrucje[123][11]={0};
But i dont know how to send it and use it in function...
memset works on per byte basis.
double **podrucje = (double **) malloc (sizeof (double *) * 123);
for (i = 0; i < 123; i++)
{
podrucje[i] = (double *) malloc (sizeof (double) * 11);
memset(podrucje[i], 0, sizeof(double) * 11);
}
if you want to pass it just declare it as such
void function(double podrucje[123][11]) {
...
}
You're best off to use malloc, but allocate the whole array on your second line, so it all gets allocated in contiguous memory. So
podrucje = (double*) malloc (sizeof (double) * 123 * 11);
Then the first loop can go away too. And it looks like you're initializing the array to 0 -- in that case, use calloc instead of malloc, eliminating the second loop.
To index into the array, use things like
double myitem = podrucje [11 * row + col];
You should of course use a define or similar to keep the use of 11 consistent, but that's not the point of this answer.
Write the function argument the same way you wrote the variable definition:
void myfunc(double podrucje[123][11])
{
...
}
double podrucje[123][11];
myfunc(podrucje);
Note that the array is passed "by reference" rather than being copied.
In the following code snippet,
podrucje[i]=(double *) malloc (sizeof (double) * 11);
for (i=0;i<(123);i++)
{
memset (podrucje[i], 0, 10);
}
1) You dont need the extra parenthesis against the numbers 123 and 11
The for loop can be as follows,
for (i = 0; i < 123; i++)
2) Instead of using 123 and 11. Try to define a MACRO and use that instead.
Advantage: The code becomes independent of special numbers and is easily maintainable. Especially in the cases of larger code base.
3) If you read the code, podrucje[i] is allocated a memory of 11 doubles But when you memset you are setting it for only 10 doubles while the last one may or may not consist of garbage. Use calloc here, It not only allocated memory but also initializes the same.
podrucje[i]=(double *) calloc(11,sizeof(double));
Also It could be more helpful if you could tell How exactly is it screwing up your code ?
Example, Code Snippet could help more than just stating its screwing up.
It helps others to investigate and solve the issue.
If you have a modern C compiler (C99 would do) you can even declare real 2D matrices with variable sizes. You don't need to fall back to this awful emulation with pointers.
void myfunc(size_t n, size_t m, double podrucje[n][m])
{
...
}
double (*podrucje)[n] = malloc(sizeof(double[n][m]));
myfunc(n, m, podrucje);
For the function you just have to ensure that the declarations of n and m come first, before the matrix.
There are several ways to dynamically allocate memory for an NxM array. Here are two:
You can declare a pointer to an M-element array, and then malloc N instances of it:
double (*podrucje)[11] = malloc(sizeof *podrucje * 123);
As of C89, you don't need to cast the result of malloc, and the practice is discouraged. Also, note that the operand to sizeof is the expression *podrucje; this gives me the same result as sizeof (double) * 11.
You would index this array as podrucje[i][j] like any other 2D array. podrucje[i] implicitly dereferences the pointer (remember that a[i] is equivalent to *(a + i)) so you don't have to do anything funky with it.
You would use it in a function as follows:
void init(double (*podrucje)[11], size_t rows)
{
size_t i, j;
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++)
for (j = 0; j < 11; j++)
podrucje[i][j] = 0.0;
}
which would be called as
init(podrucje, 123);
The drawback to this method is that the function can only operate on Nx11 arrays; if you're using a C99 compiler or a C2011 compiler that supports variable length arrays, you could specify the number of columns as a runtime variable:
void foo(void)
{
size_t rows = 123, cols = 11;
double (*podrucje)[cols] = malloc(sizeof *podrucje * rows);
if (podrucje)
init(cols, podrucje, rows);
...
}
// cols must be declared before it can be used
// in an array declarator
//
void init(size_t cols, double(*podrucje)[cols], size_t rows)
{
size_t i, j;
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++)
for (j = 0; j < cols; j++)
podrucje[i][j] = 0.0;
}
When you're done with the array, deallocate it as follows:
free(podrucje);
The other approach is to allocate each row separately, as follows:
size_t rows = 123, cols = 11;
double **podrucje = malloc(sizeof *podrucje * rows);
if (!podrucje)
{
// malloc failed; handle allocation error here
}
else
{
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++)
{
podrucje[i] = malloc(sizeof *podrucje[i] * cols);
if (!podrucje[i])
{
// malloc failed; handle allocation error here
}
}
}
And you would use it in a function as follows:
void foo()
{
double **podrucje;
// allocate array as above
init(foo, rows, cols);
...
}
void init(double **podrucje, size_t rows, size_t cols)
{
size_t i, j;
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++)
for (j = 0; j < cols; j++)
podrucje[i][j] = 0.0;
}
When you're finished with the array, deallocate it as follows:
for(i = 0; i < rows; i++)
free(podrucje[i]);
free(podrucje);
The first method allocates memory as a single, contiguous block; the second allocates it in a series of smaller, discontinuous chunks. If your array is especially big or your heap especially fragmented, the first method may fail where the second will succeed. If you're working with a compiler that doesn't support variable-length arrays, the first method is much less flexible, because the number of columns must be specified at compile time.
How could the same indexing method work for both forms?
In the first case, each podrucje[i] is an 11-element array of double; indexing it with j works like any other array. In the second case, each podrucje[i] is a pointer to double. Since a[i] is evaluated as *(a + i), array indexing works on pointer expressions just as well as array expressions.
int print_func(char((*p)[26])[10])
{
int i = 0;
for (i=0; i < 26 ; i++) {
fprintf(stderr, "%02d:%.*s\n", i, 10, p[0][i]);
}
return (0);
}
int main(void)
{
int nrow = 26;
int ncol = 10;
char((*p)[26])[10] = (char((*)[26])[10])(0);
char(*q)[10];
char c = 'a';
int i = 0;
p = (char((*)[26])[10])malloc(sizeof(char) * nrow * ncol);
if ((char((*)[26])[10])0 == p) {
return (-1);
}
for (i=0, q=p[0]; i < nrow ; i++) {
memset(q, c, sizeof(char) * ncol);
c++;
q++;
}
for (i=0,q=p[0] ; i < nrow ; i++) {
fprintf(stderr, "%.*s\n", 10, q);
q++;
}
p[0][8][0]='z';
getchar();
print_func(p);
return (0);
}

How do I work with dynamic multi-dimensional arrays in C?

Does someone know how I can use dynamically allocated multi-dimensional arrays using C? Is that possible?
Since C99, C has 2D arrays with dynamical bounds. If you want to avoid that such beast are allocated on the stack (which you should), you can allocate them easily in one go as the following
double (*A)[n] = malloc(sizeof(double[n][n]));
and that's it. You can then easily use it as you are used for 2D arrays with something like A[i][j]. And don't forget that one at the end
free(A);
Randy Meyers wrote series of articles explaining variable length arrays (VLAs).
With dynamic allocation, using malloc:
int** x;
x = malloc(dimension1_max * sizeof(*x));
for (int i = 0; i < dimension1_max; i++) {
x[i] = malloc(dimension2_max * sizeof(x[0]));
}
//Writing values
x[0..(dimension1_max-1)][0..(dimension2_max-1)] = Value;
[...]
for (int i = 0; i < dimension1_max; i++) {
free(x[i]);
}
free(x);
This allocates an 2D array of size dimension1_max * dimension2_max. So, for example, if you want a 640*480 array (f.e. pixels of an image), use dimension1_max = 640, dimension2_max = 480. You can then access the array using x[d1][d2] where d1 = 0..639, d2 = 0..479.
But a search on SO or Google also reveals other possibilities, for example in this SO question
Note that your array won't allocate a contiguous region of memory (640*480 bytes) in that case which could give problems with functions that assume this. So to get the array satisfy the condition, replace the malloc block above with this:
int** x;
int* temp;
x = malloc(dimension1_max * sizeof(*x));
temp = malloc(dimension1_max * dimension2_max * sizeof(x[0]));
for (int i = 0; i < dimension1_max; i++) {
x[i] = temp + (i * dimension2_max);
}
[...]
free(temp);
free(x);
Basics
Arrays in c are declared and accessed using the [] operator. So that
int ary1[5];
declares an array of 5 integers. Elements are numbered from zero so ary1[0] is the first element, and ary1[4] is the last element. Note1: There is no default initialization, so the memory occupied by the array may initially contain anything. Note2: ary1[5] accesses memory in an undefined state (which may not even be accessible to you), so don't do it!
Multi-dimensional arrays are implemented as an array of arrays (of arrays (of ... ) ). So
float ary2[3][5];
declares an array of 3 one-dimensional arrays of 5 floating point numbers each. Now ary2[0][0] is the first element of the first array, ary2[0][4] is the last element of the first array, and ary2[2][4] is the last element of the last array. The '89 standard requires this data to be contiguous (sec. A8.6.2 on page 216 of my K&R 2nd. ed.) but seems to be agnostic on padding.
Trying to go dynamic in more than one dimension
If you don't know the size of the array at compile time, you'll want to dynamically allocate the array. It is tempting to try
double *buf3;
buf3 = malloc(3*5*sizeof(double));
/* error checking goes here */
which should work if the compiler does not pad the allocation (stick extra space between the one-dimensional arrays). It might be safer to go with:
double *buf4;
buf4 = malloc(sizeof(double[3][5]));
/* error checking */
but either way the trick comes at dereferencing time. You can't write buf[i][j] because buf has the wrong type. Nor can you use
double **hdl4 = (double**)buf;
hdl4[2][3] = 0; /* Wrong! */
because the compiler expects hdl4 to be the address of an address of a double. Nor can you use double incomplete_ary4[][]; because this is an error;
So what can you do?
Do the row and column arithmetic yourself
Allocate and do the work in a function
Use an array of pointers (the mechanism qrdl is talking about)
Do the math yourself
Simply compute memory offset to each element like this:
for (i=0; i<3; ++i){
for(j=0; j<3; ++j){
buf3[i * 5 + j] = someValue(i,j); /* Don't need to worry about
padding in this case */
}
}
Allocate and do the work in a function
Define a function that takes the needed size as an argument and proceed as normal
void dary(int x, int y){
double ary4[x][y];
ary4[2][3] = 5;
}
Of course, in this case ary4 is a local variable and you can not return it: all the work with the array must be done in the function you call of in functions that it calls.
An array of pointers
Consider this:
double **hdl5 = malloc(3*sizeof(double*));
/* Error checking */
for (i=0; i<3; ++i){
hdl5[i] = malloc(5*sizeof(double))
/* Error checking */
}
Now hdl5 points to an array of pointers each of which points to an array of doubles. The cool bit is that you can use the two-dimensional array notation to access this structure---hdl5[0][2] gets the middle element of the first row---but this is none-the-less a different kind of object than a two-dimensional array declared by double ary[3][5];.
This structure is more flexible then a two dimensional array (because the rows need not be the same length), but accessing it will generally be slower and it requires more memory (you need a place to hold the intermediate pointers).
Note that since I haven't setup any guards you'll have to keep track of the size of all the arrays yourself.
Arithmetic
c provides no support for vector, matrix or tensor math, you'll have to implement it yourself, or bring in a library.
Multiplication by a scaler and addition and subtraction of arrays of the same rank are easy: just loop over the elements and perform the operation as you go. Inner products are similarly straight forward.
Outer products mean more loops.
If you know the number of columns at compile time, it's pretty simple:
#define COLS ...
...
size_t rows;
// get number of rows
T (*ap)[COLS] = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows); // ap is a *pointer to an array* of T
You can treat ap like any 2D array:
ap[i][j] = x;
When you're done you deallocate it as
free(ap);
If you don't know the number of columns at compile time, but you're working with a C99 compiler or a C2011 compiler that supports variable-length arrays, it's still pretty simple:
size_t rows;
size_t cols;
// get rows and cols
T (*ap)[cols] = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows);
...
ap[i][j] = x;
...
free(ap);
If you don't know the number of columns at compile time and you're working with a version of C that doesn't support variable-length arrays, then you'll need to do something different. If you need all of the elements to be allocated in a contiguous chunk (like a regular array), then you can allocate the memory as a 1D array, and compute a 1D offset:
size_t rows, cols;
// get rows and columns
T *ap = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows * cols);
...
ap[i * rows + j] = x;
...
free(ap);
If you don't need the memory to be contiguous, you can follow a two-step allocation method:
size_t rows, cols;
// get rows and cols
T **ap = malloc(sizeof *ap * rows);
if (ap)
{
size_t i = 0;
for (i = 0; i < cols; i++)
{
ap[i] = malloc(sizeof *ap[i] * cols);
}
}
ap[i][j] = x;
Since allocation was a two-step process, deallocation also needs to be a two-step process:
for (i = 0; i < cols; i++)
free(ap[i]);
free(ap);
malloc will do.
int rows = 20;
int cols = 20;
int *array;
array = malloc(rows * cols * sizeof(int));
Refer the below article for help:-
http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs2704/spring00/mcquain/Notes/4up/Managing2DArrays.pdf
Here is working code that defines a subroutine make_3d_array to allocate a multidimensional 3D array with N1, N2 and N3 elements in each dimension, and then populates it with random numbers. You can use the notation A[i][j][k] to access its elements.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
// Method to allocate a 2D array of floats
float*** make_3d_array(int nx, int ny, int nz) {
float*** arr;
int i,j;
arr = (float ***) malloc(nx*sizeof(float**));
for (i = 0; i < nx; i++) {
arr[i] = (float **) malloc(ny*sizeof(float*));
for(j = 0; j < ny; j++) {
arr[i][j] = (float *) malloc(nz * sizeof(float));
}
}
return arr;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int i, j, k;
size_t N1=10,N2=20,N3=5;
// allocates 3D array
float ***ran = make_3d_array(N1, N2, N3);
// initialize pseudo-random number generator
srand(time(NULL));
// populates the array with random numbers
for (i = 0; i < N1; i++){
for (j=0; j<N2; j++) {
for (k=0; k<N3; k++) {
ran[i][j][k] = ((float)rand()/(float)(RAND_MAX));
}
}
}
// prints values
for (i=0; i<N1; i++) {
for (j=0; j<N2; j++) {
for (k=0; k<N3; k++) {
printf("A[%d][%d][%d] = %f \n", i,j,k,ran[i][j][k]);
}
}
}
free(ran);
}
There's no way to allocate the whole thing in one go. Instead, create an array of pointers, then, for each pointer, create the memory for it. For example:
int** array;
array = (int**)malloc(sizeof(int*) * 50);
for(int i = 0; i < 50; i++)
array[i] = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int) * 50);
Of course, you can also declare the array as int* array[50] and skip the first malloc, but the second set is needed in order to dynamically allocate the required storage.
It is possible to hack a way to allocate it in a single step, but it would require a custom lookup function, but writing that in such a way that it will always work can be annoying. An example could be L(arr,x,y,max_x) arr[(y)*(max_x) + (x)], then malloc a block of 50*50 ints or whatever and access using that L macro, e.g.
#define L(arr,x,y,max_x) arr[(y)*(max_x) + (x)]
int dim_x = 50;
int dim_y = 50;
int* array = malloc(dim_x*dim_y*sizeof(int));
int foo = L(array, 4, 6, dim_x);
But that's much nastier unless you know the effects of what you're doing with the preprocessor macro.
int rows, columns;
/* initialize rows and columns to the desired value */
arr = (int**)malloc(rows*sizeof(int*));
for(i=0;i<rows;i++)
{
arr[i] = (int*)malloc(cols*sizeof(int));
}
// use new instead of malloc as using malloc leads to memory leaks
`enter code here
int **adj_list = new int*[rowsize];
for(int i = 0; i < rowsize; ++i)
{
adj_list[i] = new int[colsize];
}

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