Loop doesn't behave the way it's supposed to.

[Stephan Aspridis]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

----------------------------------
star.planet[0].orbit_distance =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;
}//end for

star.number_of_orbits = p;
----------------------------------

"orbcount" is a variable of type int which normally has a value between
1 and 20. "star.orbit_limit" is an upper limit (type double).

The general idea was that upon reaching the limit, the loop ends and
"star.number_of_orbits" gets the last value of "p".

I asked the same question in de.comp.lang.c and the folks there came up
with this solution:

----------------------------------
ptr = star.planet;
e = ptr+orbcount;
d =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;
while (d<=star.orbit_limit&&ptr<e){
ptr->orbit_distance = d;
d *= get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
++ptr;
}//end while
star.number_of_orbits = ptr-star.planet;
----------------------------------

Problem is: It doesn't work either. I get the same error. To illustrate
what I mean here is an example of a system generated with this program:

-------------------------------
stellar characteristics of 1
type : K3 V
mass : 0.689 solar mass
luminosity : 0.225 solar lum
temperature : 4518 K
peak wavelength : 596 nm
diameter : 1081470 km
gravity : 31.519 G
lifespan : 30.581 billion years
rotational period : 193.5 hours
axial inclination : 18.0 deg.
number of orbits : 13
orbital limit : 4.286 AU <------ this is the limit...
eco zone
-inner boundary : 0.463 AU
-outer boundary : 0.743 AU
%
planets of 1 present at:
0.549 AU
1.208 AU
2.257 AU
5.395 AU <----- ...that is ignored
11.480 AU
14.862 AU
35.608 AU
51.075 AU
113.629 AU
224.052 AU
445.400 AU
765.494 AU
1840.211 AU
-------------------------------

Any idea anyone? I use lcc-win32 and gcc, so it probably isn't the compiler.

hoping for answers,

regards,
Stephan

 

[Joona I Palaste]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;

Probably stupid question, since I was too lazy to work out the
mathematical algorithm, but are you sure it isn't because you are
assigning to star.planet[x].orbit_distance, but comparing
star.planet[p].orbit_distance? Those are two different variables.

}//end for

star.number_of_orbits = p;
----------------------------------

 

[Peter Pichler]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.
0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;

Probably stupid question, since I was too lazy to work out the
mathematical algorithm, but are you sure it isn't because you are
assigning to star.planet[x].orbit_distance, but comparing
star.planet[p].orbit_distance? Those are two different variables.

I noticed that too, but shouldn't that only result in unnecessarily
calculating one too many orbits? start.planet[p].orbit_distance
is always known at the moments of the comparison...

Peter

 

[Joona I Palaste]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.
0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;

Probably stupid question, since I was too lazy to work out the
mathematical algorithm, but are you sure it isn't because you are
assigning to star.planet[x].orbit_distance, but comparing
star.planet[p].orbit_distance? Those are two different variables.

I noticed that too, but shouldn't that only result in unnecessarily
calculating one too many orbits? start.planet[p].orbit_distance
is always known at the moments of the comparison...

You are right. Well, the only thing *I* can figure is that maybe the
orbit_distance field rolls over, and thus can never become bigger than
the orbit_limit field. As the OP hasn't shown us the definition of the
structures in question, I'm just shooting in the dark here.

 

[Peter Pichler]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

----------------------------------
star.planet[0].orbit_distance = pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)
*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance = star.planet[p].orbit_distance
*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance > star.orbit_limit)
break;
}//end for

So, the next planet's orbit distance is between 1.5 and 2.5 times the
current distance, right? And you want to break the loop based on the limit,
but only after calculating the next orbit distance, right?

planets of 1 present at:
0.549 AU
1.208 AU
2.257 AU
5.395 AU <----- ...that is ignored
11.480 AU

....

Unless I am missing something blatantly obvious, you should be calculating
orbits up to this point. In addition to what Joona said, I can come up with
two possible explanations: 1) you initialize star.orbit_limit too late or
2) you have some kind of an order-of-magnitude problem (initializing orbit
limit to 4000 rather than 4, for example) ;-)

Peter

 

[Stephan Aspridis]

You are right. Well, the only thing *I* can figure is that maybe the
orbit_distance field rolls over, and thus can never become bigger than
the orbit_limit field. As the OP hasn't shown us the definition of the
structures in question, I'm just shooting in the dark here.

Here are the structures:

struct planet_record{
unsigned char core_type[20];
short int ident;
short int orbit_zone;
short int core_ident;
short int number_of_rings;
short int number_of_small_moons;
short int number_of_large_moons;
double orbit_distance;
double orbit_eccentricity;
double orbit_inclination;
double orbit_period;
double orbit_velocity;
double orbit_temperature;
double orbit_temperature_add;
double exosphere_temperature;
double max_temperature;
double min_temperature;
double perihel_add;
double aphel_sub;
double diameter;
double density;
double width;
double mass;
double surface;
double gravity;
double escape_velocity;
double base_temp;
double axial_inclination;
double rotation;
double geosync_orbit;
double horizon_at_eye_level;
double horizon_at_10m;
double horizon_at_100m;
double magnetic_field;
};

struct star_record{
unsigned char type[16];
short int ident;
short int number_of_orbits;
double mass;
double inclination;
double rotation;
double main_sequence_life;
double luminosity;
double main_sequence_radius;
double radius;
double temperature;
double main_sequence_temperature;
double diameter;
double gravity;
double lambda_max;
double period1_2;
double period12_3;
double period12_34;
double period3_4;
double mean_separation1_2;
double mean_separation12_3;
double mean_separation12_34;
double mean_separation3_4;
double eco_rad_inner;
double eco_rad_outer;
double orbit_limit;
struct planet_record planet[20];
};

 

[Stephan Aspridis]

Peter Pichler wrote:

So, the next planet's orbit distance is between 1.5 and 2.5 times the
current distance, right? And you want to break the loop based on the limit,
but only after calculating the next orbit distance, right?

Yes, exactly.

planets of 1 present at:
0.549 AU
1.208 AU
2.257 AU
5.395 AU <----- ...that is ignored
11.480 AU

...

Unless I am missing something blatantly obvious, you should be calculating
orbits up to this point. In addition to what Joona said, I can come up with
two possible explanations: 1) you initialize star.orbit_limit too late or
2) you have some kind of an order-of-magnitude problem (initializing orbit
limit to 4000 rather than 4, for example) ;-)

No to your first point. star.orbit_limit is initialized before this
loop. As for your second point - it gets exactly the value you see in
my OP. That were the first things I tried.

regards,
Stephan

 

[Stephan Aspridis]

Joona I Palaste wrote:

You are right. Well, the only thing *I* can figure is that maybe the
orbit_distance field rolls over, and thus can never become bigger than
the orbit_limit field.

How can this happen?

regards,
Stephan

 

[Peter Pichler]

How can this happen?

It is very unlikely in your case. Joona didn't see your structures'
definitions, so he took a wild guess.

Peter

 

[John L]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

----------------------------------
star.planet[0].orbit_distance =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;
}//end for

star.number_of_orbits = p;
----------------------------------

"orbcount" is a variable of type int which normally has a value between
1 and 20. "star.orbit_limit" is an upper limit (type double).

The general idea was that upon reaching the limit, the loop ends and
"star.number_of_orbits" gets the last value of "p".

I asked the same question in de.comp.lang.c and the folks there came up
with this solution:

----------------------------------
ptr = star.planet;
e = ptr+orbcount;
d =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;
while (d<=star.orbit_limit&&ptr<e){
ptr->orbit_distance = d;
d *= get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
++ptr;
}//end while
star.number_of_orbits = ptr-star.planet;
----------------------------------

Problem is: It doesn't work either. I get the same error. To illustrate
what I mean here is an example of a system generated with this program:

-------------------------------
stellar characteristics of 1
type : K3 V
mass : 0.689 solar mass
luminosity : 0.225 solar lum
temperature : 4518 K
peak wavelength : 596 nm
diameter : 1081470 km
gravity : 31.519 G
lifespan : 30.581 billion years
rotational period : 193.5 hours
axial inclination : 18.0 deg.
number of orbits : 13
orbital limit : 4.286 AU <------ this is the limit...
eco zone
-inner boundary : 0.463 AU
-outer boundary : 0.743 AU
%
planets of 1 present at:
0.549 AU
1.208 AU
2.257 AU
5.395 AU <----- ...that is ignored
11.480 AU
14.862 AU
35.608 AU
51.075 AU
113.629 AU
224.052 AU
445.400 AU
765.494 AU
1840.211 AU

If the loop is OK, and if there is no problem anywhere else,
then is number of orbits == 13 because orbcount == 13 or is
orbit_limit an order of magnitude out?

John.

 

[Chris Torek]

[pretty much entirely snipped]

By not posting a complete program, or even a compile-able snippet,
you make it difficult to give much help. Using the data structures
you posted later, along with the code you included, I came up with
the code below, which appears to work fine. (Note that I just put
in 1.0 for both sun and earth density factors. I also made some
assumptions about get_random().)

The revised version of gronk() -- the function with the troublesome
loop -- has no functional changes except that it does not write on
the one-past-last star.planet[p] field. Mostly I just tried
not to repeat variable names over and over and over and over.

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

struct planet_record {
unsigned char core_type[20];
short int ident;
short int orbit_zone;
short int core_ident;
short int number_of_rings;
short int number_of_small_moons;
short int number_of_large_moons;
double orbit_distance;
double orbit_eccentricity;
double orbit_inclination;
double orbit_period;
double orbit_velocity;
double orbit_temperature;
double orbit_temperature_add;
double exosphere_temperature;
double max_temperature;
double min_temperature;
double perihel_add;
double aphel_sub;
double diameter;
double density;
double width;
double mass;
double surface;
double gravity;
double escape_velocity;
double base_temp;
double axial_inclination;
double rotation;
double geosync_orbit;
double horizon_at_eye_level;
double horizon_at_10m;
double horizon_at_100m;
double magnetic_field;
};

struct star_record {
unsigned char type[16];
short int ident;
short int number_of_orbits;
double mass;
double inclination;
double rotation;
double main_sequence_life;
double luminosity;
double main_sequence_radius;
double radius;
double temperature;
double main_sequence_temperature;
double diameter;
double gravity;
double lambda_max;
double period1_2;
double period12_3;
double period12_34;
double period3_4;
double mean_separation1_2;
double mean_separation12_3;
double mean_separation12_34;
double mean_separation3_4;
double eco_rad_inner;
double eco_rad_outer;
double orbit_limit;
#define MAXPLANETS 20
struct planet_record planet[MAXPLANETS];
};

double get_random(double, double);

#define MAXSTARS 2
struct star_record star[2];

void panic(const char *msg) {
fprintf(stderr, "panic: %s\n", msg);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE); /* or abort() */
}

#define SOLDENSITY 1.0
#define EARTHDENSITY 1.0

#ifdef ORIGINAL
/* original poster's code */
void gronk(int s, int orbcount) {
int p, x;

if (s < 0 || s >= MAXSTARS)
panic("star number out of range in gronk()");
if (orbcount < 1 || orbcount > MAXPLANETS)
panic("orbit count limit out of range in gronk()");
star.planet[0].orbit_distance =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*
sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;
}

star.number_of_orbits = p;
}
#else
/* how I would write gronk(): */
void gronk(int s, int orbcount) {
struct star_record *sp;
int p;
double dist;

if (s < 0 || s >= MAXSTARS)
panic("star number out of range in gronk()");
sp = &star;
if (orbcount < 0 || orbcount > MAXPLANETS)
panic("orbit count limit out of range in gronk()");

/*
* Calculate distance of innermost planet (if there is to be one).
* Deserves a comment as to why we use the cube root, etc.
*/
dist = pow(SOLDENSITY / EARTHDENSITY, 1.0 / 3.0) *
sqrt(sp->mass) * get_random(0.5, 1.5);

/*
* Place up to orbcount planets in orbit. We have an initial
* distance; successive planets are between 1.25 and 2.5 times
* further than each previous planet. We stop when we have
* filled the requested number, or the next planet to place
* would be beyond the star's orbit limit.
*/
for (p = 0; p < orbcount && dist < sp->orbit_limit; p++) {
sp->planet[p].orbit_distance = dist;
dist *= get_random(1.25, 2.5);
}

sp->number_of_orbits = p;
}
#endif

void setup(int s) {

/* should verify s value */
star.mass = 0.689; /* solar mass */
star.orbit_limit = 4.286; /* AU */
/* since the rest are not used, I did not initialize them */
}

void show(int s) {
int n;
struct star_record *sp;

/* should verify s value */
sp = &star;
printf("stellar characteristics of %d\n", s);
printf(" %-17s : K3 V\n", "type"); /* fake */
printf(" %-17s : %.3f solar mass\n", "mass", sp->mass);
printf("...\n");
printf(" %-17s : %d\n", "number of orbits", sp->number_of_orbits);
printf(" %-17s : %.3f AU\n", "orbital limit", sp->orbit_limit);
printf("...\n");
printf("planets of %d present at:\n", s);
for (n = 0; n < sp->number_of_orbits; n++)
printf(" %.3f AU\n", sp->planet[n].orbit_distance);
}

/* return a number between lo and hi exclusive of hi */
double get_random(double lo, double hi) {
double r;

if (hi <= lo)
panic("bad values to get_random()");
r = (double)rand() / ((double)RAND_MAX + 1.0); /* in [0.0,1.0) */
r *= hi - lo; /* expand to given range */
r += lo;
return r;
}

int main(void) {

srand((unsigned)time(NULL)); /* not quite portable but will serve */
setup(1);
gronk(1, MAXPLANETS);
show(1);
return 0;
}

 

[Stephan Aspridis]

[pretty much entirely snipped]

By not posting a complete program, or even a compile-able snippet,
you make it difficult to give much help. Using the data structures
you posted later, along with the code you included, I came up with
the code below, which appears to work fine. (Note that I just put
in 1.0 for both sun and earth density factors. I also made some
assumptions about get_random().)

Thanks for the help. I knew that it would better to post the entire prog
- only that the (commented ;-) )source code is about 50K, even the
compilable snippet is about 24K. I didn't want to spam the group with
large, uninteresting (to most) text.

But I'll try the code you came up with. Stay tuned ;-)

regards,
Stephan

P.S.
Why is it that everyone insists on using pointers... ;-))

 

[Martin Ambuhl]

Stephan Aspridis wrote:

Thanks for the help. I knew that it would better to post the entire prog
- only that the (commented ;-) )source code is about 50K, even the
compilable snippet is about 24K. I didn't want to spam the group with
large, uninteresting (to most) text.

You know, you didn't need those large structures and most of the
associated code to post a compilable program illustrating your problem.
In fact, most of what you posted was just clutter obstructing the path
to answers to your question.

 

[Bill]

Hi folks,

a happy new year. I have a little problem with a program I am writing at
the moment. A loop doesn't behave the way I'd like to (namely, the
"break" is ignored). This is the code in question:

----------------------------------
star.planet[0].orbit_distance =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;

for (p=0;p<orbcount-1;p++){
x = p+1;
star.planet[x].orbit_distance =
star.planet[p].orbit_distance*get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
if (star.planet[p].orbit_distance>star.orbit_limit)
break;
}//end for

star.number_of_orbits = p;
----------------------------------

"orbcount" is a variable of type int which normally has a value between
1 and 20. "star.orbit_limit" is an upper limit (type double).

The general idea was that upon reaching the limit, the loop ends and
"star.number_of_orbits" gets the last value of "p".

I asked the same question in de.comp.lang.c and the folks there came up
with this solution:

----------------------------------
ptr = star.planet;
e = ptr+orbcount;
d =
pow(SOLDENSITY/EARTHDENSITY,1.0/3.0)*sqrt(star.mass)*get_random(50.0,150.0)/100.0;
while (d<=star.orbit_limit&&ptr<e){
ptr->orbit_distance = d;
d *= get_random(1250.0,2500.0)/1000.0;
++ptr;
}//end while
star.number_of_orbits = ptr-star.planet;
----------------------------------

Problem is: It doesn't work either. I get the same error. To illustrate
what I mean here is an example of a system generated with this program:

-------------------------------
stellar characteristics of 1
type : K3 V
mass : 0.689 solar mass
luminosity : 0.225 solar lum
temperature : 4518 K
peak wavelength : 596 nm
diameter : 1081470 km
gravity : 31.519 G
lifespan : 30.581 billion years
rotational period : 193.5 hours
axial inclination : 18.0 deg.
number of orbits : 13
orbital limit : 4.286 AU <------ this is the limit...
eco zone
-inner boundary : 0.463 AU
-outer boundary : 0.743 AU
%
planets of 1 present at:
0.549 AU
1.208 AU
2.257 AU
5.395 AU <----- ...that is ignored
11.480 AU
14.862 AU
35.608 AU
51.075 AU
113.629 AU
224.052 AU
445.400 AU
765.494 AU
1840.211 AU
-------------------------------

Any idea anyone? I use lcc-win32 and gcc, so it probably isn't the compiler.

hoping for answers,

regards,
Stephan

The program seems to working exactly as coded.

The for-loop exits early when the computed orbit distance is greater
than the orbit limit. This seems to be the case in the data set
presented. What obscures this logic error is that the computed orbit
distance doesn't exceed the limit until the 13th iteration of the
loop.

It occurs to me that what you might want to do is set the computed
orbit distance equal to the orbit limit iff the computed distance
exceeds the limit.

 

[Stephan Aspridis]

Stephan Aspridis wrote:

But I'll try the code you came up with. Stay tuned ;-)

Works now. But only after I defined "struct star_record *sp" and "sp =
&star" as well as "struct planet_record *pp" and "pp =
&star.planet[p]" for the entire program. Hell knows why. But thanks
for pointing (no pun intended ;-) ) me in the right direction.

P.S.
Why is it that everyone insists on using pointers... ;-))

I know think because they work... ;-)

reagrds,
Stephan

 

[Randy Howard]

Works now. But only after I defined "struct star_record *sp" and "sp =
&star" as well as "struct planet_record *pp" and "pp =
&star.planet[p]" for the entire program. Hell knows why. But thanks
for pointing (no pun intended ;-) ) me in the right direction.

One thing to consider is that taking the above attitude "Hell knows why"
and not bird-dogging it until you understand it completely on your own
will be a major obstacle in your learning curve. This is a huge mistake
that I see frequently with relatively "young" (in terms of experience)
programmers that simply makes the path that much harder. Never accept
the idea that something is accidentally, or magically working. You
don't learn anything at all that way and in fact often times jump to
incorrect conclusions that will come back to haunt you later.

I know think because they work... ;-)

Here is another example.

 

[Christopher Benson-Manica]

One thing to consider is that taking the above attitude "Hell knows why"
and not bird-dogging it until you understand it completely on your own

"Hell knows why" is a very bad thing to comfort oneself with, as the
following story may illustrate:

Once, in a systems programming class, we had an assignment where we
were supposed to simulate task switching on computer hardware with C.
Part of the code involved populating simulated registers and making a
list of processes from data contained in a file, something resembling
the following...

typedef struct process
{
...
int registers[8];
} process;

void do_stuff()
{
process *proc;
int reg_num=0;

while( more_processes ) { /* pseudo_code */
proc=malloc( sizeof(*proc) ); /* error check omitted */
/* get a line from the file, parse, etc... */
for( each_data_for_registers ) { /* pseudo code */
proc->registers[reg_num++]=some_int;
}
...
}
}

See what happens when there's more than one process to parse? Hint,
it leads to UB... the kind of UB where the program will (seemingly)
run fine under Linux, but will seg fault under Solaris (since Solaris
actually cares when you access memory that you don't have a right to).
After many hours searching high and low through a fairly large (for a
college homework assignment) program, I realized the error was in the
code posted above. However (here's The Bad Thing), I was so certain
the above code was correct I just hacked a "solution" (removed the seg
fault, at least) by doing

proc=malloc( 15 * sizeof(*proc) ); /* oh, the horror! */

Different values of n (than 15) sometimes led to seg faults, sometimes
not. But I was smug - the code executed cleanly (it seemed),
staving off a 0 on the assignment in consequence of a seg fault. It
didn't produce correct results, of course - but I was ready to turn it
in anyway. Then, I got a reprieve - the due date was extended! With
a fiendish gleam in my eye I vowed to make my code REALLY work.
Within minutes (in stark contrast to the 8 hours I had spent the day
before, to no avail), I realized that I should have written

proc->registers[reg_num++ % 8]=some_int;

! It's odd how accessing element 100+ of an 8-element array will lead
to unpleasant occurrences! The moral of the story is, RESIST the urge
to do ridiculous things like

proc=malloc( 15 * sizeof(*proc) );

to make telling crashes go away... The only good thing about the
experience was, well, the experience

 

[Ben Pfaff]

void do_stuff()
{
process *proc;
int reg_num=0;

while( more_processes ) { /* pseudo_code */
proc=malloc( sizeof(*proc) ); /* error check omitted */
/* get a line from the file, parse, etc... */

reg_num = 0;

for( each_data_for_registers ) { /* pseudo code */
proc->registers[reg_num++]=some_int;
}
...
}
}
[...]

Within minutes (in stark contrast to the 8 hours I had spent the day
before, to no avail), I realized that I should have written

proc->registers[reg_num++ % 8]=some_int;

Wouldn't the above-marked insertion of `reg_num = 0;' be more
straightforward?

 

[Christopher Benson-Manica]

Wouldn't the above-marked insertion of `reg_num = 0;' be more
straightforward?

In the code I posted, yes. It seems that there was some reason that I
didn't do it that way - I think I was using the index as a count of
items as well - reg_num/8 - or something. Either that or I was
suffering from delusions when I wrote the code, which was certainly a
possibility given what I consequently did...

 

[Stephan Aspridis]

One thing to consider is that taking the above attitude "Hell knows why"
and not bird-dogging it until you understand it completely on your own
will be a major obstacle in your learning curve.

Well, I just learned a thing. To sum things up - the error wasn't in
this loop after all. I should have told all of you that this little
program doesn't calculate one system, but any number of systems from 1
to the max number of long int (if you're so inclined). If system nr. 686
(for example) had 8 orbits and nr. 687 only 5, the remaining three
orbits of 686 were added. It really was a simple thing of forgetting to
flush the memory and initializing everything to zero (BTW - are there
any short and more _elegant_ ways than calling a function that does this
one by one?)

regards,
Stephan