How to make an array of an arrays of strings?

Question

So, I have three array pointers of strings:

char *list1[3] = {"String 11", "String 12", "String 13"};
char *list2[3] = {"String 21", "String 22", "String 23"};
char *list3[3] = {"String 31", "String 32", "String 33"};

I need to access them based on the user input while running it. For example: If the input is 0, access list1 and so on.I figured I could make an array of these array pointers and it could work. This is what I tried:

char *ArrayList[3] = {*list1, *list2, *list3};

But when I tried to print ArrayList[0], ArrayList[1] and ArrayList[2], it just printed the first element of each list.

What am I doing wrong here?

*list1 is equivalent to list1[0].

melpomene
– melpomene

2018-09-23 21:26:38 +00:00
Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 21:26 — melpomene
– melpomene, Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 21:26
@melpomene so how do I get the whole list1?

Shantanu Mhapankar
– Shantanu Mhapankar

2018-09-23 21:32:04 +00:00
Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 21:32 — Shantanu Mhapankar
– Shantanu Mhapankar, Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 21:32

Stephan Lechner · Accepted Answer · 2018-09-23 21:37:14Z

2

Your ArrayList should hold pointers to the pointers, and you'll need a loop to print all the columns of a row (otherwise you will always get only the first element of a row):

char *list1[3] = {"String 11", "String 12", "String 13"};
char *list2[3] = {"String 21", "String 22", "String 23"};
char *list3[3] = {"String 31", "String 32", "String 33"};

char **ArrayList[3] = {list1, list2, list3};

int main() {
    for (int r=0;r<3;r++) {
        for (int c=0; c<3; c++) {
            printf("%s ",ArrayList[r][c]);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }
}

Output:

String 11 String 12 String 13 
String 21 String 22 String 23 
String 31 String 32 String 33

answered Sep 23, 2018 at 21:37

Stephan Lechner

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3 Comments

Shantanu Mhapankar Over a year ago

Ah, I see. Can you link me a good article explaining pointers and double pointers? I'm still confused as to how you were able to use ArrayList[r][c] for a 1D array. I'm guessing it's because of the double pointer?

chux Over a year ago

It is often more clear to use a non-square 2D like array. Perhaps 2x3 or 3x4 to hep clearly differentiate the role of [r] and [c].

Shantanu Mhapankar Over a year ago

Is there anyway to get list1 from ArrayList and pass it to a function? I've been trying that but keep getting segmentation fault. @chux

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