Many thanks to all 3 answers. I'm gonna go for the realloc as it looks like it fits best my needs. Speed is not really an issue but I can't use disk. Thanks again. Case closed. :D

Hi. This is not a Visual C++ question. Also, it'd be great if it worked under ANSI C. In this function I'm writing, strings start to come up and need to be saved on a big char* one next to the other, say: "yellow", "one", "banana" -> "yellowonebanana" thing is that final length is unknown, it could be 1000b as well as it could be 0b. so I looked it up from Google and only solution found was to do the algorythm twice, where in the first one I calculate length, then malloc, then do again and start storing. Is there any way to allocate and resize allocation dynamically? Thx in advance. Mariano Lopez-Gappa.

I'm not going to use MFC, nor any database as I need my program to work on a 486 dx2. Also the purpose of the list is to display multisorted information on a grid. Thx anyway! :D keep talking ppl plz!

thx for the help. it's been really useful. i'm a step closer to the solution but theres still an issue: the actual matter about the generic list is that, in this program, the user gets to decide what "fields" of a database get on the list. so for each user, or even for the same user changing the configuration, I get a different kind of list. so I gotta work on some kind of generic way to use those list, otherwise the number of field combinations are virtually infinite! another thing...I haven't been able to figure out a way to apply the n-criteria sorting, the numeric-alphanumeric thing is easy, but first of all I don't know WHICH or HOW MANY fields I have, and also it gets confusing how to apply the sorting in a generic way... this problem looks pretty complex...hope someone gets it right! thx in advance!! :D

I need to add nodes to a list regardless of its structure...I don't know how to do that since when the pointer is declared, it points to a certain data type, which needs to be generic... Moreover I need a way to sort that given list on many criteria, where maximum n is the number of fields in the structure, and those may be numeric or alphanumeric. (what I did before was if (crit1a = crit1b)&&(crit2a>crit2b) {switch...}, a more elaborate version of that, but my problem is mainly the generic issue) ............I'm so helpless..... :) Thx in advance!!!

First of all thx for your reply and thx to the other 2 guys replies. All of you helped a lot. New questions have arised due to replies: #1: My knowledge of technical differences between 16-32-64 bits is little or none...but I'm definitely gonna need more than 640K lol. There's gotta be a way to bypass the 640K limit! I thought mallocating on C and "New-ing" on Pascal allowed use of extended memory... Well, if it just can't be done, I can work it out by not exceeding the limit while I use the 486...resigning compatibility with it, it's ok, it wasn't that big deal...nor was Linux compatibility. It seems I'm gonna need a 32-bit compiler (though I don't really know much what it means), perhaps this is what "BBC32" meaning was (32 bit). What compiler should I use given the new circumstances? Will it still run on the 486? #2: The graphic issue seems problematic, seems I'll have to make a first version working on the 486 and then the release one. So, given the first one is ok, what would be the better choice for graphic mode compatibility between W98-Me-NT-2000-XP? I should add that there's no way Ima use MFC nor DirectX. Thx in advance!! Mariano Lopez-Gappa

hi! I'm a college student but on spare time like programming, I've been programming since I was ten, and this summer I'm getting my hands on a big C++ programming project. I'm currently on the "planning stage" and need help on the following: First a few things you should know in order to help: --------------------------------------------------- -Most of the coding is to be done on a 486dx2 8MB RAM 800MB HDD notebook, which is able to run W95 and DOS. Graphic mode works. I haven't tried Linux, but I don't think it would be practical, as I need as much HDD I can get for project sample data. -My main goal is efficiency meaning speed (and results, though not relevant here) and compatibility with at least every Windows-DOS PC (allowing 640x480x256) and if possible Linux. -This program will NOT use MFC, but needs to be able to init graphic mode at 640x480x256. I want specifically this as it looks pretty standard for compatibility with older PCs. My problems: ------------ #1: I was thinking of using pure ASM code to "init graph", "put/get pixel", etc, but i've been told that not all OS's will allow this (at least not all will allow me to write directly to video memory). What should I do about this? Should I use some "graphics.h" or such? #2: I'll be doing heavy HDD I/O as the main task in this program will be file data analysing. I've read I should open files in binary mode as it is supposed to be the faster way to perform reading and writing. Is this true? What would be the most efficient way? #3: I need a very light and very specific Window-GUI (by specific I mean I won't need many controls and they will need to be adapted to the program's needs), so I was thinking of making one of my own. Taking out the "complexity" issue which is being taking care of, the real doubt here is: Will it truly be more efficient given I would use ASM for graphics routines, mouse routines and perhaps also keyboard routines? I point to that perhaps any other GUI already out there uses some other sophisticated techniques which would make them faster anyway... I should add that I'm not thinking of moveable/resizable windows, as it's more about n-criteria sorting flexgrids and checkable filelistboxes... #4: Some libraries already made objects from my project are currently working on VC++. Now, as you know, VC++ won't fit my 486 :), I've thought about "CommandLineTools.exe" (8,5MB) from borland but it seems to lack of some really important libraries such as "conio.h"!?!? (goodbye getch, kbhit :( ) So what I'm asking