Pointing to an array inside a struct that is inside another struct

Question

How can I access an array / other type of data that is inside of a struct which is inside of another struct. This is what Ive tried so far and its coming out as c is not declared. I know I can declare c as prod_t *c but it defeats the purpose of something Im trying to do as it doesnt exist inside of the root ( a_t struc).

typedef struct {
    char *name;
} prod_t;

typedef struct {
    prod_t *c;
} a_t;



int
main(int agrc, char **argv){
    a_t *root = malloc(sizeof(a_t));
    root->c=malloc(sizeof(prod_t));

    c->name = malloc( 5 * sizeof(char));
    strcpy(c->name, "abc");

    printf("%s",root.c->name);



    return 0;
}

Answer 1

In your code, c->name is not a valid variable name. c is a member variable of the structure variable root . There is no standalone variable named c .

You can use like

root->c->name = malloc( 5 );

and

strcpy(root->c->name, "abc");

and

printf("%s\n", root->c->name);

Also, remember,

1. sizeof(char) is guranteed to produce 1 in C , so you can drop that part.
2. Once you're done using the allocated memory, you need to free() them.

Answer 2

You have three pointers one is "enclosed" in another. So you have to write

root->c->name = malloc( 5 * sizeof(char));
strcpy( root->c->name, "abc");

printf("%s",root->c->name);

And you have to free them in the following order

free( root->c->name );
free( root->c );
free( root );

Take into account that in general you have to check whether the "outer" pointer was successfully "allocated" before allocating memory pointed to by the "inner" pointer.