NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/lang/c/20050

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-21 | 3.2 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!noc.near.net!bigboote.WPI.EDU!nntp!tomster
From: [e-mail] (Thomas Richard Dibble)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Few simple questions
Date: 21 Jan 93 22:07:33
Organization: ZikZak Corporation
Lines: 67
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bigwpi.wpi.edu
In-reply-to: [e-mail]'s message of 21 Jan 93 00:10:21 CST

>>>>> On 21 Jan 93 00:10:21 CST, [e-mail] said:

  k> L.S.

  k> I have a few questions (I am programming in ANSI-C on a UNIX machine) :

  k> 1. In unix, the backspace key does not work properly. I already
  k>    found out that this can be changed by typing stty erase ^?, where '^?'
  k>    means ctrl-?. I tried to include this in my .login file, but emacs does
  k>    not accept ^?. How do I put this line in my .login file?

Yeah, this doesn't really fit in this newsgroup, but oh well.  Try
pressing the "`" (backwards single quote --top, left key on keyboard)
before hitting Ctrl-?.  The input buffer of Emacs (the bottom line,
below the reverse-text or whatever bar) will say "Quote:".  The only
problem with this is that some comm programs reserve use of the "`"
key for internal use (like activating a menu or somesuch).  Then what
you need to do depends on the program you are using.

  k> 2. In C I need an input function like INKEY$ in BASIC, that is a function that
  k>    does _not_ wait for input, but just an empty string or so returns if no
  k>    character is entered. (I am trying to measure the time between two key-
  k>    presses). Does this function exist, and if not, is there any way to do
  k>    what I want?

I know of no such beast on UNIX machines.  In DOS under TC 2.0 there
is kbhit(), but I have found no equivalent for UNIX.

  k> 3. In C again, I want to initialize and array of integers, like
  k>
  k>    main()
  k>    {
  k>      int ttime[6]={0,0,0,0,0,0}
  k>      /* rest of program */
  k>    }

  k>    but the compiler keeps saying:
  k>
  k> "
  k> ccom: Error: tr.c, line 12: no automatic aggregate initialization
  k>         int     ttime[6]={0,0,0,0,0,0};
  k>       ------------------^
  k> ccom: Error: tr.c, line 12: illegal lhs of assignment operator
  k>         int     ttime[6]={0,0,0,0,0,0};
  k>       ---------------------^
    [ deletia ]
  k> "

  k>    I really don't see what is wrong, the more because in my c-book,
  k>    "C by discovery" by L.S. Foster on page 213, almost exactly the
  k>    same thing is done.

Well, the problem (I am somewhat sure) is your compiler.  If I have
the story right, this is not in the ANSII standard, and so
"ANSII-compatible" compilers need not implement it.  The only solution
I know of is to put it into a function called right off the bat or
switch compilers.


            ---- [e-mail]

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