char *** initialization and compiler problem

[chris at mimsy.UUCP]

In article <1721 at plus5.UUCP> hokey at plus5.UUCP (Hokey) writes:
>First, I have been *unable* to initialize the master table in any way other
>than that in the example below.  I tried *lots* of combinations of braces.

I am not quite sure what you want, but the example is correct.

>Second, the *only* declaration acceptable to the compiler for the given
>initialization of the table is the one below.

Not surprising: it is the correct one.

condensed:
>extern char *sys_errlist[];	/* as per perror(3C) */
>char *a_list[] = { ... };
>char *b_list[] = { ... };

The types of `sys_errlist', `a_list', and `b_list' are each `array
<n> of pointer to char' (<n> varies, being `unknown', 7, and 5, I
think, though I have deleted the actual initialisations).  When
used in ordinary expression contexts, the types are converted to
`pointer to pointer to char'.  Thus:

>char **em_t[] = {
>	sys_errlist,
> 	a_list,		/* Just try and initialize with strings here! */
> 	b_list,
> 	0
>};

`em_t' is `array 4 of pointer to pointer to char'.

Given the comment after `a_list', I guess that you might want, e.g.,
something more like this:

	char **em_t[] = {
		sys_errlist,
	/*
	 * magic unnamed list:
		(char *[] = { "a0", "a1", "a2", ..., 0 }),
	 * and another, `b', list.
	 */
		0
	};

Alas, there is no C construct that creates an unnamed block of
initialised data space (an object of type `array <n> of <type>')
save for anonymous arrays of char, which are created with "string".
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7690)
UUCP:	seismo!mimsy!chris	ARPA/CSNet:	chris at mimsy.umd.edu