How do I return multiple values from a function in C?

If I have a function that produces a result int and a result string, how do I return them both from a function?

As far as I can tell I can only return one thing, as determined by the type preceding the function name.

I don't know what your string is, but I'm going to assume that it manages its own memory.

You have two solutions:

1: Return a struct which contains all the types you need.

struct Tuple {
    int a;
    string b;
};

struct Tuple getPair() {
    Tuple r = { 1, getString() };
    return r;
}

void foo() {
    struct Tuple t = getPair();
}

2: Use pointers to pass out values.

void getPair(int* a, string* b) {
    // Check that these are not pointing to NULL
    assert(a);
    assert(b);
    *a = 1;
    *b = getString();
}

void foo() {
    int a, b;
    getPair(&a, &b);
}

Which one you choose to use depends largely on personal preference as to whatever semantics you like more.

Option 1: Declare a struct with an int and string and return a struct variable.

struct foo {    
 int bar1;
 char bar2[MAX];
};

struct foo fun() {
 struct foo fooObj;
 ...
 return fooObj;
}

Option 2: You can pass one of the two via pointer and make changes to the actual parameter through the pointer and return the other as usual:

int fun(char **param) {
 int bar;
 ...
 strcpy(*param,"....");
 return bar;
}

 char* fun(int *param) {
 char *str = /* malloc suitably.*/
 ...
 strcpy(str,"....");
 *param = /* some value */
 return str;
}

Option 3: Similar to the option 2. You can pass both via pointer and return nothing from the function:

void fun(char **param1,int *param2) {
 strcpy(*param1,"....");
 *param2 = /* some calculated value */
}

Since one of your result types is a string (and you're using C, not C++), I recommend passing pointers as output parameters. Use:

void foo(int *a, char *s, int size);

and call it like this:

int a;
char *s = (char *)malloc(100); /* I never know how much to allocate :) */
foo(&a, s, 100);

In general, prefer to do the allocation in the calling function, not inside the function itself, so that you can be as open as possible for different allocation strategies.

How do I return multiple values from a function in C?

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