Structs and functions - c

Question

I've declared a struct like this.
typedef struct fileProperties //the struct.
{
char name[256]; /*File or directory name*/
int mode; /*protection and file type*/
int userId; /*User ID of owner*/
int groupId; /*Group ID of owner*/
int size; /*file size in bytes*/
char modifyTime[50]; /*modify time as a string*/
} FILES;
I would like to write to the properties of file1, in a function call like this.
int createStruct()
{
char structBuffer[251];
printf("\n > Please enter a file name to create a struct for.> ");
inputFix(structBuffer, STRUCT_SIZE);
strncpy(file1.name, structBuffer, sizeof(structBuffer));
printf(" > Created.");
return 0;
}
Where inputFix is:
void inputFix(char string[],int length)
{
int ch, len = 0;
fgets(string, length, stdin);
string[strcspn(string, "\r\n")] = '\0';
len = strlen(string);
if (len == length - 1)
{
while((ch = getchar()) != '\n' && ch != EOF);
}
}
STRUCT_SIZE is defined as a size of 250.
At the top of my code I have this statement.
FILES file1;
I have read a couple of tutorials from coding unit and tutorials point in relation to structs.
I can't see why i get an error:
functions.c:59:3: error: unknown type name ‘FILES’
functions.c:62:52: error: request for member ‘name’ in something not a structure or union
Is it not worth using typedef? Am I missing something in relation to using structs, if so a link to another similar question would be appreciated.
It might be relevant that this program is split into 2 files main.c functions. c & .h. Do I need to include the struct in the linker file? the main.c only calls createStruct().

Answer 1

I suppose that the definition of variable FILE file1 is in main.c while function createStruct in file functions.c. In such case, you need to put:
extern FILES file1;
into your hedaer file and to include it at the beginning of functions.c. Otherwise the compiler does not know that there is the variable file1 defined in another file.
So your header.h will look like this:
typedef struct fileProperties //the struct.
{
char name[256]; /*File or directory name*/
int mode; /*protection and file type*/
int userId; /*User ID of owner*/
int groupId; /*Group ID of owner*/
int size; /*file size in bytes*/
char modifyTime[50]; /*modify time as a string*/
} FILES;
extern FILES file1;
Your main.c will look like:
#include "header.h"
FILES file1;
...
and your functions.c will look like
#include "header.h"
int createStruct()
{
...
strncpy(file1.name, structBuffer, sizeof(structBuffer));
...