How to define a variable of type BYTE in C header?

Question

My main program uses a variable that stores the pointer to a byte.

How would I define that in the header?

Based on your series of questions tonight, you might find these useful, [The Definitive C Book Guide and List](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/562303/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list) — Blastfurnace, Nov 13 '11 at 05:17

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 13 '11 at 05:19

1

If you use C99, you could do:

#include <stdint.h>


uint8_t *pointer_to_byte;

answered Nov 13 '11 at 05:19

fghj

8,898
4
28
56

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 13 '11 at 05:03

0

Byte is not a standard type but on many system any unsigned char will do the job on windows which I am more familiar there is a typedef for BYTE which is available in the windows headders

answered Nov 13 '11 at 05:03

rerun

25,014
6
48
78

So unsigned char will do on UNIX/OSX? – antonpug Nov 13 '11 at 05:04
In general unsiged char will work but its not assured to be only a byte only that its big enough to hold a character. – rerun Nov 13 '11 at 05:05
so it would be something like #define unsigned char myPointerVariable? – antonpug Nov 13 '11 at 05:08
1

@antonpug: No, stop using `#define`, that is used to create preprocessor macros. You would say `unsigned char *myPointerVariable` – Blastfurnace Nov 13 '11 at 05:13
2

use a typedef over define. define is really to suss out issues where you want to be able to change the code at complie time – rerun Nov 13 '11 at 05:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 13 '11 at 17:28

0

If you are writing something which relates to generic programming,you should use the void *. for most of the systems though you can use unsigned char *.

answered Nov 13 '11 at 17:28

bashrc

4,725
1
22
49

How to define a variable of type BYTE in C header?

3 Answers3