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I am still getting errors due to library functions being undefined
I'm still getting errors due to library functions being undefined, even though I'm explicitly requesting the right libraries while linking. Many linkers make one pass over the list of object files and libraries you specify, and extract from libraries only those modules which satisfy references which...
2015-07-14, 1613👍, 0💬

I heard that you have to include ......
I heard that you have to #include before calling printf. Why? So that a proper prototype for printf will be in scope. A compiler may use a different calling sequence for functions which accept variable-length argument lists. (It might do so if calls using variable-length argument lists were less eff...
2016-01-08, 1611👍, 0💬

How can I automatically locate a programs configuration files in the same directory as the executable?
How can I automatically locate a programs configuration files in the same directory as the executable? It's hard, in general; Even if you can figure out a workable way to do it, you might want to consider making the program's auxiliary (library) directory configurable, perhaps with an environment va...
2015-03-13, 1611👍, 0💬

This program runs perfectly on one machine ...
This program runs perfectly on one machine, but I get weird results on another. Stranger still, adding or removing a debugging printout changes the symptoms... Lots of things could be going wrong; here are a few of the more common things to check: * uninitialized local variables integer overflow, es...
2015-05-27, 1610👍, 0💬

I have been replacing multiplications and divisions with shift operators, because shifting is more efficient.
I have been replacing multiplications and divisions with shift operators, because shifting is more efficient. This is an excellent example of a potentially risky and usually unnecessary optimization. Any compiler worthy of the name can replace a constant, power-of-two multiplication with a left shif...
2015-02-09, 1608👍, 0💬

Should I use symbolic names like TRUE and FALSE for Boolean constants, or plain 1 and 0?
Should I use symbolic names like TRUE and FALSE for Boolean constants, or plain 1 and 0? It's your choice. Preprocessor macros like TRUE and FALSE (and, of course, NULL) are used for code readability, not because the underlying values might ever change. It's a matter of style, not correctness, wheth...
2015-05-11, 1607👍, 0💬

How can I read a directory in a C program?
How can I read a directory in a C program? See if you can use the opendir and readdir functions, which are part of the POSIX standard and are available on most Unix variants. Implementations also exist for MS-DOS, VMS, and other systems. (MS-DOS also has FINDFIRST and FINDNEXT routines which do esse...
2015-04-01, 1607👍, 0💬

How can I invoke another program or command and trap its output?
How can I invoke another program or command and trap its output? Unix and some other systems provide a popen function, which sets up a stdio stream on a pipe connected to the process running a command, so that the calling program can read the output (or alternatively supply the input). Using popen, ...
2015-03-16, 1605👍, 0💬

How can I generate floating-point random numbers?
How can I generate floating-point random numbers? drand48 is a Unix System V routine which returns floating point random numbers (presumably with 48 bits of precision) in the half-open interval [0, 1). (Its companion seed routine is srand48; neither is in the C Standard.) It's easy to write a low-pr...
2015-07-22, 1604👍, 0💬

What are near and far pointers?
What are near and far pointers? These days, they're pretty much obsolete; they're definitely system-specific. They had to do with 16-bit programming under MS-DOS and perhaps some early versions of Windows. If you really need to know, see a DOS- or Windows-specific programming reference. If you're us...
2015-03-02, 1603👍, 0💬

Was 2000 a leap year?
Was 2000 a leap year? Q: Is (year % 4 == 0) an accurate test for leap years? (Was 2000 a leap year?) A: No, it's not accurate (and yes, 2000 was a leap year). The actual rules for the present Gregorian calendar are that leap years occur every four years, but not every 100 years, except that they do ...
2015-01-05, 1602👍, 0💬

How can f be used for both float and double arguments in printf? Aren't they different types?
How can f be used for both float and double arguments in printf? Aren't they different types? In the variable-length part of a variable-length argument list, the ``default argument promotions'' apply: types char and short int are promoted to int, and float is promoted to double. (These are the same ...
2015-06-17, 1601👍, 0💬

Why is the macro giving me the warning
Why is the macro #define TRACE(n) printf("TRACE: %d\n", n) giving me the warning ``macro replacement within a string literal''? It seems to be expanding TRACE(count); as printf("TRACE: %d\count", count); Some pre-ANSI compilers/preprocessors interpreted macro definitions like #define TRACE(var, fmt)...
2016-01-25, 1600👍, 0💬

What is Hungarian Notation? Is it worthwhile?
What is Hungarian Notation? Is it worthwhile? Hungarian Notation is a naming convention, invented by Charles Simonyi, which encodes information about a variable's type (and perhaps its intended use) in its name. It is well-loved in some circles and roundly castigated in others. Its chief advantage i...
2015-05-08, 1596👍, 0💬

I thought that using large model meant that I could use more than 64K of data!
What does the error message ``DGROUP data allocation exceeds 64K'' mean, and what can I do about it? I thought that using large model meant that I could use more than 64K of data! Even in large memory models, MS-DOS compilers apparently toss certain data (strings, some initialized global or static v...
2015-03-20, 1595👍, 0💬

Why dont C comments nest?
Why don't C comments nest? How am I supposed to comment out code containing comments? Are comments legal inside quoted strings? A: C comments don't nest mostly because PL/I's comments, which C's are borrowed from, don't either. Therefore, it is usually better to ``comment out'' large sections of cod...
2015-01-30, 1595👍, 0💬

Why is p turning out const, instead of the characters pointed to?
I've got the declarations typedef char *charp; const charp p; Why is p turning out const, instead of the characters pointed to? typedef substitutions are not purely textual.In the declaration const charp p; p is const for the same reason that const int i declares i as const. The typedef'ed declarati...
2016-01-04, 1594👍, 0💬

How can I display a percentage-done indication that updates itself in place, or show one of those twirling baton progress indica
How can I display a percentage-done indication that updates itself in place, or show one of those twirling baton progress indicators? These simple things, at least, you can do fairly portably. Printing the character '\r' will usually give you a carriage return without a line feed, so that you can ov...
2015-04-27, 1591👍, 0💬

I have an old macro that doesn't seem to work any more....
I have an old macro #define CTRL(c) ('c' &amp; 037) that doesn't seem to work any more. The intended use of this macro is in code like tchars.t_eofc = CTRL(D); which is expected to expand to tchars.t_eofc = ('D' &amp; 037); based on the assumption that the actual value of the parameter c wil...
2016-01-25, 1590👍, 0💬

Here is a neat trick for checking whether two strings are equal
Q: Here's a neat trick for checking whether two strings are equal: if(!strcmp(s1, s2)) Is this good style? It is not particularly good style, although it is a popular idiom. The test succeeds if the two strings are equal, but the use of ! (``not'') suggests that it tests for inequality. Another opti...
2015-05-15, 1590👍, 0💬

How can I read in an object file and jump to locations in it?
How can I read in an object file and jump to locations in it? You want a dynamic linker or loader. It may be possible to malloc some space and read in object files, but you have to know an awful lot about object file formats, relocation, etc., and this approach can't work if code and data reside in ...
2015-03-09, 1589👍, 0💬

Is if(p), where p is a pointer, a valid and portable test?
Is if(p), where p is a pointer, a valid and portable test? It is always valid. When C requires the Boolean value of an expression, a false value is inferred when the expression compares equal to zero, and a true value otherwise. That is, whenever one writes if(expr) where ``expr'' is any expression ...
2016-02-29, 1586👍, 0💬

Why cant I perform arithmetic on a void pointer?
Why cant I perform arithmetic on a void pointer? The compiler doesn't know the size of the pointed-to objects. (Remember that pointer arithmetic is always in terms of the pointed-to size; Therefore, arithmetic on void *'s is disallowed (though some compilers allow it as an extension). Before perform...
2015-12-07, 1586👍, 0💬

I have a simple little program that reads characters until EOF ...
I have a simple little program that reads characters until EOF, but how do I actually enter that ``EOF'' value from the keyboard? I see that EOF is defined by to be -1; am I supposed to enter -1? If you think about it, what you enter can't be -1, because ``-1'' is two characters, and getchar is read...
2015-11-16, 1584👍, 0💬

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