syntax error : missing ')' before 'constant'

Question

I have some syntax problems that I don't know how to fix. I'm trying to build some functions to matrix, can someone help me resolve those problems?

1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(11): error C2143: syntax error : missing ')' before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(11): error C2143: syntax error : missing '{' before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(11): error C2059: syntax error : '<Unknown>'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(11): error C2059: syntax error : ')'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(12): error C2143: syntax error : missing ')' before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(12): error C2143: syntax error : missing '{' before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(12): error C2059: syntax error : '<Unknown>'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(12): error C2059: syntax error : ')'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(13): error C2143: syntax error : missing ')' before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(13): error C2143: syntax error : missing '{' before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(13): error C2059: syntax error : '<Unknown>'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(13): error C2059: syntax error : ')'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(27): warning C4013: 'initMatrix' undefined; assuming extern returning int
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(29): warning C4013: 'completeMatrix' undefined; assuming extern returning int
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(30): warning C4013: 'displayMatrix' undefined; assuming extern returning int before 'constant'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(146): error C2059: syntax error : '<Unknown>'
1>c:\documents and settings\one\my documents\visual studio 2010\projects\hw3\hw3\q2.c(146): error C2059: syntax error : ')'

Here is the code:

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

#define N 10
#define MAX_CHAR 9
int checkString(char *str);
void replacingLetters(char *str);
int countWords(char *str);
int * initMatrix(int M, int N);
void completeMatrix(char *str,int *arr,int M, int N);
void displayMatrix(int *arr,int M, int N);
int main() 
{
    int *res;
    int numOfWords;
    char inputFromUser[N*MAX_CHAR];
    printf("Please insert a string : ");
    gets(inputFromUser);

    if (1 == checkString(inputFromUser))
    {
        replacingLetters(inputFromUser);
        numOfWords = countWords(inputFromUser);

     *res = initMatrix(26,numOfWords);

        completeMatrix(inputFromUser,res,26,numOfWords);
        displayMatrix(res,26,numOfWords);
    }

    return 0;
}

int checkString(char *str)
{
    int stringLen = 0;
    int i = 0;

    stringLen = strlen(str);

    for (i = 0 ; i < stringLen ; ++i)
    {
        if ((str[i] >= 'a' && str[i] <= 'z') || 
            (str[i] >= 'A' && str[i] <= 'Z') ||
            (str[i] == ' '))
        {
            continue;
        }

        return 0;
    }

    return 1;
}

void replacingLetters(char *str)
{
    int stringLen = 0;
    int i = 0;

    stringLen = strlen(str);

    for (i = 0 ; i < stringLen ; ++i)
    {
        if (str[i] >= 'A' && str[i] <= 'Z')
        {
            str[i] = str[i] - 'A' + 'a';
        }
    }
}

int countWords(char *str)
{
    int stringLen = 0;
    int i = 0;
    int numberOfWords = 0;
    int isNewWord = 1;

    stringLen = strlen(str);

    for (i = 0 ; i < stringLen ; ++i)
    {
        if (str[i] >= 'a' && str[i] <= 'z')
        {
            if (isNewWord == 1)
            {
                numberOfWords++;
                isNewWord = 0;
            }
        }

        if (str[i] == ' ')
        {
            isNewWord = 1;
        }
    }

    return numberOfWords;
}

int * initMatrix(int M, int N)
{
    int * retVal = 0;
    int i,j;
    retVal = (int *)malloc(sizeof(int) *N *M);

    for ( i = 0 ; i < N ; ++i)
    {
        for ( j = 0 ; j < M ; ++j)
        {
            retVal[i*M + j] = 0;
        }
    }
    return retVal;
}

void completeMatrix(char *str,int *arr,int M, int N)
{
    int numOfWords = 0;
    int wordIdx = 0;
    int idx = 0;
    int idxInWord = 1;

    if (1 == checkString(str))
    {
        replacingLetters(str);
        numOfWords = countWords(str);

        for (wordIdx = 0; wordIdx < numOfWords ; ++wordIdx)
        {
            idxInWord = 1;
            while((str[idx] != 0) && (str[idx] != ' '))
            {
                arr[wordIdx * M +  str[idx] - 'a'] = arr[wordIdx * M +  str[idx] - 'a']*10 + idxInWord;
                idx++;
                idxInWord++;
            }

            idx++;
        }
    }
}

void displayMatrix(int *arr,int M, int N)
{
    int i,j;

    for ( i = 0 ; i < _N ; ++i)
    {
        for ( j = M -1 ; j >= 0 ; --j)
        {
            printf("%d ",_arr[i*M + j]);
        }
        printf("\n\n");
    }
}

`int * initMatrix(int M, int N);` : `N` replace with `10` by `#define N 10` at preprocess phase. — BLUEPIXY, Jun 11 '15 at 18:56

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:51

#define is a preprocessor MACRO which acts as a textual replacement in the preprocesssing stage. In your case, with a MACRO like

#define N 10

and then with a function like

void displayMatrix(int *arr,int M, int N);

it turns out to be

void displayMatrix(int *arr,int M, int 10);  //note the int 10 part

which is basically replacing all occurrences of N with 10 and after which it becomes illegal. You need to have an int variable type for function parameter, not an int literal.

Change all occurrences of int N in function parameter to some other variable name.

That said,

gets() suffers seriously from buffer overflow issue. Use fgets() instead.
Do not cast the return value of malloc() and family in C.
Recommended signature of main() is int main(void).

BTW: There's also have some define in window.h that may be included by third-party library. such as : _WIN32 _DEBUG NDEBUG ERROR ... So please be patient to search whether some keyword conflict. — vrqq, Nov 15 '20 at 15:57

syntax error : missing ')' before 'constant'

1 Answers1