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From: chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: char (*a)[]  (was: Style [++i vs i++])
Message-ID: <7953@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Aug-87 10:58:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: mimsy.7953
Posted: Wed Aug 12 10:58:54 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Aug-87 01:48:07 EDT
References: <8298@brl-adm.ARPA> <587@cblpe.ATT.COM> <189@xyzzy.UUCP> <234@nvpna1.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 28

In article <234@nvpna1.UUCP> strouckn@nvpna1.UUCP (Louis Stroucken) writes:
>Please note that "a" is a formal argument of main!!

>K&R appendix A section 10.4 says on array arguments:
>	...formal parameters declared "array of..." are adjusted to read
>	"pointer to...".

>The declaration of "a" might as well read "char **a;". "a++;" should
>increment "a" with sizeof( char * ) bytes.

The type of `a' in `char (*a)[]' is `pointer to array <unspecified
size> of char'.  Aside from the fact that pointers to arrays of
unspecified size are illegal[1], this declaration is correct and
cannot be altered.  The adjustment is for formal parameters declared
`array ...', not `... array ...'.  The single ellipsis means that
the array type must come first.

-----
[1]This illegality is in fact unnecessary; a pointer to an array
   of unspecified size can be dereferenced.  It cannot be used in
   any pointer arithmetic except to add or subtract zero.  Nonetheless
   it was deemed illegal, and this loses nothing, since C does not
   have dynamic arrays.  (C has dynamic memory allocation, but what
   you get are flat blocks of address space, though they are not
   necessarily contained within a globally flat space.)
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7690)
Domain:	chris@mimsy.umd.edu	Path:	seismo!mimsy!chris