Adding 2 matrices using pointers

Question

I can acheive it by passing

(c,a,b)

to

add_mat

function, where result of

a,b

is stored in

c

like,

void add_mat(int c[][3], int a[][3], int b[][3], int m, int n)

What should be the return type of

add_mat

if I want to construct the funtion in this way

?? add_mat(int a[][3], int b[][3], int m, int n)

Below is a sample code

#include<stdio.h>



void read_mat(int a[][3], int m, int n){

    //scan data

    for(int i=0; i<m; i++){

        for(int j=0; j<n; j++){

            printf("[%d][%d] : ",i,j);

            a[i][j]=i+j;

        }

    }   

}

int* add_mat(int a[][3], int b[][3], int m, int n){

    int c[3][3];

    for(int i=0; i<m; i++){

        for(int j=0; j<n; j++){

            c[i][j]=a[i][j]+b[i][j];

        }

    }

    return c;

}



int main(){

    int a[3][3];

    int m=2,n=2; //mxn of a matrix



    read_mat(a, m, n);



    //add

    int b[3][3];

    read_mat(b, m, n);

    int* c[3][3];

    c = add_mat(a,b,m,n);



    return 0;

}

Like passing or pointing the calculated value

c

inside

add_mat

function to variable in

main

function.

Recommended for you: Get network issues from WhatsUp Gold. Not end users.

Answer 1

You cannot do that, since the memory of the c matrix will be gone when the function terminates.

You need to dynamically allocate it with malloc(), in order for the memory not to be free'd, unless you call free(). I have some examples for that in 2D dynamic array (C), if you want to take a look.

With your previous function, you would create the matrix c outside the function (in main()), that's why dynamic memory allocation was not required.

PS: You should compile with warnings enabled:

prog.c: In function 'add_mat':
prog.c:19:12: warning: returning 'int (*)[3]' from a function with incompatible return type 'int *' [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
     return c;
            ^
prog.c:19:12: warning: function returns address of local variable [-Wreturn-local-addr]
prog.c: In function 'main':
prog.c:32:7: error: assignment to expression with array type
     c = add_mat(a,b,m,n);
       ^
prog.c:31:10: warning: variable 'c' set but not used [-Wunused-but-set-variable]
     int* c[3][3];
          ^

Here is a working example, which is just for demonstrative purposes:

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

void read_mat(int a[][2], int n, int m){
    //scan data
    for(int i=0; i<n; i++){
        for(int j=0; j<m; j++){
            a[i][j] = i + j ;
        }
    }
}

int **get(int N, int M) /* Allocate the array */
{
    /* Check if allocation succeeded. (check for NULL pointer) */
    int i, **table;
    table = malloc(N*sizeof(int *));
    for(i = 0 ; i < N ; i++)
        table[i] = malloc( M*sizeof(int) );
    return table;
}

void print(int** p, int N, int M) {
    int i, j;
    for(i = 0 ; i < N ; i++)
        for(j = 0 ; j < M ; j++)
            printf("array[%d][%d] = %d\n", i, j, p[i][j]);
}

void free2Darray(int** p, int N) {
    int i;
    for(i = 0 ; i < N ; i++)
        free(p[i]);
    free(p);
}

int** add_mat(int a[][2], int b[][2], int m, int n){
    int** c = get(n, m);
    for(int i=0; i<n; i++){
        for(int j=0; j<m; j++){
            c[i][j]=a[i][j]+b[i][j];
        }
    }
    return c;
}

int main(){

    int n = 2, m = 2; //nxm of a matrix
    int a[n][m];

    read_mat(a, n, m);

    //add
    int b[n][m];
    read_mat(b, n, m);
    int** c;
    c = add_mat(a, b, n, m);

    print(c, n, m);
    free2Darray(c ,n);

    return 0;
}

Output:

array[0][0] = 0
array[0][1] = 2
array[1][0] = 2
array[1][1] = 4

PPS: If you really want to use static arrays, then I recommend using int c[3][3]; add_mat(c, a, b, m, n);

Adding 2 matrices using pointers

Sign up