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From: Radagast@cup.portal.com (sullivan - segall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: "chip" in SAS C
Message-ID: <37729@cup.portal.com>
Date: 8 Jan 91 07:45:42 GMT
References: <1991Jan4.031246.20044@cs.uoregon.edu>
  <1991Jan6.092515.6970@cs.uoregon.edu> <1342@tmiuv0.uucp>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 51

>> 
>> Second:
>> The compiler would only compile the code if I moved it from within a procedu
r
>e
>> to a global declaration...it compiles fine now...my only question is, Why?
>> Why won't it compile if the declaration is made within a procedure?  Some ty
p
>e
>> of a scope problem?
>
>Well, sort of.  The ANSI C specification (ANSI X3.159-1989) states in section
>3.5.7, "Initialization", lines 34-35:
>
>    "If the declaration of an identifier has block scope, and the identifier
>    has external or internal linkage, the declaration shall have no
>    initializer for the identifier."
>
>Now, in English, that means that a variable declared inside some program
>block (such as a function) CANNOT have an initializer value.  The stuff
>inside your curly braces is an initializer.  You can't have it both ways.
>
Yikes!  I thought I knew what all of the departures were between Turbo-C 
and ANSI.  One of my favourite expressions is:

{
	struct soandso thisisit = { 1, 2, 3 };
}

in lieu of:

struct soandso_default = { 1, 2, 3 };
function()
{
	struct soandso thisisit;
	Thisisit = soandso_default;
}

                           -Sullivan_-_Segall (a.k.a. Radagast)
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