错误：结构初始化程序中的多余元素； '->' 的无效类型参数（有 'int'）

Question

I am attempting to initialize elements 3 and 5 of my array, one inside of my main method and one outside (due to assignment requirements - already submitted this, I am just correcting to study for an exam).

However, I am facing two errors - " excess elements in struct initializer " and " invalid type argument '->' (have 'int') ".

Please see below for a snippet of the file I am trying to build.

 10 #include <stdio.h>
 11 #include <stdlib.h>
 12 #include <string.h>
 13 #include "project.h"
 14
 15 //Create an array of size 1000 of your datatype as global variable
 16 struct PROJECT arr[1000];
 17
 18   arr[4] = {"gaston","trad",9,2020,150,'N'}; //Attempted to initialize 5th element
 19
 20 int main(int argc, char * argv[],char * envp[])
 21 {
 22   */*
 23   //Initialize 5th element of array - ignore this
 24   strcpy(arr[4].beta,"gaston");
 25   strcpy(arr[4].type,"trad");
 26   arr[4].grade=9;
 27   arr[4].year=2020;
 28   arr[4].weight=150;
 29   arr[4].sent='N';*/*
 30
 31   //Initialize 3rd element of array
 32   strcpy(arr[2]->beta,"jug");
 33   strcpy(arr[2]->type,"speed");
 34   arr[2]->grade=12;
 35   arr[2]->year=2022;
 36   arr[2]->weight=125;
 37   arr[2]->sent='Y';

I have searched both of these errors and read through other threads but don't understand the solution explanations. Would someone be able to explain in simple terms what I am doing wrong here?

Answer 1

You can't initialize an array like that. You need to either set it like you do on lines 24 - 29 (assuming your character pointers have enough space), or if you want to do brace initialization, you need to do it for the elements before as well.

struct PROJECT arr[1000] =
  {  NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 0, 0, // Assuming "sent" is a character.
     NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 0, 0,
     NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 0, 0,
     NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 0, 0,
     "gaston", "trad", 9, 2020, 150, 'N',
     ... //etc
  };

See: http://www.crasseux.com/books/ctutorial/Initializing-arrays.html