struct definition inside main() causing Segmentation Fault

Question

Is it not possible to define structure inside main() . I tried the following only to get a Segmentation Fault:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <strings.h>
#define TRUE 1


void main(int argc,char **argv)
{
struct test_struct
{

        char test_name[50];
        char summary_desc[200];
        char result[50];
};

struct suite_struct
{
        char suite_name[50];
        struct test_struct test[500];
        int test_count;
        int passed;
        int failed;
        int unresolved;
        int notrun;
}suite[500];

        int a,b;

        for (a=0;a<500;a++)
        {
                strcpy(suite[a].suite_name,"");
                for (b=0;b<500;b++)
                {
                        strcpy(suite[a].test[b].test_name,"");
                        strcpy(suite[a].test[b].summary_desc,"");
                        strcpy(suite[a].test[b].result,"");
                }
                suite[a].test_count=0;
                suite[a].passed=0;
                suite[a].failed=0;
                suite[a].unresolved=0;
                suite[a].notrun=0;
        }
}

But the moment I take the struct definition outside it works:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <strings.h>
#define TRUE 1


struct test_struct 
{ 

        char test_name[50]; 
        char summary_desc[200]; 
        char result[50]; 
}; 

struct suite_struct 
{ 
        char suite_name[50]; 
        struct test_struct test[500]; 
        int test_count; 
        int passed; 
        int failed; 
        int unresolved; 
        int notrun; 
}suite[500]; 
void main(int argc,char **argv)
{

        int a,b;

        for (a=0;a<500;a++)
        {
                strcpy(suite[a].suite_name,"");
                for (b=0;b<500;b++)
                {
                        strcpy(suite[a].test[b].test_name,"");
                        strcpy(suite[a].test[b].summary_desc,"");
                        strcpy(suite[a].test[b].result,"");
                }
                suite[a].test_count=0;
                suite[a].passed=0;
                suite[a].failed=0;
                suite[a].unresolved=0;
                suite[a].notrun=0;
        }
}

Not sure why this is happening. I am using the Solaris SunStudio compiler for this.

Answer 1

In the first example, suite lives on the stack, and in the second it lives on the data segment.

Since suite is quite large (~75MB), the segfault is almost certainly due to your program running out of stack space.

In most cases, it is best to allocate large data structures on the heap (using malloc() et al). This will also make it possible to allocate just the amount of space you require instead of always allocating space for 500 elements.