arrays of pointers - NOVICE QUESTION!( Be forwarned ! )

[Tom Karzes]

I once wrote a simple test to exercise our C compiler.  Actually I wrote
a program which will create a program that tests all forms of simple
declarators that can be constructed from indirection "*", function
calls "()", and arrays "[N]" (with grouping parentheses "(...)" thrown
in as needed to obtain the desired precedence), up to a desired level
of declarator composition.  Of course, it weeded out the illegal
combinations (e.g., f()(), g[10](), h()[12], etc.).  The underlying
type is int, and the program declares and statically initializes a
variable or function (determined by the declarator) of each form, then
dynamically loads and prints their values.  Most forms require auxiliary
variables and/or functions.  By convention, these auxiliary objects were
given names which are the name of the primary object followed by an
underscore and a number (the larger the number, the "further away" from
the primary object).

I've included a tiny excerpt from the 7-ply portion of the test.  This
excerpt defines and initializes x361, x362, x363, x364, x365, and x366,
each of which uses auxialiary variables and/or functions.  Also shown is
the section of code from the main program which fully dereferences and
prints the values of these same objects.

Here is what the types are.  Notice that each pointer is treated as
pointing to a single object of the given type, although of course
any pointer that points to a non-function can really point into an
array of those objects.  E.g., int (*x)[7] is treated as a pointer
to an array of 7 ints (which is really what it is), although it could
also be treated as a pointer into an array of arrays of 7 ints (e.g.,
into int y[123][7]).  Note that this latter style is more common in C,
particularly in the single subscript case (e.g., int *x pointing into
int y[123], rather than int (*x)[123] pointing at int y[123]).

    ...

    int *(**(*x361())[4])[3]

        A function which returns a pointer to an array of 4 pointers to
        pointers to arrays of 3 pointers to ints.

    int *(**(*x362)[3][4])[3]

        A pointer to an array of 3 arrays of 4 pointers to pointers to
        arrays of 3 pointers to ints.

    int *(**x363[2][3][4])[3]

        An array of 2 arrays of 3 arrays of 4 arrays of pointers to pointers
        to arrays of 3 pointers to ints.

    int *(**(**x364)())[3]

        A pointer to a pointer to a function which returns a pointer to a
        pointer to an array of 3 pointers to ints.

    int *(**(*x365[2])())[3]

        An array of 2 pointers to functions which return pointers to pointers
        to arrays of 3 pointers to ints.

    int *(**(*x366())())[3]

        A function which returns a pointer to a function which returns a
        pointer to a pointer to an array of 3 pointers to ints.

    ...


Here are the actual excerpts from the program:

...

int x361_4 = 361;
int *x361_3[3] =
    {0,
     &x361_4};
int *(*x361_2)[3] = (int *(*)[3]) /* & */ x361_3;
int *(**x361_1[4])[3] =
    {0, 0,
     &x361_2};
int *(**(*x361())[4])[3] { return (int *(**(*)[4])[3]) /* & */ x361_1; }

int x362_4 = 362;
int *x362_3[3] =
    {0,
     &x362_4};
int *(*x362_2)[3] = (int *(*)[3]) /* & */ x362_3;
int *(**x362_1[3][4])[3] =
    {{0},
     {0, 0,
      &x362_2}};
int *(**(*x362)[3][4])[3] = (int *(**(*)[3][4])[3]) /* & */ x362_1;

int x363_3 = 363;
int *x363_2[3] =
    {0,
     &x363_3};
int *(*x363_1)[3] = (int *(*)[3]) /* & */ x363_2;
int *(**x363[2][3][4])[3] =
    {{{0}},
     {{0},
      {0, 0,
       &x363_1}}};

int x364_5 = 364;
int *x364_4[3] =
    {0,
     &x364_5};
int *(*x364_3)[3] = (int *(*)[3]) /* & */ x364_4;
int *(**x364_2())[3] { return &x364_3; }
int *(**(*x364_1)())[3] = /* & */ x364_2;
int *(**(**x364)())[3] = &x364_1;

int x365_4 = 365;
int *x365_3[3] =
    {0,
     &x365_4};
int *(*x365_2)[3] = (int *(*)[3]) /* & */ x365_3;
int *(**x365_1())[3] { return &x365_2; }
int *(**(*x365[2])())[3] =
    {0,
     /* & */ x365_1};

int x366_4 = 366;
int *x366_3[3] =
    {0,
     &x366_4};
int *(*x366_2)[3] = (int *(*)[3]) /* & */ x366_3;
int *(**x366_1())[3] { return &x366_2; }
int *(**(*x366())())[3] { return /* & */ x366_1; }

...

int c1 = 1;
int c2 = 2;

main()
{
    ...

    printf(" %3d",   *(**(*x361())[c2])[c1]);
    printf(" %3d",   *(**(*x362)[c1][c2])[c1]);
    printf(" %3d",   *(**x363[c1][c1][c2])[c1]);
    printf(" %3d",   *(**(**x364)())[c1]);
    printf(" %3d",   *(**(*x365[c1])())[c1]);
    printf(" %3d",   *(**(*x366())())[c1]);

    ...
}