Declaration of function returning a pointer of another function

Question

(Sorry this is a sample quiz can't use typedef:P) I'm trying to write a declaration for the following function:

A function:

Accepts a pointer points to a function accepts a pointer to int and returns a pointer to int.

Returns a pointer to a function accepts int and returns int.

Here is my code:

int (* sigal(int *(*f)(int *)))(int);

However, this is a syntactical error. What's the right way to write it?

Edited:

The error seems to be there shouldn't be an f. I tried both my original code and

int (* sigal(int *(*)(int *)))(int);

on http://www.cdecl.org/. The later is passed.

Any explanation on what's the problem?

Update:

As 2501 said, the error seems to be a flavor of parser.

Make typedef for pointer to function and then use it for function definition. — i486
– i486, Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 12:13
Sorry this is a sample quiz can't use typedef Is the point of this quiz to teach people how not to write code? — Andrew Henle
– Andrew Henle, Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 12:51
@AndrewHenle I don't like it neither. Guess it's only to test how well students understand the syntax :D. — spacegoing
– spacegoing, Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 14:36

2501 · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-13 12:24:33Z

5

The correct way to write that is to use a typedef:

typedef int*(*fp)(int*);
typedef int(*fi)(int);

fi function(fp p);

The correct way to write this without typedef is:

int ( *( function( int*(*p)(int*) ) ) )(int);

answered Apr 13, 2016 at 12:13

2501

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5 Comments

Sorry it's a sample quiz from a course which can't use typedef :P. Would you please show me the full version?

thank you for your answer. But please don't worry it's a sample for mid-term quiz.

Sorry but I tried your answer in several parsers and still got a syntax error. What's the difference between yours and mine? Many thanks!

Sorry for the bother. Would you please see my update and make some explanations? Many thanks!

@spacegoing Don't rely on a single source of Truth.