clang++ cannot initialize a variable of type 'int(*)[dim2]' with an rvalue of type 'int (*)[dim2]'

Question

Why does the code

void fcn(int *twoDArrayPtr, const int dim1, const int dim2) {
    int (*array)[dim2] = reinterpret_cast(twoDArrayPtr);
}

         


        

Answer 1

Although clang does not support variable-length arrays, there is a workaround. The following compiles with clang++ 4.0.0:

void fcn(int *twoDArrayPtr, const int dim1, const int dim2) {
    using array_type = int (*)[dim2];
    array_type array = reinterpret_cast(twoDArrayPtr);
}

int main() {
    return 0;
}

I'm not sure why this alias declaration should make any difference. It certainly seems inconsistent.