I have been looking at c pointer to array of structs , and trying to apply it to my example.

I arrived at this code snippet, which compiles fine:

#include <stdio.h>

enum test_e {
    eONE,
    eTWO,
    eTHREE,
};
typedef enum test_e test_t;

#define NUMITEMS 12
extern test_t my_arr[NUMITEMS];

test_t (*my_arr_ptr)[NUMITEMS];

test_t my_arr[NUMITEMS] = { 0 };


int main()
{
    my_arr_ptr = &my_arr;
    printf("Hello World %p\n", my_arr_ptr);

    return 0;
}

In the above snippet, we have an assignment of my_arr_ptr variable, to the address of my_arr variable (using the "address of " operator, ampersand &).

However, what I would like to do is to initialize my_arr_ptr variable to the address of my_arr variable – which I’d think is possible, given that after the line test_t my_arr[NUMITEMS] = { 0 }; the compiler should "know" an address and size of my_arr.

However, if I try this:

#include <stdio.h>

enum test_e {
    eONE,
    eTWO,
    eTHREE,
};
typedef enum test_e test_t;

#define NUMITEMS 12
extern test_t my_arr[NUMITEMS];

test_t (*my_arr_ptr)[NUMITEMS];

test_t my_arr[NUMITEMS] = { 0 };

my_arr_ptr = &my_arr;

int main()
{
    //my_arr_ptr = &my_arr;
    printf("Hello World %p\n", my_arr_ptr);

    return 0;
}

… this fails with:

Compilation failed due to following error(s).

main.c:25:1: warning: data definition has no type or storage class
   25 | my_arr_ptr = &my_arr;
      | ^~~~~~~~~~
main.c:25:1: warning: type defaults to ‘int’ in declaration of ‘my_arr_ptr’ [-Wimplicit-int]
main.c:25:1: error: conflicting types for ‘my_arr_ptr’; have ‘int’
main.c:21:10: note: previous declaration of ‘my_arr_ptr’ with type ‘test_t (*)[12]’ {aka ‘enum test_e (*)[12]’}
   21 | test_t (*my_arr_ptr)[NUMITEMS];
      |          ^~~~~~~~~~
main.c:25:14: warning: initialization of ‘int’ from ‘test_t (*)[12]’ {aka ‘enum test_e (*)[12]’} makes integer from pointer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
   25 | my_arr_ptr = &my_arr;
      |              ^
main.c:25:14: error: initializer element is not computable at load time
main.c: In function ‘main’:
main.c:30:26: warning: format ‘%p’ expects argument of type ‘void *’, but argument 2 has type ‘int’ [-Wformat=]
   30 |     printf("Hello World %p\n", my_arr_ptr);
      |                         ~^     ~~~~~~~~~~
      |                          |     |
      |                          |     int
      |                          void *
      |                         %d

As far as I can see, "warning: data definition has no type or storage class" occurs:

because you can’t execute code outside functions
(Why am I getting this error: "data definition has no type or storage class"?)

So, then, is the getting of "address of" considered "code" in C, so I cannot use it outside functions?

If so, how come I can use "address of" operator "outside functions" in the snippet below, which also compiles fine?:

#include <stdio.h>

void func_one(void) {
    printf("func_one\n");
}

void func_two(void) {
    printf("func_two\n");
}

void* funcs_arr[2] = { &func_one, &func_two  }; 

int main()
{
    printf("Hello World %p\n", funcs_arr[0]);

    return 0;
}

>Solution :

The global variables are initialized at their definition. Just do:

extern test_t my_arr[NUMITEMS];

test_t (*my_arr_ptr)[NUMITEMS] = &my_arr;

Addresses of global objects are constant expressions and they can be used to initialize other global objects. See 6.6p7:

More latitude is permitted for constant expressions in initializers. Such a constant expression shall be, or evaluate to, one of the following:

• an arithmetic constant expression,
• a null pointer constant,
• an address constant, or
• an address constant for a complete object type plus or minus an integer constant expression.

The definition of "address constant" can be found at 6.6p9:

An address constant is a null pointer, a pointer to an lvalue designating an object of static storage duration, or a pointer to a function designator; it shall be created explicitly using the unary & operator or an integer constant cast to pointer type, or implicitly by the use of an expression of array or function type. The array-subscript [] and member-access . and -> operators, the address & and indirection * unary operators, and pointer casts may be used in the creation of an address constant, but the value of an object shall not be accessed by use of these operators.