linked list error

[n.aggel]

I wish a happy 2008 to everyone on this forum.
I just obtained the practise of programming{by the way it seems like a great book...}
and i have the following code for linked list:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

typedef struct Nameval 
{
	char 		*name;
	int 		value;
	struct Nameval *next;	//for the list implementation
}nameval_t;

/*
 * newItem:: create a new item from name and value
 */
nameval_t *newItem(char *name, int value)
{
	nameval_t *newp;

	newp = (nameval_t *) malloc( sizeof nameval_t );
	//do error check

	newp->name = name;
	newp->value = value;
	newp->next = NULL;

	return newp;
}

/*
 * addFront: add newp to front of listp
 */
nameval_t *addFront( nameval_t *listp, nameval_t *newp)
{
	newp->next = listp;
	return newp;
}

/*
 * addEnd: add newp to end of listp
 */
nameval_t *addEnd( nameval_t *listp, nameval_t *newp)
{
	nameval_t *p;

	if(listp == NULL)
		return newp;

	//traverse the list to the end....
	for(p=listp; p->next !=NULL; p=p->next)
		;

	p->next = newp;
	return listp;
}

/*
 * lookUp: sequential search for name in listp
 */
#if 1
nameval_t *lookUp( nameval_t *listp, char *name)
{

	for ( ; listp != NULL; listp = listp->next)
		//if ( strcmp(name, listp->name) == 0 )
		if ( strncmp(name, listp->name, sizeof(listp->name) ) == 0 )
			return listp;

	return NULL;	//no match

}
#endif
int main()
{
	nameval_t *listhead = NULL; 
	//struct Nameval *listhead = NULL; 


	listhead = addFront( listhead, newItem("hello", 1) );
#if 0
	listhead = addEnd( listhead, newItem("this", 2) );
	listhead = addEnd( listhead, newItem("is", 3) );
	listhead = addEnd( listhead, newItem("a", 4) );
	listhead = addEnd( listhead, newItem("test?", 5) );
#endif
	nameval_t *temp = lookUp( listhead, "this");
	if (temp == NULL)
		fprintf(stderr, "The string you look for, doesnt exit\n");
	else
		fprintf(stderr, "String's value is:: %d\n", temp->value);

	return 0;
}

the problem is that i can't find why the compiler complains....

main.c: In function ‘newItem’:
main.c:17: error: expected expression before ‘nameval_t’

also in the beginning i sometimes get this error{i did get from the above code...but after some minor changes the error dissapeared}:

expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token

i can't find a lot for it on the internet... any ideas what it is about...?

thanks for your time,
nicolas

[Duoas]

Line 19 should read newp = (nameval_t *) malloc( sizeof( nameval_t ) ); This is why I recommend just always using parentheses with sizeof. It always works with parens, but makes a difference without...

[n.aggel]

THANK YOU duoas... i 've been looking this code for one hour before i post here trying to find the error.... can i ask something though:

why sizeof nameval_t was wrong?

[n.aggel]

searching a bit i found this::

/*
	 * C99
	 * 6.5.3.4.2
	 * The sizeof operator yields the size (in bytes) of its operand,
	 * which may be an expression or the parenthesized name
	 * of a type.
	 */

so when we use sizeof with a type we must use a parenthesis?

what's the logic behind this decision?

[Duoas]

My best guess is that the argument is a "type-cast expression" (according to MSDN), which always takes the form: [B]([/B][I]typename[/I][B])[/B] This makes a semantic difference when lexing/parsing types like struct foo and int * .

I'm not too sure though... I've never cared enough to get that deep into it, as it is always legitimate to surround any sizeable expression with parentheses...

[n.aggel]

it seems that this expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token error appears when in the declaration of a functions you miss a ; in the end...