## Pointer Arrays

Pointer Arrays — arrays of pointers to any type of data, which grow automatically as new elements are added.

## Synopsis

    #include <glib.h>

                GPtrArray;
    GPtrArray*  g_ptr_array_new                 (void);
    GPtrArray*  g_ptr_array_sized_new           (guint reserved_size);
    void        g_ptr_array_add                 (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gpointer data);
    gboolean    g_ptr_array_remove              (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gpointer data);
    gpointer    g_ptr_array_remove_index        (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 guint index_);
    gboolean    g_ptr_array_remove_fast         (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gpointer data);
    gpointer    g_ptr_array_remove_index_fast   (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 guint index_);
    void        g_ptr_array_remove_range        (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 guint index_,
                                                 guint length);
    void        g_ptr_array_sort                (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 GCompareFunc compare_func);
    void        g_ptr_array_sort_with_data      (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 GCompareDataFunc compare_func,
                                                 gpointer user_data);
    void        g_ptr_array_set_size            (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gint length);
    #define     g_ptr_array_index               (array,index_)
    gpointer*   g_ptr_array_free                (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gboolean free_seg);
    void        g_ptr_array_foreach             (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 GFunc func,
                                                 gpointer user_data);

## Description

Pointer Arrays are similar to Arrays but are used only for storing pointers.

### Note

If you remove elements from the array, elements at the end of the array are moved into the space previously occupied by the removed element. This means that you should not rely on the index of particular elements remaining the same. You should also be careful when deleting elements while iterating over the array.

To create a pointer array, use `g_ptr_array_new()`.

To add elements to a pointer array, use `g_ptr_array_add()`.

To remove elements from a pointer array, use `g_ptr_array_remove()`, `g_ptr_array_remove_index()` or `g_ptr_array_remove_index_fast()`.

To access an element of a pointer array, use `g_ptr_array_index()`.

To set the size of a pointer array, use `g_ptr_array_set_size()`.

To free a pointer array, use `g_ptr_array_free()`.

Example 5. Using a GPtrArray

      GPtrArray *gparray;
      gchar *string1 = "one", *string2 = "two", *string3 = "three";

      gparray = g_ptr_array_new ();
      g_ptr_array_add (gparray, (gpointer) string1);
      g_ptr_array_add (gparray, (gpointer) string2);
      g_ptr_array_add (gparray, (gpointer) string3);

      if (g_ptr_array_index (gparray, 0) != (gpointer) string1)
        g_print ("ERROR: got %p instead of %p\n",
                 g_ptr_array_index (gparray, 0), string1);

      g_ptr_array_free (gparray, TRUE);

## Details

### GPtrArray

    typedef struct {
      gpointer *pdata;
      guint	    len;
    } GPtrArray;

Contains the public fields of a pointer array.

gpointer *`pdata`; | points to the array of pointers, which may be moved when the array grows.
guint `len`; | number of pointers in the array.

### g_ptr_array_new ()

    GPtrArray*  g_ptr_array_new                 (void);

Creates a new GPtrArray.

Returns : | the new GPtrArray.

### g_ptr_array_sized_new ()

    GPtrArray*  g_ptr_array_sized_new           (guint reserved_size);

Creates a new GPtrArray with `reserved_size` pointers preallocated. This avoids frequent reallocation, if you are going to add many pointers to the array. Note however that the size of the array is still 0.

`reserved_size` : | number of pointers preallocated.
Returns : | the new GPtrArray.

### g_ptr_array_add ()

    void        g_ptr_array_add                 (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gpointer data);

Adds a pointer to the end of the pointer array. The array will grow in size automatically if necessary.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`data` : | the pointer to add.

### g_ptr_array_remove ()

    gboolean    g_ptr_array_remove              (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gpointer data);

Removes the first occurrence of the given pointer from the pointer array. The following elements are moved down one place.

It returns `TRUE` if the pointer was removed, or `FALSE` if the pointer was not found.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`data` : | the pointer to remove.
Returns : | `TRUE` if the pointer is removed. `FALSE` if the pointer is not found in the array.

### g_ptr_array_remove_index ()

    gpointer    g_ptr_array_remove_index        (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 guint index_);

Removes the pointer at the given index from the pointer array. The following elements are moved down one place.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`index_` : | the index of the pointer to remove.
Returns : | the pointer which was removed.

### g_ptr_array_remove_fast ()

    gboolean    g_ptr_array_remove_fast         (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gpointer data);

Removes the first occurrence of the given pointer from the pointer array. The last element in the array is used to fill in the space, so this function does not preserve the order of the array. But it is faster than `g_ptr_array_remove()`.

It returns `TRUE` if the pointer was removed, or `FALSE` if the pointer was not found.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`data` : | the pointer to remove.
Returns : | `TRUE` if the pointer was found in the array.

### g_ptr_array_remove_index_fast ()

    gpointer    g_ptr_array_remove_index_fast   (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 guint index_);

Removes the pointer at the given index from the pointer array. The last element in the array is used to fill in the space, so this function does not preserve the order of the array. But it is faster than `g_ptr_array_remove_index()`.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`index_` : | the index of the pointer to remove.
Returns : | the pointer which was removed.

### g_ptr_array_remove_range ()

    void        g_ptr_array_remove_range        (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 guint index_,
                                                 guint length);

Removes the given number of pointers starting at the given index from a GPtrArray. The following elements are moved to close the gap.

`array` : | a `GPtrArray`.
`index_` : | the index of the first pointer to remove.
`length` : | the number of pointers to remove.

Since 2.4

### g_ptr_array_sort ()

    void        g_ptr_array_sort                (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 GCompareFunc compare_func);

Sorts the array, using `compare_func` which should be a `qsort()`-style comparison function (returns -1 for first arg is less than second arg, 0 for equal, 1 if first arg is greater than second arg).

### Note

The comparison function for `g_ptr_array_sort()` doesn't take the pointers from the array as arguments, it takes pointers to the pointers in the array.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`compare_func` : | comparison function.

### g_ptr_array_sort_with_data ()

    void        g_ptr_array_sort_with_data      (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 GCompareDataFunc compare_func,
                                                 gpointer user_data);

Like `g_ptr_array_sort()`, but the comparison function has a user data argument.

### Note

The comparison function for `g_ptr_array_sort_with_data()` doesn't take the pointers from the array as arguments, it takes pointers to the pointers in the array.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`compare_func` : | comparison function.
`user_data` : | data to pass to `compare_func`.

### g_ptr_array_set_size ()

    void        g_ptr_array_set_size            (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gint length);

Sets the size of the array, expanding it if necessary. New elements are set to `NULL`.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`length` : | the new length of the pointer array.

### g_ptr_array_index()

    #define     g_ptr_array_index(array,index_)

Returns the pointer at the given index of the pointer array.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`index_` : | the index of the pointer to return.
Returns : | the pointer at the given index.

### g_ptr_array_free ()

    gpointer*   g_ptr_array_free                (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 gboolean free_seg);

Frees all of the memory allocated for the pointer array.

`array` : | a GPtrArray.
`free_seg` : | if `TRUE` the array of pointers (`pdata`) is freed.
Returns : | `NULL` if `free_seg` is `TRUE`, otherwise the array of pointers (`pdata`) is returned.

### g_ptr_array_foreach ()

    void        g_ptr_array_foreach             (GPtrArray *array,
                                                 GFunc func,
                                                 gpointer user_data);

Calls a function for each element of a GPtrArray.

`array` : | a GPtrArray
`func` : | the function to call for each array element
`user_data` : | user data to pass to the function

Since 2.4