CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c
Incerteza
Incerteza

Reputation: 34884

Returning more than one char * from a method

I want to return more than one char* from a method:

char** test1() {
  char **ret = malloc(sizeof(char*) * 3);
  *ret = "aaa";
  *(ret + 1) = "bbb";
  //  *(ret + 2) = "\0"; //needed?
  return ret;
}

Do I need *(ret + 2) = "\0"; Or should it be *(ret + 2) = NULL;?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 85

Answers (1)

Werner Erasmus
Werner Erasmus

Reputation: 4076

As mentioned by Oli, You only have space for two elements, therefore you cannot do:

*(ret+2) = xxx;

as this is writing to that "third" element, which does not exist. You could allocate for three:

char **ret = malloc(sizeof(char*) * 3);

As to the answer to your question...

Do I need *(ret + 2) = "\0"; Or should it be *(ret + 2) = NULL;?

... given that you've allocated the right amount of space

then I would use...

*(ret+2) = NULL

... for this reason:

as NULL represents the value of a pointer as zero and "\0" does not, but in fact (is a literal that) points to some address which is not NULL, but contains a char that has the value zero.

Upvotes: 1

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