passing structs into function by reference in C code (compilation error) - c

Is there anything wrong with this?
According to the compiler there is an error in this line
void memory_allocation(struct a *s1,struct b *s2,struct c *s3,int size)
main looks like
main()
{
struct mystack
{
int head;
void **stack;
void **stackcopy;
int stack_size;
} *ptr ;
struct professor
{
char flag;
char surname[50];
char coursbhe[50];
} *prof;
struct student
{
char flag;
char surname[50];
int semester;
} *stud;
(*ptr).stack_size=getstacksize();
memory_allocation(&ptr,&prof,&stud,(*ptr).stack_size);
}

Your types are local to the function (main()) in which they are defined. That means you cannot reliably pass variables of those types to any other function. You should define the types outside of main() so that other functions can use the same types. There is a concept of type equivalence, but there's also a concept called DRY — Don't Repeat Yourself. The only way another function could use those types is by writing them out again, repeating yourself. Don't!
Your types need to be available outside the function. You don't have to define any global variables when you define the types. For example, you could use:
struct mystack
{
int head;
void **stack;
void **stackcopy;
int stack_size;
};
struct professor
{
char flag;
char surname[50];
char coursbhe[50];
};
struct student
{
char flag;
char surname[50];
int semester;
};
extern int getstacksize(void);
extern void memory_allocation(struct stack **s1, struct professor **s2,
struct student **s3, int size);
extern void memory_release(struct stack *stack, struct professor *prof,
struct student *stud);
int main(void)
{
struct mystack *ptr = 0;
struct professor *prof = 0;
struct student *stud = 0;
int stack_size = getstacksize();
memory_allocation(&ptr, &prof, &stud, stack_size);
memory_release(ptr, prof, stud);
return 0;
}
Note that the memory allocation function cannot do anything useful unless:
It knows about the types of the structures it is to allocate.
It is passed pointers to the pointers so it can modify the actual pointers in the main().
The memory release function doesn't need pointer to pointer syntax, though it could be used and if it was used, the memory release function should set the pointed at pointers to NULL when the memory is released to minimize the risk of abusing already freed memory.
The additional variable stack_size is needed because ptr doesn't point to anything when getstacksize() is called, so referencing (*ptr).stack_size will probably crash and definitely not work correctly. Alternatively, you could change the definition of the variable to stack mystack stack; and then use stack.stack_size = getstacksize(); and pass stack.stack_size to the allocation function, but then you don't need the memory allocator to allocate the stack as a whole any more. Separation of duty suggests that there will be a separate function to allocate the stack internals.
All the material from the first struct mystack line down to but not including int main(void) is eligible to be put into a header so that the implementation of the functions can see the same type and function definitions as the main() program can see.

Here is the solution....
use your prototype of function as below
void memory_allocation(struct mystack *s1 , struct professor *s2 , struct student *s3 , int d)
because you are calling with defined struct not other and call should be like
memory_allocation(ptr,prof,stud,(*ptr).stack_size);
remove "&" sign or remove *s1 to s1(have to pass address ,not address of address)
please change both things, it will work,my side its working..

Related

Struct with pointer to function

can you please explain in details this line of code inside struct:
There is a pointer to function but why would you reference it to struct?
void (*function)(struct Structure *);
what does this mean
(struct Structure *)?
(struct Structure *)
It means that the function have a struct Structure * argument. Actually it will make more sense with (struct Structure *variable of struct).
In this way, you can use a pointer to point a struct and should put the address of the struct variable which can be used in the function.
#include <stdio.h>
typedef struct circle{
int rad;
int area;
} Circle;
void ShowCircleInfo(Circle *info)
{
printf("rad value: %d\n", info->rad);
printf("area value: %d", info->area);
}
int main(void)
{
Circle circle_one;
circle_one.rad = 2;
circle_one.area = 3;
ShowCircleInfo(&circle_one);
return 0;
}
void (*function)(struct Structure *); declares function to be a pointer to a function that has a parameter of type struct Structure * and does not return a value.
For example
#include <stdio.h>
struct Structure {
int a;
void (*function)(struct Structure *);
};
void foo(struct Structure *a) {
if (a->function == NULL) a->function = foo;
a->a++;
printf("%d\n", a->a);
}
int main(void) {
struct Structure a = {42, foo};
struct Structure b = {0}; // don't call b.function just yet!!
a.function(&b); // foo(&b)
b.function(&a); // foo(&a)
}
See code running at https://ideone.com/7E74gb
In C, function pointer declarations have almost the same structure as function headers.
Only the function name will change to have some parantheses and a "*" in it, and the arguments won't have names, because only their types are important when using pointers (we don't access the values of the arguments, so we don't need their names).
They basically look like this:
<return_value> (*<function_name>)(<argument_list>)
So, for example, the function pointer for the function
void swap(int* a, int* b);
would be
void (*swap_ptr)(int*, int*);
Notice that the name of the pointer is in the place of the name of the function, and looks a bit odd compared to normal pointer declarations.
An excellent reading on this topic (you can skip the C++ stuff): https://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/function-pointers.html

Using a function from a function array stored in a struct in C

I declared a struct like this one :
typedef struct s_data {
char buff[2048];
int len;
void *func[10];
struct data *next;
} t_data;
In my code, when passing a *data, I assigned some functions (just giving one so it is more understandable)
void init_data(t_data *data)
{
data->len = 0;
data->func[0] = &myfirstfunctions;
//doing the same for 9 others
}
My first function would be something taking as argument *data, and an int.
Then, I try to use this function in another function, doing
data->func[0](data, var);
I tried this and a couple of other syntaxes involving trying to adress (*func[0]) but none of them work. I kind of understood from other much more complex questions over there that I shouldn't store my function like this, or should cast it in another typedef, but I did not really understand everything as I am kind of new in programming.
void* can only be used reliably as a generic object pointer ("pointer to variables"). Not as a generic function pointer.
You can however convert between different function pointer types safely, as long as you only call the actual function with the correct type. So it is possible to do just use any function pointer type as the generic one, like this:
void (*func[10])(void);
...
func[0] = ((void)(*)(void))&myfirstfunction;
...
((whatever)func[0]) (arguments); // call the function
As you might note, the function pointer syntax in C is horrible. So I'd recommend using typedefs:
typedef void genfunc_t (void);
typedef int somefunc_t (whatever*); // assuming this is the type of myfirstfunction
Then the code turns far easier to read and write:
genfunc_t* func [10];
...
func[0] = (genfunc_t*)&myfirstfunction;
...
((somefunc_t*)func[0]) (arguments);
If all of your functions will have the same signature, you can do this like:
#include <stdio.h>
typedef void (*func)(void *, int);
struct s_data {
char buff[2048];
int len;
func f[10];
struct s_data *next;
};
static void
my_first_function(void *d, int x)
{
(void)d;
printf("%d\n", x + 2);
}
static void
init_data(struct s_data *data)
{
data->len = 1;
data->f[0] = my_first_function;
}
int
main(void)
{
struct s_data d;
init_data(&d);
d.f[0](NULL, 5);
return 0;
}
If your functions have different signatures, you will want to either use a union, or perhaps you will need several different members of the struct to store the function pointers.
The problem is that you haven't actually declared an array of function pointers. What you actually did is an array of pointers to void.
The syntax of declaring a pointer to function is as following:
function_return_type (*pointer_name)(arg1_type,arg2_type,...);
Then you can create an array of pointers to functions:
function_return_type (*arr_name[])(arg1_type, arg2_type,...)
Therefore, the declaration of your structure should look like this:
typedef void (*pointer_to_function)(void *, int);
struct s_data {
char buff[2048];
int len;
pointer_to_function array_of_pointeters[10];
struct s_data *next;
};
Good luck:)

allocating static memory for character pointer defined in struct in C

I have structure with char pointer. I want to allocate static memory to this struct member. How can I do this?
Example:
struct my_data {
int x;
bool y;
char *buf;
};
How to assign 10 bytes static memory to this char pointer? I know malloc to assign dynamic memory allocation. Is this Ok?
struct my_data data;
char buffer[10];
data.buf = &buffer[0];
PS: I am not allowed to change this struct and use malloc to assign dynamic memory.
That will be even simpler (array decays to pointer automatically):
data.buf = buffer;
note that buffer must have an ever-lasting lifetime or you have to make sure that it's not deallocated (i.e. routine where it is declared returns) while you're using it or referencing it.
Allocating from a subroutine and returning will cause underfined behaviour because memory will be deallocated on return.
For instance don't do this (as we often see in questions here):
struct my_data foo()
{
struct my_data data;
char buffer[10];
data.buf = &buffer[0];
return data;
}
int main()
{
struct my_data d = foo(); // buffer is already gone
Bugs introduced by this kind of UB are nasty because the code seems to work for a while, until the unallocated buffer gets clobbered by another function call.

C void Pointer on mainframe

I'm currently working on modifying a dump program, but I can't figure out how to properly navigate with a void pointer. Below is the function that I'm working in, and the instruction that I'm trying to execute. I've tried casting mem to a struct, but I'm not sure of the sytnax and I keep getting an error. For the code below, the specific error I'm getting is:
47 | mem = mem->tcbtio
===========> .........a..............................................
*=ERROR===========> a - CCN3122 Expecting pointer to struct or union.
Here is my function:
void hexdump(void *mem, unsigned int len)
{
mem = mem->tcbtio;
...
}
Here are my struct defintions:
struct psa {
char psastuff[540];
struct tcb *psatold;
char filler[4];
struct ascb *psaaold;
};
struct tcb {
struct prb *tcbrb;
char tcbstuff[8];
struct tiot *tcbtio;
};
struct tiot {
char tiocnjob[8];
char tiocpstn[8];
char tiocjstn[8];
};
I need to keep it as a void pointer, as I need to cast it to char and int later on in the function.
It seems as you are expecting to find a tcb struct, starting at the address pointed by mem, but the aim of the code is obscure and the question not clear.
If this is really the case, you can try this:
mem = ((struct tcb *)mem)->tcbtio;
You cannot dereference a void pointer. You can think it this way if you have a void pointer, how will compiler know what type of address it is holding. And by doing mem = mem->tcbtio how much offset it has to make.
Modify your function as:
void hexdump(void *mem, unsigned int len)
{
struct tcbtio *mem2;
mem2 = ((struct tcb*) mem) -> tcbtio;
...
// Use mem2 later
}

How to Pop different types of Structs from a Stack

I have a stack that contains two types of struct. Struct Stud and Struct Prof.
When I want to push something I created two Push functions for both structs. Although I would like it to be with one function but its ok I can bear with it.
Now to Pop. If I want to Pop a student from the Stack, do I have to make a Pop function specifically for Students only? The same with Professors?
How can I store the item if I don't know what type is it? What type must the element be, to store the item there?
Here are the structs:
struct MyStack
{
int head;
void **stack;
int size;
};
typedef struct MyStack STACK;
struct stud
{
char flag;
char fname[50];
int semester;
};
struct prof
{
char flag;
char fname[50];
char course[30];
};
Now to create the Pop function. What do type of item do I pass in the function?
int Pop(STACK *stack,int *head,??? *elem)
{
if(stack->head<=-1)
return 0;
*elem=stack->stack[*head];
*head--;
return 1;
}
You have to encode the type information when you push, simplest is probably to type tag:
#define STUD 0
#define PROF 1
struct stack_entry {
int type;
void *item;
};
struct MyStack
{
int head;
struct stack_entry *stack;
int size;
};
Then change your push functions to attach the right tag when you push. Then, in pop, simplest again is probably to just return a stack_entry struct, and let the calling function figure it out. At that point you might want a snazzier name than "stack_entry" though. Also, it would be slightly preferable to use a union:
struct stack_entry {
int type;
union {
struct stud *stud;
struct prof *prof;
} item;
}
Because then the compiler can help you out a bit, but of course you still have to be more or less as careful as you would be with a void *.
Edit: initialization...
You don't have to mark then end of the buffer with anything, since you have a size variable in the struct. But if you wanted to do that I would have that be its own type
#define END_OF_BUFFER 1
#define STUD 2
#define PROF 3
And then for init you could do:
stack->size = size;
stack->stack = calloc(sizeof(*stack->stack), size + 1);
stack->stack[size].type = END_OF_BUFFER;
stack->head=-1;
Though I tend to use "head" to refer to a pointer that points to the next place to write to, but I'm not sure how standard that is. But the buffer is an array of strack_entries, not void *'s.

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