Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]
Groups > comp.lang.c > #163473
| From | David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.c |
| Subject | Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it |
| Date | 2021-11-18 16:13 +0100 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <sn5qji$3ri$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | <86tughjjm7.fsf@levado.to> <smmdcc$1n62$1@gioia.aioe.org> <87pmr5qih6.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <smmhhg$bfh$1@dont-email.me> <sn5pcl$pru$1@dont-email.me> |
On 18/11/2021 15:53, pozz wrote:
> Il 12/11/2021 21:07, David Brown ha scritto:
>> On 12/11/2021 20:31, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>>> Guillaume <message@bottle.org> writes:
>>>
>>>> Le 12/11/2021 à 19:48, Meredith Montgomery a écrit :
>>>>> Why would someone put a lonely array inside a structure?
>>>>> struct ip_address { unsigned char d[4]; };
>>>>> Would it be because they want to (in the future) add more members to
>>>>> this structure?
>>>>
>>>> That can be a good reason. Anticipating makes for much more
>>>> maintainable code.
>>>>
>>>> But another reason here is that it's a way to make it possible to copy
>>>> arrays. In C, you can't copy arrays.
>>>>
>>>> unsigned char d1[4], d2[4];
>>>>
>>>> d2 = d1; // invalid C
>>>>
>>>> You have to either copy item by item in a loop, or use memcpy() or
>>>> something similar.
>>>>
>>>> If you encapsulate an array in a struct, now you can do it more
>>>> elegantly:
>>>>
>>>> struct ip_address ip1, ip2;
>>>>
>>>> ip2 = ip1; // perfectly valid C, and will copy the whole array
>>>
>>> And a special case of copying is passing values to a function. That
>>> might even be the /main/ reason for putting an array into a struct,
>>> though only the code's author really knows.
>>>
>>
>> That is certainly one reason why I do it. Basically, it means you have
>> a "value" type that does not decay to a pointer. It also means the size
>> is fixed and available via "sizeof" as it is passed around, and perhaps
>> most importantly it is a specific type. The "struct ip_address" here is
>> a named type that cannot be confused with any other array of unsigned
>> char, nor a pointer to an unsigned char.
>>
>
> Regarding your two last sentences, the same can be achieved with:
>
> typedef unsigned char ip_address[4];
>
> So I don't think those two last arguments are the real reason to embed a
> fixed-sized array into a struct.
>
No, it is not the same thing at all.
Try compiling:
typedef unsigned char ip_address[4];
ip_address a;
unsigned char * p = a;
Since "a" is just an array of unsigned char, most uses of it in an
expression decay to a pointer to the first element. "typedef", despite
the name, does not define a type - it gives an alias to an existing
type. If you want to make a new type so that pointers to it are
incompatible with other pointer types, you need to put it in a struct
(or a union, but that might seem a little odd). And wrapping it in a
struct (or union) is the only way to stop this decay, so that the type
retains its value and size even when passed into and out of functions.
Back to comp.lang.c | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread
on why declare a struct with a single array in it Meredith Montgomery <mmontgomery@levado.to> - 2021-11-12 15:48 -0300
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2021-11-12 19:56 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2021-11-12 19:31 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-12 21:07 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-11-18 15:53 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-18 16:13 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-11-18 16:26 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-11-18 17:22 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-11-18 18:04 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Meredith Montgomery <mmontgomery@levado.to> - 2021-11-19 16:00 -0300
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-18 22:58 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2021-11-19 17:53 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-11-19 11:27 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2021-11-19 20:46 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-11-19 12:52 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-20 13:36 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-20 14:49 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-11-20 15:52 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-21 00:19 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2021-11-20 20:44 -0500
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-21 14:51 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-11-21 19:32 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-21 21:51 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-11-22 03:17 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-22 11:31 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2021-12-10 04:21 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-10 14:43 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-22 11:56 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-10 01:47 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-10 10:55 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-10 14:51 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-11 06:56 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-11 16:04 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-11 17:23 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-01-21 05:30 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-21 13:49 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-12-11 12:17 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2021-12-12 13:00 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-12 08:25 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2021-12-12 17:38 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Dick <thiebauddick2@aol.com> - 2021-12-12 16:19 -0500
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2021-12-13 08:06 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2021-12-13 01:30 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-13 09:34 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Robert Latest <boblatest@yahoo.com> - 2021-12-13 18:53 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2021-12-13 20:38 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-15 00:38 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2021-12-15 11:21 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-15 10:26 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-15 10:45 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-10 10:52 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2021-11-22 04:06 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-22 11:32 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-11-22 13:00 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-11-21 13:08 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2021-11-20 20:44 -0500
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-21 12:22 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2021-11-20 20:13 -0700
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-21 12:35 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2021-11-21 10:53 -0700
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-21 18:49 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-11-21 13:04 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-21 14:42 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2021-11-21 01:34 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-11-21 00:48 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-11-20 16:58 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-11-21 14:40 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-11-21 12:59 -0800
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2021-11-21 15:58 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2021-11-20 10:55 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2021-11-13 08:47 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2021-11-13 18:23 +0100
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-11-13 17:55 +0000
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2021-11-19 13:14 +0300
Re: on why declare a struct with a single array in it Meredith Montgomery <mmontgomery@levado.to> - 2021-11-19 16:07 -0300
csiph-web