Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!nrl-cmf!ukma!rutgers!att!alberta!ubc-cs!fornax!mcdonald
From: mcdonald@fornax.UUCP (Ken Mcdonald)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Allocating arrays?
Keywords: Help requested.
Message-ID: <867@fornax.UUCP>
Date: 6 Feb 89 03:55:15 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: School of Computing Science, SFU, Burnaby, B.C. Canada
Lines: 49

Here's a simple question I'd appreciate some advice on.  I'm using LightSpeed
Pascal 2.0 (great product, by the way, Rich), and I want to dynamically
allocate arrays of structured types, with the number of elements in the
arraynot known until the array is actually allocated.  The thing is, while
I don't mind messing around with doing funny type conversions and pointer 
variables and things like that while I'm creating the array, I don't want to
have to do things like that when I'm actually using it.  I don't mind it if
it's a hassle to create, but I don't want that kind of hassle to use it.

So for example, I want to be able to do:

program main;

type
  complex=record
    re: real;
    im: real
    end

  cptr=^array[0..0] of complex;

var
  C: cptr

begin
{Whatever is necessary here to create an array big enough to hold,say}
{16 complexes, and set C to point to it.}
C^[1].re := 1
C^[1].im := 1
...
end.

Yes, I know that I'm missing lots of semicolons and where to put them, and
so do you, now if only the compiler knew as well.  Anyway, is there a way of
doing something similar to the above and having it work?  Do I have to adjust
my subscripts?  Are there better ways of doing the same thing?  And how
would I achieve the same effect, but with handles (relocateable blocks)
instead of pointers (nonrelocateable blocks.)  Please don't suggest linked
structures, the Memory Manager imposes too much overhead on blocks for me to
want to do this.  If there is an easy answer in Inside Mac or my LSP
manual, just point me to it, no need to wear your fingers out typing.

Thanks,
Ken McDonald
{...!ubc-cs!mcdonald@fornax.uucp}

P.S.  Mail to my address isn't very reliable, so it might be better to post
an answer, rather than mailing it.  I think the question is of reasonably
general interest (although perhaps kinda simple) to justify this.