Question

I have a simple structure that is defined like so:

typedef struct { 
    int index;
    double* arrayToRead;
} my_struct;

I want to initialize an array of structures so they become something like this:

double decimals[2] = {1.0, 2.0};

my_struct[2] = {
    {0, &decimals[0]},
    {1, &decimals[1]}
};

I have to initialize this array of structs statically.

Can I initialize it statically while referring to a previously defined member, like so:

my_struct[2] = {
    {0, &decimals[index]},
    {1, &decimals[index]}
};

Where “index” refers to the value for index defined to the left of “decimals”?

Answer 1

No.^*

If you’re desperate, you could always devise a macro for this purpose:

#define DEFINE_ELEMENT(i) {(i), &decimals[(i)]}
my_struct m[2] = {
    DEFINE_ELEMENT(0),
    DEFINE_ELEMENT(1)
};
#undef DEFINE_ELEMENT

---

_{* Or “yes”, as @Jens points out in his answer, for C99.}