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c++cunixgccstatic

Static function access in other files

Is there any chance that a function defined with static can be accessed outside the file scope?

Solution

  • It depends upon what you mean by "access". Of course, the function cannot be called by name in any other file since it's static in a different file, but you can have a function pointer to it.

    $ cat f1.c

    /* static */
static int number(void)
{
    return 42;
}

/* "global" pointer */
int (*pf)(void);

void initialize(void)
{
    pf = number;
}
$ cat f2.c
#include <stdio.h>

extern int (*pf)(void);
extern void initialize(void);

int main(void)
{
    initialize();
    printf("%d\n", pf());
    return 0;
}

    
$ gcc -ansi -pedantic -W -Wall f1.c f2.c
$ ./a.out
42