C error: size of array is too large

Question

I have tried to compile this C code:

#define MAX_INT 2147483647

int main()
{
   int vector[MAX_INT];
   return 0;
}

I'm using the C compilers provided by both MinGW and MSYS projects, i.e., MinGW / MSYS. MinGW compiler is "gcc version 6.3.0 (MinGW.org GCC-6.3.0-1)", which is the most recently version and have win32 thread model, and MSYS compiler is "gcc version 3.4.4 (msys special)" with posix thread model.

That MAX_INT constant value is set in the constant "__INT_MAX__" provided by the "limits.h" header.

How can I avoid this problem and get my simplest code compiled?

That's 8 gigabytes worth of `int`s. Do you compile for 64 bits? Do you have 8 gb of RAM? Then try to `malloc` it, since it surely won't fit on stack. — HolyBlackCat, Mar 07 '18 at 18:11
No. I don't have that amount of memory. Thanks for the clarification. — Graco Babeuf, Mar 07 '18 at 18:17
@GracoBabeuf And how exactly the code above is helping you in building OpenSSH? — Eugene Sh., Mar 07 '18 at 18:19
@EugeneSh. That constant value is set to a variable present in OpenSSH source. — Graco Babeuf, Mar 07 '18 at 18:42
What constant and why do you think you need this array? I can guarantee that compiling OpenSSH does not require allocating 8gb on stack. — Eugene Sh., Mar 07 '18 at 18:46
@EugeneSh. This value, 2147483647 = 8GB, is setted to the constant IOV_MAX in the "atomicio.c" code. — Graco Babeuf, Mar 07 '18 at 18:54

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 07 '18 at 18:23

Your stack will not be that large to contain the array this is the main problem. Try setting the stack size using the following lines as suggested in Increase stack size when compiling with mingw? while compiling

gcc -Wl,--stack,N
where N is stack size. E.g. gcc -Wl,--stack,4194304

Also as mentioned in the comments you might have to compile for 64 bits and will require that much amount of RAM or possibly a large page file.

C error: size of array is too large

1 Answers1