Expected identifier or '(before a numeric constant?

Question

I have this header file ... for some reason I keep getting the error log_server.h:48: error: expected identifier or '(' before numeric constant I get this error on both lines defining the put_evt and print_evt_list functions , here is what the code looks like:

 #ifndef _GENERIC #define _GENERIC #include <string.h> #include <time.h> #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <unistd.h> #endif #ifndef _NETWORKING #define _NETWORKING #include <netinet/in.h> #include <arpa/inet.h> #include <netdb.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #include <sys/types.h> typedef struct sockaddr SA;/* To make casting in the (bind, recvfrom, sendto) more readable */ #endif #define LOGIN_EVT 0 #define LOGOUT_EVT 1 #define RECV_MSG 27 #define SEND_MSG 64000 #define MAX_EVT_COUNT 3000 struct evt{ char user_name[8]; int type; long int time; }; /* open log file to append the events to its end * return 0 on success and -1 on failure (file could not be opened) */ int init_log(const char *log_fname); /* closes the log file * return 0 on success and -1 on failure (file could not be opened) */ int terminate_log(); /* add new event to the log file * return 0 on success and -1 on failure */ int put_evt(struct evt *e); /* get list of events that occured after the given time * count is the size of the allocated and passed e-list * return number of found events on success and -1 on failure */ int get_events(struct evt *e_list, long int time); /* print given event info (name, time)*/ void print_evt(struct evt *e); /* print "count" event info from the given e_list info (name, time)*/ void print_evt_list(struct evt *e_list, int count); /* startListen takes a port number and returns a listening descriptor on sucess or negavtive on error */ int startListen(int port); /* Responsbile for hanlding received messages from clients and responding to them accordingly if the message is an action done, it'll save it in the log file and notify the client if the message is a query about the events, it'll call the private function queryHandler(); to handle it returns negative on ERROR*/ int handle_message(int sockDescriptor, struct sockaddr_in *client, char *recvMessage); 

I read that this error can be caused by the presence of a preprocessing directive written on several lines ... but I do not have it. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Answer 1

The problem was that I had a struct evt declared elsewhere.

Answer 2

I think you have #define e 2.71828183 or some of them in the previous headers.

To know for sure, run the code through the preprocessor and look at the result. In gcc, this command line switch is -E

Answer 3

I had the same problem and it turned out that struct evt was defined elsewhere

Answer 4

I would try renaming the functions a bit. Sometimes, if one of the headers defines a marker (for example, "put_evt") that you use, the preprocessor will cripple your code.