decimal to binary function error

I have the following simple code to return a binary number in a array format given an interger and the number of the bits for specifying the interger as binary number.

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

int main ()

{
// int* get_binary_number(int* bit_array, int num, int bit_count);
int* bitcount ( int n, int bit_count) ;
int* bit_array;
int i;

// bit_array = get_binary_number(bit_array, 23, 6);
bit_array = bitcount(23, 6);
printf("\nUsage: \n");
printf("\n the number '23' in binary is ");

for (i=0; i<6; i++)
{
printf("%d", bit_array[i]);
}

return 0;

}

int* bitcount ( int n, int bit_count)
{
int count[bit_count];
int bit_place = bit_count - 1;
while (n)
{
count[bit_place] = n && 1 ;
n >>= 1 ;
bit_place--;
}
return count ;
}

this program does compile with a warning

gcc -c -Wall -c -o test.o test.c
test.c: In function �bitcount':
test.c:36: warning: function returns address of local variable
gcc test.o -o test

But when I try to run it, there is no result.
Any help to fix this is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Did you read the warning?

Add the command line option "-Werror" and it will be a bit clearer.

Hi Porter

So what is the best way to return the binary number as a array of integers?

Thanks,

You can't return arrays in C, but you can

(a) return a pointer to array elements, hence has to abide by the memory allocation rules, eg not being on the stack of the function that just returned.

(b) define a struct that contains the array, then return the struct.

Hi porter,

I changed my program to this
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main ()

{
// int* get_binary_number(int* bit_array, int num, int bit_count);
int* bitcount ( int* count, int n, int bit_count) ;
int* bit_array;
int i;
int temp_array[6];

// bit_array = get_binary_number(bit_array, 23, 6);
bit_array = bitcount(temp_array,23, 6);
printf("\nUsage: \n");
printf("\n the number '23' in binary is ");

for (i=0; i<6; i++)
{
printf("%d", bit_array[i]);
}

return 0;

}

int* bitcount ( int* count, int n, int bit_count)
{
//int count[bit_count];
int bit_place = bit_count - 1;
while (n)
{
count[bit_place] = n && 1 ;

     n >>= 1 ;
 bit_place--;
  \}
  return count ;

}
and don't get any warnings/error during compilation,
63 memgen > make
gcc -c -Wall -Werror -c -o test.o test.c
gcc test.o -o test
64 memgen >
64 memgen > test
65 memgen >
but there is no output on the screen as well.
What could be wrong?

Thanks

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

int* bitcount ( int * count, int n, int bit_count) 
{
	/* int count[bit_count]; */
	int bit_place = bit_count - 1;

	while (bit_count--)
	{
		count[bit_place] = (n & 1) ;

		n >>= 1 ;
		bit_place--;
	}

	return count ;
}

int main (int argc, char **argv)
{
	/* int* get_binary_number(int* bit_array, int num, int bit_count); */
	int* bitcount ( int* count, int n, int bit_count) ;
	int* bit_array;
	int i;
	int temp_array[6];

	/* bit_array = get_binary_number(bit_array, 23, 6); */

	bit_array = bitcount(temp_array,23, 6);

	printf("\nUsage: \n");
	printf("\n the number '23' in binary is ");

	for (i=0; i<6; i++)
	{
		printf("%d", bit_array);
	}

             printf("\n");

	return 0;
}

BTW, don't use // in C.

Hi porter,

Thank you for the prompt help but I still don't get any print messages on the stdout.
How do I know that its working right?

Thanks,:o

Really? I get..

Usage:

 the number '23' in binary is 010111

Add

             printf("\n");

at the end.