🚀 go-pugleaf

morano <alomrani@emirates.net.ae> scribbled the following
on comp.lang.c:
> Hi,
> I was trying to scan a string from the keyboard

> scanf and puts would work if my string was declared as an array.

> However, My string is declared as a pointer, how can i scan a value to this
> pointer location. I tried gets(&string) even gets(*string) yet didnt work

In C, you scanf a "pointer string" just like you scanf an "array
string". When used as rvalues (i.e. when not assigning stuff with the
= operator or its friends) (other than with the sizeof operator), arrays
and pointers are equivalent.
So if you have...
char string[100];
scanf("%s", string);
then you can just as well have...
char *string;
string=malloc(100);
scanf("%s", string);
Also, gets(string) works, but it should be avoided, since you have no
way of preventing buffer overflow.

-- 
/-- Joona Palaste (palaste@cc.helsinki.fi) ---------------------------\
| Kingpriest of "The Flying Lemon Tree" G++ FR FW+ M- #108 D+ ADA N+++|
| http://www.helsinki.fi/~palaste       W++ B OP+                     |
\----------------------------------------- Finland rules! ------------/
"A bee could, in effect, gather its junk. Llamas (no poor quadripeds) tune
and vow excitedly zooming."
   - JIPsoft

In article <9ttf05$9od3@news-dxb.emirates.net.ae>,
	"morano" <alomrani@emirates.net.ae> writes:
> Hi,
> I was trying to scan a string from the keyboard
> 
> scanf and puts would work if my string was declared as an array.
> 
> However, My string is declared as a pointer, how can i scan a value to this
> pointer location. I tried gets(&string) even gets(*string) yet didnt work

First hint: since the Dark Genesis hasn't happened yet, there aren't
many telepaths around. Without seeing your code it's a trifle difficult
to debug it.

Second hint: if you're trying to read into a "string declared as a
pointer", by which I guess you to mean something like:

    char *myString;

then not that you'll *have* to assign something sensible to `myString`.
Declaring it as a pointer doesn't make it point anywhere; it's just
junk. You'll probably need to use `malloc`.

Third hint: random guessing isn't a good way to learn how to program.
Get a decent book on C. Read & understand it. It will help a *lot*.

Zeroth hint: There is infinite time. You are finite. Zathras is finite. 
gets ... is the wrong tool. [rummaging] No, not good. Not good. No, never 
use gets. 

(garbled in the original)

-- 
Chris "Zathras trained in crisis management. Need Zathras NOW!" Dollin
C FAQs at: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/by-newsgroup/comp/comp.lang.c.html