This is cross-posted to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++.
Consider redirecting followups as appropriate.

cdecl, along with c++decl, is a tool that translates C or C++
declaration syntax into English, and vice versa. For example :

$ cdecl
Type `help' or `?' for help
cdecl> explain const char *foo[42]
declare foo as array 42 of pointer to const char
cdecl> declare bar as pointer to function (void) returning int
int (*bar)(void )

It's also available via the web site <https://cdecl.org/>.

The original version of cdecl was posted on comp.sources.unix, probably
in the 1980s.

"ridiculous_fish" added support for Apple's blocks syntax. That
version, 2.5, is the one that's most widely available (it's provided by
the "cdecl" package on Debian and Ubuntu) and used by the cdecl.org
website.

There's a newer fork of cdecl, available in source code at

https://github.com/paul-j-lucas/cdecl/

It supports newer versions of C and C++ and adds a number of
new features. See the README.md file, visible at the above URL,
for more information. (It doesn't support Apple's block syntax.)

There doesn't seem to be a binary distribution, but the latest
source tarball is at

https://github.com/paul-j-lucas/cdecl/releases/download/cdecl-18.5/cdecl-18.5.tar.gz

It can be built on Unix-like systems with the usual "./configure;
make; make install" sequence. To build from a copy of the git repo,
run "./bootstrap" first to generate the "configure" script.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Em 22/10/2025 18:39, Keith Thompson escreveu:

This is cross-posted to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++.
Consider redirecting followups as appropriate.

cdecl, along with c++decl, is a tool that translates C or C++
declaration syntax into English, and vice versa. For example :

$ cdecl
Type `help' or `?' for help
cdecl> explain const char *foo[42]
declare foo as array 42 of pointer to const char
cdecl> declare bar as pointer to function (void) returning int
int (*bar)(void )

It's also available via the web site <https://cdecl.org/>.

This one does not work:

void (*f(int i))(void)




--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed 10/22/2025 2:39 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:

...

I believe I have already posted about it here... or maybe not?

cdecl.org reports a "syntax error" for declarations with top-level
`const` qualifiers on function parameters:

void foo(char *const)

Such declarations are perfectly valid. (And adding an explcit parameter
name does not help).

The current version of cdecl.org still complains about it.

--
Best regards,
Andrey


--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 10/22/2025 2:39 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:

This is cross-posted to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++.
Consider redirecting followups as appropriate.

cdecl, along with c++decl, is a tool that translates C or C++
declaration syntax into English, and vice versa. For example :

$ cdecl
Type `help' or `?' for help
cdecl> explain const char *foo[42]
declare foo as array 42 of pointer to const char
cdecl> declare bar as pointer to function (void) returning int
int (*bar)(void )

It's also available via the web site <https://cdecl.org/>.

I must be doing something wrong:

int (*fp_read) (void* const, void*, size_t)

is syntax error. It from one of my older experiments:

struct device_prv_vtable {
int (*fp_read) (void* const, void*, size_t);
int (*fp_write) (void* const, void const*, size_t);
};

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.lang.c/c/-BFbjYxcBQg/m/2uRErOV6AgAJ

https://pastebin.com/raw/f52a443b1
(link to raw text...)

[...]

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Andrey Tarasevich <noone@noone.net> writes:

On Wed 10/22/2025 2:39 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:

...

I believe I have already posted about it here... or maybe not?

cdecl.org reports a "syntax error" for declarations with top-level
`const` qualifiers on function parameters:

void foo(char *const)

Such declarations are perfectly valid. (And adding an explcit
parameter name does not help).

The current version of cdecl.org still complains about it.

You're probably using 2.5, the version most commonly packaged with Linux distributions. The cdecl.org site uses that same old version.

This entire thread is about the newer version available at <https://github.com/paul-j-lucas/cdecl/>. It doesn't have that bug.

$ cdecl --version
cdecl 18.6
Copyright (C) 2025 Paul J. Lucas
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY to the extent permitted by law.
$ cdecl explain 'void foo(char *const)'
declare foo as function (constant pointer to character) returning void
$ cdecl explain 'void foo(char *const foo)'
declare foo as function (foo as constant pointer to character) returning void
$

(I'm not entirely pleased that the newer version expands "char" to
"character" and, worse, "int" to "integer", but I can live with it.)

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

"Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> writes:

On 10/22/2025 2:39 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:

This is cross-posted to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++.
Consider redirecting followups as appropriate.
cdecl, along with c++decl, is a tool that translates C or C++
declaration syntax into English, and vice versa. For example :
$ cdecl
Type `help' or `?' for help
cdecl> explain const char *foo[42]
declare foo as array 42 of pointer to const char
cdecl> declare bar as pointer to function (void) returning int
int (*bar)(void )
It's also available via the web site <https://cdecl.org/>.

I must be doing something wrong:

Yes.

int (*fp_read) (void* const, void*, size_t)

is syntax error. It from one of my older experiments:

You're using the old 2.5 version. The newer forked version handles that declaration correctly, but you have to build it from source. cdecl.org
uses the old version.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 10/26/2025 3:38 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:

"Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> writes:

On 10/22/2025 2:39 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:

This is cross-posted to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++.
Consider redirecting followups as appropriate.
cdecl, along with c++decl, is a tool that translates C or C++
declaration syntax into English, and vice versa. For example :
$ cdecl
Type `help' or `?' for help
cdecl> explain const char *foo[42]
declare foo as array 42 of pointer to const char
cdecl> declare bar as pointer to function (void) returning int
int (*bar)(void )
It's also available via the web site <https://cdecl.org/>.

I must be doing something wrong:

Yes.

int (*fp_read) (void* const, void*, size_t)

is syntax error. It from one of my older experiments:

You're using the old 2.5 version. The newer forked version handles that declaration correctly, but you have to build it from source. cdecl.org
uses the old version.

Ahh! Thanks Keith.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)