CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cargumentsparameter-passingprogram-entry-point
Kevin
Kevin

Reputation: 100

Programmatically calling main(int argc, char **argv) in C

Let's say I have a file test.c which accepts a text file and starts as follows:

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  ...
  return 0;
}

I will typically compile the file and execute the binary as follows: ./test input.txt.

Now, I wish to call the main function programmatically in another function in the same file. How should I proceed?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1769

Answers (1)

DaBler
DaBler

Reputation: 2853

You can do this as follows:

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]);

void func()
{
    char *argv[] = { "./test", "another.txt", NULL };
    main(2, argv);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    if (argc > 1) {
        printf("Processing %s...\n", argv[1]);
    }

    /* ... */

    func();

    return 0;
}

This should output something like:

Processing input.txt...
Processing another.txt...

Beware of endless recursion!

Upvotes: 3

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