Problem with function declaration

Linh · 04-26-2004, 02:24 PM

C program in Linux
Problem with function declaration

=================
root:~# gcc -o function_1 function_1.c

function_1.c: In function `function_1':
function_1.c:12: parse error before `char'
function_1.c:17: warning: passing arg 1 of `strncpy' makes pointer from integer without a cast

--------------------------------------------------------

Code:

#include <stdio.h>         
#include <stdlib.h>       
#include <string.h>       

char function_1 (array_octal, process_name)
 char array_octal[112], char process_name[40];

 {
   char string_abc[12]  = "hello there";

   strncpy (process_name, string_abc, 12);
   return process_name;

 }

main ()

 {
   char array_octal_var1[112];
   char process_name_var1[40];

   function_1 (array_octal_var1, process_name_var1);
   printf ("process_name_var1 = %s", process_name_var1);
 }

deiussum · 04-26-2004, 03:16 PM

You need a semi-colon after char array_octal[112].

Also, arrays are always passed by pointer in C/C++, so specifying a size for a char array parameter does nothing. Instead, you should either use:

Code:

char function_1 (array_octal, process_name)
 char array_octal[]; // Bold didn't work in code tags.. right here
 char process_name[];
 {
   char string_abc[12]  = "hello there";

   strncpy (process_name, string_abc, 12);
   return process_name;

 }

Or:

Code:

char function_1 (array_octal, process_name)
 char *array_octal; // Bold didn't work in code tags.. right here
 char *process_name;
 {
   char string_abc[12]  = "hello there";

   strncpy (process_name, string_abc, 12);
   return process_name;

 }

Linh · 04-26-2004, 04:48 PM

Thank you deiussum for your help.

Here is where all the confusion comes in with regard to syntax.
I tried the code below and it also works. I have not tried the two solutions that you have suggested though.

Code:

char*  function_1 (char array_octal [], char process_name [])

 {
   char string_abc[12]  = "hello there";

   strncpy (process_name, string_abc, 12);
   return process_name;

 }

deiussum · 04-26-2004, 04:58 PM

Yeah, that is also a valid syntax, and actually is generally preferred for most things. I think the GNU coding standards generally prefer the "old" C-style declarations you had before.

Anyway, the problem you had before is that you had a comma, where you needed a semi-colon. I'll go back to my old post and put that semi-colon in bold for you, so you can see where your previous syntax was messed up.