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I keep getting errors due to library functions being undefined, but I am including all the right header files.
I keep getting errors due to library functions being undefined, but I am including all the right header files. In the general case of calling code in an external library, using #include to pull in the right header file(s) is only half of the story; you also have to tell the linker to search the exte...
2015-07-14, 1375👍, 0💬

How can I flush pending input so that a user ...
How can I flush pending input so that a user's typeahead isn't read at the next prompt? Will fflush(stdin) work? fflush is defined only for output streams. Since its definition of ``flush'' is to complete the writing of buffered characters (not to discard them), discarding unread input would not be ...
2015-10-12, 1374👍, 0💬

How can I do graphics?
How can I do graphics? Once upon a time, Unix had a fairly nice little set of device-independent plot functions described in plot(3) and plot(5). The GNU libplot library, written by Robert Maier, maintains the same spirit and supports many modern plot devices; see http://www.gnu.org/software/pl otuti...
2015-04-17, 1373👍, 0💬

Is exit(status) truly equivalent to returning the same status from main?
Is exit(status) truly equivalent to returning the same status from main? Yes and no. The Standard says that a return from the initial call to main is equivalent to calling exit. However, a return from main cannot be expected to work if data local to main might be needed during cleanup; A few very ol...
2015-07-20, 1371👍, 0💬

A third-party header file I just started using is defining its own TRUE and FALSE values incompatibly ...
A third-party header file I just started using is defining its own TRUE and FALSE values incompatibly with the code I've already developed. What can I do? This is indeed an annoying situation. It's a classic namespace problem;Ideally, third-party vendors would be conscientious when defining symbols ...
2016-02-26, 1370👍, 0💬

How can I read/write structures from/to data files?
How can I read/write structures from/to data files? It is relatively straightforward to write a structure out using fwrite: fwrite(&amp;somestruct, sizeof somestruct, 1, fp); and a corresponding fread invocation can read it back in. What happens here is that fwrite receives a pointer to the stru...
2015-09-18, 1370👍, 0💬

How can I insert or delete a line (or record) in the middle of a file?
How can I insert or delete a line (or record) in the middle of a file? In general, there is no way to do this. The usual solution is simply to rewrite the file. When you find yourself needing to insert data into an existing file, here are a few alternatives you can try: * Rearrange the data file so ...
2015-10-05, 1369👍, 0💬

How can I check whether a file exists? I want to warn the user if a requested input file is missing.
How can I check whether a file exists? I want to warn the user if a requested input file is missing. It's surprisingly difficult to make this determination reliably and portably. Any test you make can be invalidated if the file is created or deleted (i.e. by some other process) between the time you ...
2015-04-15, 1369👍, 0💬

How can I get the current date or time of day in a C program?
How can I get the current date or time of day in a C program? Just use the time, ctime, localtime and/or strftime functions. Here is a simple example: #include &lt;stdio.h> #include &lt;time.h> int main() { time_t now; time(&amp;now); printf("It's %s", ctime(&amp;now)); return 0; } C...
2015-08-07, 1368👍, 0💬

Dont ANSI function prototypes render lint obsolete?
Dont ANSI function prototypes render lint obsolete? Not really. First of all, prototypes work only if they are present and correct; an inadvertently incorrect prototype is worse than useless. Secondly, lint checks consistency across multiple source files, and checks data declarations as well as func...
2015-05-01, 1366👍, 0💬

How can my program discover the complete pathname to the executable from which it was invoked?
How can my program discover the complete pathname to the executable from which it was invoked? argv[0] may contain all or part of the pathname, or it may contain nothing. You may be able to duplicate the command language interpreter's search path logic to locate the executable if the name in argv[0]...
2015-03-13, 1363👍, 0💬

How can I find out the size of a file, prior to reading it in?
How can I find out the size of a file, prior to reading it in? If the ``size of a file'' is the number of characters you'll be able to read from it in C (or which were written to it by a previous program), it can be difficult or impossible to determine this number exactly (other than by reading the ...
2015-04-15, 1359👍, 0💬

Some people say that gotos are evil and that I should never use them. Isnt that a bit extreme
Some people say that gotos are evil and that I should never use them. Isnt that a bit extreme rogramming style, like writing style, is somewhat of an art and cannot be codified by inflexible rules, although discussions about style often seem to center exclusively around such rules. In the case of th...
2015-05-08, 1358👍, 0💬

How can I write a function that takes a variable number of arguments?
How can I write a function that takes a variable number of arguments? Use the facilities of the &lt;stdarg.h> header. Here is a function which concatenates an arbitrary number of strings into malloc'ed memory: #include &lt;stdlib.h> /* for malloc, NULL, size_t */ #include &lt;stdarg.h> /...
2015-06-15, 1356👍, 0💬

What are the differences between C and CPP?
What are the differences between C and CPP? Q: Is C++ a superset of C? What are the differences between C and C++? Can I use a C++ compiler to compile C code? A: C++ was derived from C, and is largely based on it, but there are some legal C constructs which are not legal C++. Conversely, ANSI C inhe...
2015-01-10, 1356👍, 0💬

Why do some people write if(0 == x) instead of if(x == 0)?
Why do some people write if(0 == x) instead of if(x == 0)? It's a trick to guard against the common error of writing if(x = 0) If you're in the habit of writing the constant before the ==, the compiler will complain if you accidentally type if(0 = x) Evidently it can be easier for some people to rem...
2015-05-15, 1355👍, 0💬

I just typed in this program, and it is acting strangely. Can you see anything wrong with it?
I just typed in this program, and it is acting strangely. Can you see anything wrong with it? See if you can run lint first (perhaps with the -a, -c, -h, -p or other options ). Many C compilers are really only half-compilers, taking the attitude that it's not their problem if you didn't say what you...
2015-05-06, 1348👍, 0💬

How can I shut off the warning ...
How can I shut off the ``warning: possible pointer alignment problem'' message which lint gives me for each call to malloc? A modern lint shouldn't be complaining about this. Once upon a time, lint did not and could not know that malloc ``returns a pointer to space suitably aligned for storage of an...
2015-05-05, 1347👍, 0💬

How can I tell if standard input or output is redirected
How can I tell if standard input or output is redirected (i.e. whether ``&lt;'' or ``&gt;'' was used on the invocation command line)? You can't tell directly, but you can usually look at a few other things to make whatever decision you need to. If you want your program to take input from std...
2015-10-01, 1343👍, 0💬

How can I implement a delay, or time a users response, with sub-second resolution?
How can I implement a delay, or time a users response, with sub-second resolution? Unfortunately, there is no portable way. Routines you might look for on your system include clock, delay, ftime, gettimeofday, msleep, nap, napms, nanosleep, setitimer, sleep, Sleep, times, and usleep. (A function cal...
2015-03-06, 1340👍, 0💬

My compiler isnt letting me declare a function
My compiler isnt letting me declare a function A; My compiler isn't letting me declare a function int f(...) { } i.e. accepting a variable number of arguments, but with no fixed arguments at all. A: Standard C requires at least one fixed argument, in part so that you can hand it to va_start. (In any...
2015-06-08, 1339👍, 0💬

People always say that good style is important
People always say that good style is important, but when they go out of their way to use clear techniques and make their programs readable, they seem to end up with less efficient programs. Since efficiency is so important, isn't it necessary to sacrifice some style and readability? It's true that g...
2015-05-06, 1339👍, 0💬

I am porting this program, and it calls a routine drand48, which my library doesnt have. What is it?
I am porting this program, and it calls a routine drand48, which my library doesnt have. What is it? 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...
2015-07-20, 1337👍, 0💬

What is the most efficient way to count the number of bits which are set in an integer?
What is the most efficient way to count the number of bits which are set in an integer? Many ``bit-fiddling'' problems like this one can be sped up and streamlined using lookup tables (but see question 20.13). Here is a little function which computes the number of bits in a value, 4 bits at a time: ...
2015-02-11, 1337👍, 0💬

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