Allocating a dynamic 2D array - c

Question

Everything seems to work fine while dynamically creating the array
but core dumped while trying to print it backwards.
It managed to print only the last string and then segmentation fault.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void init_array(void ***pt, int *ptlen) {
*pt=NULL;
*ptlen=0;
}
void trim_array(void ***pt, int *ptlen, int len) {
*pt=(void**)realloc(*pt, len*sizeof(void*));
*ptlen=len;
}
void write_array(void ***pt, int *ptlen, int pos, void *v) {
if (pos >= *ptlen)
trim_array(pt, ptlen, pos+1);
*pt[pos]=v;
}
void *read_array(void ***pt, int *ptlen, int pos) {
return(*pt[pos]);
}
void destroy_array(void ***pt, int *ptlen) {
trim_array(pt, ptlen, 0);
*pt=NULL;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
void **t;
int tlen;
void ***pt = &t;
int *ptlen = &tlen;
char s[256],*p; int i;
init_array(pt, ptlen);
i = 0;
do {
printf("give name:\n");
scanf("%255s",s);
write_array(pt, ptlen, i, (void*)strdup(s));
i++;
} while (strcmp(s,"end"));
for (--i; i>=0; i--) {
p = (char*)read_array(pt, ptlen, i);
printf("%s\n",p);
free(p);
}
destroy_array(pt, ptlen);
return(0);
}

Answer 1

The [] operator has a higher precedence than the * operator. You need to change:
*pt[pos]
to:
(*pt)[pos]
in both places where it occurs.
This error is a direct result of writing almost deliberately confusing code with runaway indirection. You'd save yourself a lot of trouble and make things much easier if you wrapped a lot of this stuff in a struct and created some proper interface functions for it.
Something like this would be a bit better form (although "array" is not really a great name for this data structure):
main.c:
#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200809L
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "array.h"
#define MAX_BUFFER_LEN 255
int main(void) {
Array myarray = array_init(10, true);
/* Loop for input until user enters "end" */
char buffer[MAX_BUFFER_LEN];
while ( true ) {
printf("Give name: ");
fflush(stdout);
/* Get input and remove trailing '\n' if necessary */
fgets(buffer, MAX_BUFFER_LEN, stdin);
size_t last = strlen(buffer) - 1;
if ( buffer[last] == '\n' ) {
buffer[last] = '\0';
}
/* Terminate loop on "end" without adding to array... */
if ( !strcmp(buffer, "end") ) {
break;
}
/* ...or append input to array and continue loop */
array_append(myarray, strdup(buffer));
};
/* Output contents of array */
size_t n = array_size(myarray);
for ( size_t i = 0; i < n; ++i ) {
char * data = array_getdata(myarray, i);
printf("%zu: %s\n", i + 1, data);
}
/* Clean up and exit */
array_destroy(myarray);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
array.h:
#ifndef ARRAY_TYPE_H
#define ARRAY_TYPE_H
#include <stdbool.h>
typedef struct array_type * Array; /* Opaque type for user */
Array array_init(const size_t capacity, const bool free_on_delete);
void array_append(Array array, void * data);
size_t array_size(const Array array);
void * array_getdata(Array array, const size_t index);
void array_deletetop(Array array);
void array_destroy(Array array);
#endif /* ARRAY_TYPE_H */
array.c:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include "array.h"
/* Struct definition is visible only to implementation */
struct array_type {
void ** elements;
size_t capacity;
size_t top;
bool free_on_delete;
};
/* Static functions used by the implementation */
static bool array_isfull(Array array) {
return (array->top + 1) == array->capacity;
}
static void array_resize(Array array, const size_t new_capacity) {
array->capacity = new_capacity;
array->elements = realloc(array->elements,
array->capacity * sizeof (*array->elements));
if ( array->elements == NULL ) {
fputs("Error allocating memory.", stderr);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
}
/* Interface functions */
Array array_init(const size_t capacity, const bool free_on_delete) {
struct array_type * new_array = malloc(sizeof *new_array);
if ( new_array == NULL ) {
fputs("Error allocating memory.", stderr);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
new_array->elements = malloc(capacity * sizeof (*new_array->elements));
if ( new_array->elements == NULL ) {
fputs("Error allocating memory.", stderr);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
new_array->capacity = capacity;
new_array->top = 0;
new_array->free_on_delete = free_on_delete;
return new_array;
}
void array_append(Array array, void * data) {
if ( array_isfull(array) ) {
array_resize(array, array->capacity * 2);
}
array->elements[array->top++] = data;
}
size_t array_size(const Array array) {
return array->top;
}
void * array_getdata(Array array, const size_t index) {
return array->elements[index];
}
void array_deletetop(Array array) {
if ( array->free_on_delete ) {
free(array->elements[array->top - 1]);
}
array->elements[--array->top] = NULL;
}
void array_destroy(Array array) {
while ( array->top > 0 ) {
array_deletetop(array);
}
free(array->elements);
free(array);
}
Sample output:
paul#local:~/src/c/scratch/array$ ./array
Give name: Dave Dee
Give name: Dozy
Give name: Beaky
Give name: Mick
Give name: Titch
Give name: end
1: Dave Dee
2: Dozy
3: Beaky
4: Mick
5: Titch
paul#local:~/src/c/scratch/array$