Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 5/3/83; site ukc.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!ulysses!burl!clyde!floyd!vax135!ukc!lfm From: lfm@ukc.UUCP (L.Marshall) Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Subject: Another pointer size problem Message-ID: <4102@ukc.UUCP> Date: Wed, 22-Feb-84 03:35:28 EST Article-I.D.: ukc.4102 Posted: Wed Feb 22 03:35:28 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 23-Feb-84 01:42:46 EST Organization: Computing Lab. Kent University, England Lines: 20 Another place where pointer sizes can screw you up is in the parameters to system calls. How many times have you written : struct X y; read(fd, &y, sizeof(y)); or something similar? This of course *WRONG* and should be : read(fd, (char *) &y, sizeof(y)); but how often do you write the coercion? If you had a PERQ (or a PRIME or a Honeywell...) you would do it all the time (most of the utilities do it none of the time). So its not just NULL vs 0, at all - let's hear it for coercions (or do I mean casts?). Lindsay F. Marshall uucp : ...!(mcvax,vax135)!ukc!lfm ARPA : Lindsay_Marshall%NEWCASTLE@MIT-MULTICS post : Computing Laboratory, U of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. +44 - 632 - 329233 xtn 212