How to declare pointer to array of structs in C [duplicate]

Answer 1

An array degrades into a raw pointer to the first array element. So you can do something more like this instead:

#define HAND_SIZE 5

struct Card {
    char suit;
    char face;
};

void printHandResults(struct Card *hand);

int main(void)
{
    struct Card hand[HAND_SIZE];
    ...
    printHandResults(hand);
}

void printHandResults(struct Card *hand)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < HAND_SIZE; ++i)
    {
        // print hand[i].suit and hand[i].face as needed...
    }
}

Alternatively:

#define HAND_SIZE 5

struct Card {
    char suit;
    char face;
};

void printHandResults(struct Card *hand, int numInHand);

int main(void)
{
    struct Card hand[HAND_SIZE];
    ...
    printHandResults(hand, HAND_SIZE);
}

void printHandResults(struct Card *hand, int numInHand)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < numInHand; ++i)
    {
        // print hand[i].suit and hand[i].face as needed...
    }
}

Alternatively, create a new typedef for the card array, and then you can create variables and pointers of that type:

#define HAND_SIZE 5

struct Card {
    char suit;
    char face;
};

typedef struct Card Hand[HAND_SIZE];

void printHandResults(Hand *hand);

int main(void)
{
    Hand hand;
    ...
    printHandResults(&hand);
}

void printHandResults(Hand *hand)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < HAND_SIZE; ++i)
    {
        // print hand[i].suit and hand[i].face as needed...
    }
}