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@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@ Pointers
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Structures
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* Referencing Fields:: Accessing field values in a structure object.
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+* Arrays as Fields:: Accessing field values in a structure object.
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* Dynamic Memory Allocation:: Allocating space for objects
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while the program is running.
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* Field Offset:: Memory layout of fields within a structure.
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@@ -5776,6 +5777,7 @@ GNU C does not require this.
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@menu
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* Referencing Fields:: Accessing field values in a structure object.
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+* Arrays as Fields:: Accessing field values in a structure object.
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* Dynamic Memory Allocation:: Allocating space for objects
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while the program is running.
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* Field Offset:: Memory layout of fields within a structure.
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@@ -5858,6 +5860,36 @@ struct @{ double d; struct intlistlink l; @} foo;
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@r{@dots{}}foo.l.next->next->datum@r{@dots{}}
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@end example
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+@node Arrays as Fields
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+@section Arrays as Fields
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+
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+When you declare field in a structure as an array, as here:
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+
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+@example
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+struct record
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+ @{
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+ char *name;
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+ int data[4];
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+ @};
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+@end example
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+
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+@noindent
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+Each @code{struct record} object holds one string (a pointer, of
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+course) and four integers, all part of a field called @code{data}. If
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+@code{recptr} is a pointer of type @code{struct record *}, then it
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+points to a @code{struct record} which contains those things; you can
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+access the second integer in that record with @code{recptr->data[1]}.
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+
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+If you have two objects of type @code{struct record}, each one contains
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+an array. With this declaration,
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+
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+@example
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+struct record r1, r2;
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+@end example
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+
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+@code{r1.data} holds space for 4 @code{int}s, and @code{r2.data} holds
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+space for another 4 @code{int}s,
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+
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@node Dynamic Memory Allocation
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@section Dynamic Memory Allocation
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@cindex dynamic memory allocation
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@@ -6397,6 +6429,36 @@ a = b; /* @r{Error!} */
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@xref{Assignment Expressions}.
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+When a structure type has a field which is an array, as here,
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+
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+@example
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+struct record
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+ @{
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+ char *name;
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+ int data[4];
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+ @};
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+
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+struct record r1, r2;
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+@end example
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+
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+@noindent
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+structure assigment such as @code{r1 = r2} copies array fields'
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+contents just as it copies all the other fields.
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+
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+This is the only way in C that you can operate on the whole contents
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+of a array with one operation: when the array is contained in a
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+@code{struct}. You can't copy the contents of the @code{data} field
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+as an array, because
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+
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+@example
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+r1.data = r2.data;
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+@end data
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+
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+@noindent
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+would convert the array objects (as always) to pointers to the initial
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+elements of the arrays (of type @code{struct record *}), and the
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+assignment would be invalid because the left operand is not an lvalue.
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+
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@node Unions
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@section Unions
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@cindex unions
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