CODEWITHSUNDEEP
carraysfunction
user3712917
user3712917

Reputation: 121

How to manage arbitrary arguments in a C function

Suppose I have a function with arbitrary argument. Example :

 execl(char *path, char *arg0,...,char *argn, 0)

Function definition: execl()

So no matter how many appropriate arguments (>=3) I have sent to it, it will work. Now say I have a array of string which contains arg0, arg1, arg2, ... argn.

How can I call this function with my arbitrary number of string. That means, if I have a array of string size 3 then I want to call a function like this,

execl(char *path, char *arg0,char *arg1, char *arg2, 0)

and if I have a array of string size 4 then I want to call a function like this

execl(char *path, char *arg0,char *arg1, char *arg2,char *arg4, 0)

Is there any automatic way to do so. I do not want to use if condition to do something like this...(if I have array size 2 call a two argument function, if I have array size 3 call a three argument function, etc). Is there any process? Please explain in a short code.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 154

Answers (1)

user590028
user590028

Reputation: 11728

If I understand you correctly, you are asking how to call a function with a variable number of arguments that you build within a single function. The short answer is you can't. While c has variadic function support, it is to receive not to call. Meaning, you can write a function that accepts a variable number of arguments, but cannot pass them to another https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variadic_function

NOTE: I wasn't sure whether your execl() code was just meant to demonstrate your question OR you were looking for how to use exec*() functions with variable arguments. If it was the latter, check out execv() which accepts an array of strings.

Upvotes: 4

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